My First Test Paper for NGC1

1)		With respect to undertaking general risk assessments on activities within a work place:
	i	Outline the FIVE key stages of the risk assessment process, identifying the issues that would need to be considered at EACH stage When undertaking a risk assessment, from the process you are assessing firstly you should identify the hazards which are to assessed, who will be affected by theses hazards whether directly or indirectly paying particular attention to any high risk groups (Pregnant women. Young Persons, Old Persons), evaluate the risk and any controls consider the likely hood of any injury and the severity of an incident. All these findings should be recorded to form a written risk assessment and periodically revisited for audit and review purposes	10
	ii	Identify FOUR items of information from within and Four items of information from the outside the organisation that may be useful when assessing the activities Inside Opinions of the workforce Results of any safety audits Minutes of safety meetings Accident and near miss record books. Outside Complaints from neighbours Any Enforcement notices Fire inspection reports Affect on local environment	8
	iii	State the legal requirements for recording workplace risk assessments	2
		If you have five or more employees the management regulations require you to assess and record your activities in case of specialised work ie. Asbestos all risk assessments should be recorded regardless of number of employees
2)	a	Outline the THREE standard conditions that must be met for an injured employee to prove a case of negligence against their employer following an accident at work Before a employee can successfully accuse his employer of neglect, he must first prove that the employer had a duty of care to protect him from the hazard, and that that duty was in fact neglected and that any harm the employee suffered was a direct consequence of that neglect of duty of care	6
	b	Sate the circumstance in which an employer may be held vicariously liable for the negligence of an employee If an employer failed to provide correct and suitable guarding to a machine with exposed moving parts	2
3)	a	Explain the meaning of the term 'perception' the way that people interpret and make sense of presented information e.g. in relation to their surroundings or to the equipment they are using.	2
	b	Outline the factors relating to the individual that may be influence a person's perception of an occupational risk perception may differ greatly from person to person especially if sense have become damages due to a particular activity, If someone works in an environment which is very noisy that persons hearing may become damaged and therefore what they perceive as 'not being loud' may in fact be very loud to someone who has not suffered that hearing damage. The same can be said of someone who is very familiar with a working practice, what they perceive as being dangerous will very different to what a person doing that activity for the first time would. Familiarity can be a large contributory factor to injury at work.	6
4)		Outline the Issues to be addressed in a training session on the operation of a permit-to-work system Permit to work systems are documented SWP (safe working practices) when training is given either from persons who are carrying out the works or persons who are completing the permits to allow people to work emphasis should be put on the importance of completing the permits fully and then complying with the restrictions or action the permits dictate. Only competent persons should be allowed to complete and receive permit to work they should be well versed in the particular hazard present. Persons issuing permits must follow the accepted company method of issuing all sections of the permit should be completed none left blank, if it's not required for that particular activity then it must say so Training on the receipt of permit and complying with the conditions set out is just as important.	8
5)		In relation to the safety representatives and safety committees Regulations 1977, outline:
	i	The rights and functions of a trade union –appointed safety representative The representative should represent the health and safety interests of workers to the employer by approaching the employer regarding any potential hazards and dangerous occurrences within workplace and be able to approach the employer regarding general matters affecting the group of employees they represent.	6
	ii	The facilities that an employer may need to provide to safety representatives He has the right to investigate any incidents that have occurred; he has the right to attend safety meetings he is required to be given time without loss of pay to do these activities.	2
6)		Identity the factors to be considered to ensure the health and safety of persons who are required to work on their own from the workplace That the work can be safely carried out by one person That they have adequate training and they are competent to carry out the work safely. They have sufficient PPE available and are trained in its use. That they suffer no threats of violence or are vulnerable in other ways such as women or young person's working alone. That they have adequate means of communication with the office or other workplace. Is there adequate supervision or arrange periodic visits from supervisors and is the person medically fit to complete the works, is there safe ingress and egress for the person	8
7)	a	Identify FOUR types of health and safety information that might usefully be displayed on a notice board within a workplace	4
		Safety Committee minutes, company H&S newsletters and bulletins, posters about particular hazards, H&S legislation booklets and posters
	b	Explain how the effectiveness of notice board as a means of communicating health and safety information to the workforce can be maximised If a notice board is just a collection of bland H&S features this will not be as effective in conveying information as one which is bright kept up to date regularly, highlighting serious issues by use of posters and graphs charts etc, graphics can say a lot very quickly	4
8)		With respect to the management of risk within the work place:
	i	Explain the meaning of the term of the risk 'hierarchy of control'	2
		'hierarchy of control' at which point in the development of a process that management of a potential hazard through control measures are adopted to remove this hazard, the earlier in a process that the hazard can be removed the better
	ii	Outline, with examples, the standard hierarchy hat should be applied with respect to controlling health and safety risks in the workplace ERIC PD (Eliminate, Reduce, Inform, Control, PPE, Discipline) Eliminate the hazard at design stage wherever possible substitute either materials or plant for something less hazardous, put in place safe systems of work; Warning systems, and as a last resort the use of PPE. All other methods should take president over PPE	6
9)		Outline the strengths AND weaknesses of using a checklist to complete a health and safety inspection in a workplace	8
		Using checklist when carrying out safety inspections are very useful in allowing the hazards that have been identified previously to be check and not overlooked. They also provide a logical approach to assessing a process from start to finish, they allow preparation for the inspections to be done. On the downside is they may focus the inspector to the areas on the check list and may miss something else that is happening, this again re-iterates the need for trained and competent inspectors who are familiar with risk and hazards associated with the process.
10)	a	Explain why an organisation should have a system for the internal report accidents at work. This allow them to trend analyse statistics of accidents, near misses or dangerous occurrences. They can identify areas where inappropriate PPE is being used, or there are significant flaws in SWP's, they can also be used to benchmark and give targets for improvement.	4
	b	Identify the reasons why employees may fail to report an accident at work An employee may not report an accident if he was not supposed to be in the area where the accident happened, maybe was not wearing the correct PPE for the task or was not following standard SWP for the task	4
	c	Outline the key areas that should be addressed in the 'arrangements' section of a health and safety policy document The arrangement sections of a health and safety policy should address the terms of reference for the H&S committee, Accident and ill health reporting procedures, Site visitor's routine, dealing with any emergencies (Fire etc), should include details of the first aid and emergency contacts of ambulance Hospital. Any health screening programs (ie eye or hearing tests), pre-employment medicals. Alongside all these things which are mainly concerned with the welfare of personnel should be the statuary requirements of machinery and equipment maintenance, this section is also where information on risk assessments should found with the review procedure and frequency.	8