Starting an Occupational Safety

and Health Management System:

Creating a plan

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! The action plan described in this section
provides the most direct route to getting
yourself organized to complete the Four-Point
Program outlined earlier
! Having learnt of what constitutes a good
safety and health program, the 4 elements
can be practically put together to come up
with a suitable program for the workplace

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! Your plan should consider your company’s
immediate needs, and provide for
ongoing, long-lasting worker protection.
! Once your plan is designed, it is important
to follow through and use it in the
workplace.

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 Having difficulties in beginning?
! Call your local occupational safety and health office,
or
! a safety advisor or consultant will get you the
assistance you need.
! This person will survey your workplace for existing or
potential hazards and determine what you need to
make your safety and health program effective.
! The consultant will work with you to develop a plan
for making these improvements, and to establish
procedures for making sure that your program stays
effective.
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 Rewards for these efforts

! a workplace with a high level of

efficiency and productivity, and
! a low level of loss and injury.

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 Designating responsibility
! Decide who in your company is the most
appropriate person to manage your safety
and health program
! The Law requires the appointment of a
competent person who also serves as the
secretary of the safety and health
committee

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 Qualities of appointee

! be committed to workplace safety and

health
! Should have the time to devote to
developing and managing the program,
! Be willing to take on the responsibility
and accountability that goes with
operating an effective program.

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 Note!!!
! Remember, though, that even when you
appoint someone as your safety manager
and delegate the authority to manage the
program, the ultimate responsibility for safety
and health in your workplace rests on you,
the owner or chief executive !

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 Things you ought to know!
! There is need to familiarise oneself with the
Occupational Safety and Health Act 2007 and
subsidiary legislations made under it.
! Before any person occupies or uses any
premises as a workplace, he shall apply for
the registration of the premises and once a
certificate of registration is issued renew the
certificate annually

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! No building shall be erected or converted for
use as a workplace and no structural
alteration /extension shall be made to any
existing workplace except in accordance with
plans showing details of the proposed
construction, conversion, alteration or
extension, approved by the director of
occupational safety and health services

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! An occupational safety and health officer can
enter, inspect and examine your workplace by
day or by night
! The occupier of every workplace, shall furnish
the means required by an occupational safety
and health officer as necessary for an entry,
inspection, examination or inquiry, or the
taking of samples.

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! You must carry out appropriate risk assessments in
relation to the safety and health of persons employed
and, on the basis of these results, adopt preventive
and protective measures
! You must send a copy of the report of risk
assessment carried out to the area occupational
safety and health officer
! An employer must establish a safety and health
committee at the workplace if there are twenty or
more persons employed at the workplace

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! The safety and health committee should be
trained to enable them competently perform
its functions
! An employee who has left a work place,
which he or she has reasonable justification
to believe presents imminent and serious
danger to life and health shall not be
dismissed, discriminated against or
disadvantaged for such action by the
employer
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! Some jobs require specified protective
clothing or equipment, or specified standards
of health
! People employed on hazardous processes
may have to be medically examined by a
designated health practitioner
! You will need an outside expert
(Authorised/approved person); to carry out
periodic tests and examinations of equipment
such as air compressors, boilers, lifts or
cranes
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! You must display certain documents, for
example the abstract of the Act and also
ensure that general register is available for
inspection whenever occupational safety and
health officers visit
! You must have a trained team of fire fighters
! All electrical equipment and related
attachments must be inspected every six
months by a competent person and records
kept
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! You must have first aid boxes manned by
trained first aiders in line with the first aid
rules
! You must contract a safety and health adviser
to carry out safety and health audit of your
workplace every twelve months
! You must contract a fire safety auditor to
carry out a fire safety audit of your workplace
every twelve months

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 Organize the workplace
! Carry out intensive cleanup campaign in all
areas of the workplace.
! Get rid of unnecessary items;
! provide proper waste containers;
! store flammables properly;
! make sure exits are not blocked;
! mark aisles and passageways;
! provide adequate lighting, etc.

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! Get everyone involved and impress upon
employees that you want to make your
workplace safer, more healthful and more
efficient.

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 Start gathering specific facts
about your situation
! Before making changes in your safety and
health operations, you should gather
information about the current conditions and
business practices that comprise your safety
and health program.
! This information can help you identify
problems and determine what is needed to
solve them.

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 The workplace assessment
consists of two major activities:
! This initial survey should focus on evaluating
workplace conditions with respect to safety
and health regulations and generally
recognized safe and healthful work practices.
! It should include :-
! checking on the use of any hazardous
materials, observing employee work habits
and practices, and discussing safety and
health problems with employees. (Checklists
will provide a good guide)
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! The second major activity is to assess your
existing safety and health program and
identify areas that work well and those that
need improvement.
! You should gather as much information as
you can that relates to safety and health
management in your workplace.
! You should include the following in this
review:
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 Safety and health activities.
! Examine :-
! ongoing activities as well as those tried previously,
! company policy statements,
! rules (both work and safety),
! guidelines for proper work practices and procedures,
and
! records of training programs.

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 Equipment
! List your major equipment, what it is used for
and where it is located.
! Special attention should be given to
inspection schedules, maintenance activities,
and plant and office layouts.

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 Employee capabilities
! Make an alphabetical list of all employees,
showing the date hired, their job
descriptions, and experience and training.

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 Accident and injury/illness
history
! Review first aid cases and workers’
compensation insurance payments and
awards, and review your losses.
! Compare your insurance rate with others in
your group.
! Give special attention to recurring accidents,
types of injuries, etc.

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 After gathering facts:-
! See if any major problem areas emerge such as
interruptions in your normal operations, too many
employees taking too much time off due to illness or
injury, too many damaged products, etc.

! General help with this kind of problem identification

can often be obtained from insurance companies,
local OSH office, trade associations, relevant
government agencies, major suppliers or similarly
situated businesses in the same industry.

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! If you discover a major problem, see what
can be done to solve it.
! Once a problem is identified, you can work
on the corrective action or a plan to control
the problem.
! Take immediate action and make a record of
what you have done.
! Now it is time to develop a comprehensive
safety and health program to avoid any major
problems in the future.

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 Establishing a Four-Point Safety and
Health Program
! There is therefore need to develop and implement
an action plan
! An action plan tells you what has to be done, the
logical order in which to do it, who is responsible and
where you want to be when you finish.
! It describes problems and solutions, but is not
ironclad. An action plan can and should be changed
to correspond with changes in the workplace.
! A good action plan has two parts:

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! A list of major changes or improvements to make
your safety and health program effective. Each item
should be prioritized, have a target date for
completion and identify who is responsible for
implementation.
! A specific plan to implement each major change or
improvement, including what you want to accomplish,
the steps required, who will be assigned to do what
and a schedule for completion.

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! Once a plan is established, put it into action,
beginning with the highest priority item.
! Ensure that it is realistic, manageable and addresses
the steps you have planned for that item.
! A detailed description of the steps required will help
you keep track of your progress.
! Keep in mind that you can work on more than one
item at a time and that priorities may change as other
needs are identified or as your company’s resources
change.

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! Open communication with your employees is
crucial to the success of your efforts.
! Their cooperation depends on them
understanding what the safety and health
program is all about, why it is important to
them and how it affects their work.
! The more you do to involve them in the
changes you are making, the smoother your
transition will be.
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Step 5: Reviewing the program
! Review the elements of the program
=how effective are they?
=What changes are needed?
=Any improvement required?

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 Self Inspection
! This is the most widely accepted way to
identify hazards
! Checklists can be used to assist in this
exercise

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 Self inspection scope
! OSHA 2007 and subsidiary legislations
should give the scope. The following are
examples of what may be covered.
! Processing, Receiving, Shipping and
Storage – equipment, job planning, layout,
heights, floor loads, projection of materials,
material handling and storage methods,
training for material handling equipment.

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! Building and Grounds Conditions – floors, walls,
ceilings, exits, stairs, walkways, ramps, platforms,
driveways, aisles.
! Housekeeping Program – waste disposal, tools,
objects, materials, leakage and spillage, cleaning
methods, schedules, work areas, remote areas,
storage areas.
! Electricity – equipment, switches, breakers, fuses,
switch-boxes, junctions, special fixtures, circuits,
insulation, extensions, tools, motors, grounding,
national electric code compliance
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! Lighting – type, intensity, controls,
conditions, diffusion, location, glare and
shadow control.
! Heating and Ventilation – type,
effectiveness, temperature, humidity, controls,
natural and artificial ventilation and
exhausting.

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! Machinery – points of operation, flywheels, gears,
shafts, pulleys, key ways, belts, couplings, sprockets,
chains, frames, controls, lighting for tools and
equipment, brakes, exhausting, feeding, oiling,
adjusting, maintenance, lockout/tag out, grounding,
work space, location, purchasing standards.

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! Personnel – training, including hazard identification
training; experience; methods of checking machines
before use; type of clothing; PPE; use of guards; tool
storage; work practices; methods for cleaning, oiling,
or adjusting machinery.
! Hand and Power Tools – purchasing standards,
inspection, storage, repair, types, maintenance,
grounding, use and handling.

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! Chemicals – storage, handling,
transportation, spills, disposals, amounts
used, labelling, toxicity or other harmful
effects, warning signs, supervision, training,
protective clothing and equipment, hazard
communication requirements.
! Fire Prevention – extinguishers, alarms,
sprinklers, smoking rules, exits, personnel
assigned, separation of flammable materials
and dangerous operations, explosion-proof
fixtures in hazardous locations, waste
disposal and training of personnel. 39
! Maintenance – provide regular and
preventive maintenance on all equipment
used at the worksite, recording all work
performed on the machinery and by training
personnel on the proper care and servicing of
the equipment.
! PPE – type, size, maintenance, repair, age,
storage, assignment of responsibility,
purchasing methods, standards observed,
training in care and use, rules of use, method
of assignment.
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! Transportation – motor vehicle safety, seat belts,
vehicle maintenance, safe driver programs.
! First Aid Program/Supplies – medical care facilities
locations, posted emergency phone numbers,
accessible first aid kits

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! Evacuation Plan – establish and practice
procedures for an emergency evacuation, e.g., fire,
chemical/biological incidents, bomb threat; include
escape procedures and routes, critical plant
operations, employee accounting following an
evacuation, rescue and medical duties and ways to
report emergencies.

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