SAFETY MONITORING SYSTEM THAT YOU CAN PUT IN PLACE TO DEVELOP SAFETY AWARENESS

SAFETY MONITORING SYSTEM

Safety monitoring is concerned with the measurement and evaluation of safety performance. It may take the following forms:

1. Safety surveys: This is a detailed examination of a number of critical areas of operation or, perhaps, an in-depth study of all health and safety related activities in a workplace.

2. Safety tours: These are an unscheduled examination of a working area, frequently undertaken as a group exercise (eg foreman, safety representative and safety committee member), to assess general compliance with safety requirements (eg fire protection measures and use of machinery safety devices).

3. Safety audits: A safety audit fundamentally subjects each area of an organisation’s activities to a systematic critical examination with the object of minimising injury and loss. It generally takes the form of a series of questions directed to examining factors such as the operation of safe systems of work, compliance with the Statement of Health and Safety Policy and the operation of hazard reporting systems.

4. Safety inspections: A scheduled inspection of a premises or working area to assess levels of legal compliance and observation of company safety procedures. Safety inspections are frequently undertaken by company safety specialists and trade union safety representatives.

5. Safety sampling: A system designed to measure by random sampling the accident potential in a workplace or process by identifying defects in safety performance or omissions. Observers follow a prescribed route through the working area noting deficiencies in performance, eg concerning the wearing of personal protective equipment or the use of correct manual handling techniques.

In some cases, individual topics in the safety sampling exercise are ranked according to importance with a maximum number of points achievable. At the end of the exercise a total score is identified which gives an indication of the performance level at that point in time.

6. Hazard and operability studies: Such studies incorporate the application of formal critical examination to the process and engineering intentions regarding new facilities. The principal aim of such a study is to assess the hazard potential arising from the incorrect operation of equipment and the consequential effects on the facility. Such an operation enables remedial action to be taken at a very early stage.

7. Damage control: Levels of damage are an indication of future accident potential. Damage control operates on the philosophy that non-injury accidents are just as important as injury accidents. The elimination of the causes of accidents resulting in damage to property, plant and products frequently results in a reduction in injury accidents.