Day Four Questions (NIGC)

1. A serious accident has occurred. During the investigation it is found that an inspection of the
work site had taken place before the accident.

Outline possible reasons why the inspection did not lead to an unsafe situation being corrected.
(8)

2. Give the meaning of the following terms;

a) Active monitoring. (2)

ANS: Active monitoring is about checking to ensure that standards are met and that the workplace is
in fact safe and free of health risks before any untoward event takes place.
Safety inspections, sampling, surveys and tours are four active monitoring methods that can be used to
check conformance to standards.

b) Reactive monitoring. (2)

ANS: Reactive monitoring is about measuring safety performance by reference to accidents, incidents
and ill-health that have already occurred. Reactive measures therefore include measures of incident
types and frequency rates, sickness absence rates, number of reported near miss events and property
damage incidents, etc. The number of enforcement actions taken and number of civil claims can also
be considered reactive measures.

3. Identify the information that should be included in an accident investigation report. (8)

ANS: The contents of a typical incident investigation report may include:

Date and time of the incident.

Location of the incident.
Details of the injured person/persons involved (name, role, work history).
Details of injury sustained.
Description of the activity being carried out at the time.
Drawings or photographs used to convey information on the scene.
Immediate and root causes of the incident.
Assessment of any breaches of legislation.
Details of witnesses and witness statements.
Recommended corrective action, with suggested costs, responsibilities and timescales.
Estimation of the cost implications for the organisation.
4. Give the meaning of the following term's;

a) Audit. (2)

Auditing is the systematic, objective, critical evaluation of an organisations health and safety
management system.

b) Inspection. (2)

Inspections are routine examinations of workplace conditions carried out by a competent person(s)
(e.g. the weekly inspection of a workshop by the workshop supervisor).

5. Identify the advantages and disadvantages of the following carrying out health and safety
audit;

a) An Internal auditor. (2)

Advantages

Less expensive.
Auditors already familiar with the workplace and what is practicable for the industry.
Can see changes since last audit.
Improves ownership of issues found.
Builds competence internally.
Workforce may be more at ease.
Familiarity with workforce and individuals

Disadvantages

Auditors may not notice certain issues.

Auditors may not have good knowledge of industry or legal standards.
Auditors may not possess auditing skills so may need training.
Auditors are not independent so may be subject to internal influence.

b) An External auditor. (2)

Advantages

Independent of any internal influence.

Fresh pair of eyes.
Already has audit experience.
May have wider experience of different types of workplace.
Recommendations often carry more weight.
May be more up-to- date with law and best practice.
May be more able to be critical, e.g. of management.

Disadvantages

Expensive
Time-consuming
May not understand the business so make impractical suggestions.
 May intimidate workers so get incomplete evidence.

6. Outline why the audit findings should be presented to the senior management of an
organization. (2)

ANS: The audit feedback session and report is usually presented to senior management for action
and/or praise as required. This is a demonstration of leadership and in some cases a requirement in the
standards which are being audited. The management team have the authority and resources to take
action where required, and may also need to adjust the organizational goals and objectives.

7. List documents that may be examined when reviewing an organization's health and safety
management system. (8)

8. Identify the;

a) Active (proactive) (2)

Safety tours, surveys, sampling, inspections, audits

b) Reactive measure (2)

Enforcement actions
Often required during pre-tender qualifications
Civil claims
Total cost of claims can be calculated
May be affected by:
o Advertising campaigns
o Dissatisfaction with organisation

By which an organization can monitor its health and safety performance.

9. Explain how accident data can be used to improve health and safety performance within an
organization. (6)

10. Outline following;

a) Benefits of using a checklist to undertake health and safety inspection at work. (2)

Ensures all points covered

Consistent approach
 Form of written record

b) Advantages and disadvantages of checklist. (2)

Advantages

Ensures all points covered

Consistent approach

Form of written record

Disadvantages

May ignore items not on checklist

c) Typical contents of a checklist. (2)

Fire safety

Escape routes, signs, extinguishers

Housekeeping

General tidiness, cleanliness

Environment issues

Lighting, temp, ventilation, noise

Traffic routes

Vehicle and pedestrian

Chemical safety

Use, handling, storage

Machinery safety

Use of guards, interlocks, PPE

Electrical safety

Portable appliances, trailing leads, overloaded sockets etc.

Welfare facilitates

Suitability, condition

11. Outline how the following may be used to improve safety performance within an
organization;

a) Accident Data. (2)

accident rates allow the comparison of data between different sites/organisations with different
numbers of people

b) Safety Inspection. (2)

c) Safety Survey. (2)

12. Outline following ;

a) Key areas that may be covered within a health and safety audit. (2)

Paperwork - documents and records

Interviews - managers and workers

Observation - workplace, equipment, activities and behaviour

b) The documents those are likely to be examined during a health and safety audit. (2)

Typical information examined during an audit:

Health and safety policy

Risk assessments

Training records

Minutes of safety committee meetings

Maintenance records

Record of monitoring activities

Accident investigation reports and data

Emergency arrangements

Inspection reports from insurance companies

Regulator visitors

Worker complaints

c) Different between health and safety audit and inspection. (2)

Audit Inspection
Examines documents Checks the workplace
Examines procedures Checks records
Interviews workers Usually quick
Verifies standards Lower cost
Checks the workplace May only require basic competence
 Can be a long process Part of an audit
Usually expensive
Requires a high level of competence

13. A health and safety audit of an organization has identified a general lack of compliance with
procedures.

a) Outline the possible reasons for procedures not being followed. (3)

b) Outline the practical measures that could be taken to motivate employees to comply with
health and safety procedure. (3)

c) Outline factors that might discourage employees from reporting accidents at work. (4)

Unclear organisational policy

No reporting system in place

Culture of not reporting (peer pressure)

Overly-complicated reporting procedures

Excessive paperwork

Takes too much time

Blame culture

Apathy poor management response

Concern over impact on organisation/individuals

Reluctance to receive first aid

14. Outline following;

a) Reasons why accidents should be investigated by the employer. (2)

Reasons to carry out investigations:

Identify the causes

Prevent recurrence

Collect evidence

Legal reasons

Insurance purposes

Staff morale
 Disciplinary purposes

To update risk assessments

Discover trends

b) Information that should be included in the investigation report. (2)

Step 1- Gather factual information

Step 2- Analyse the information and draw conclusions

Step 3- Identify suitable control measures

Step 4- Plan the remedial action

c) Difference between immediate causes and underlying causes. (2)

Immediate causes are the unsafe acts and unsafe conditions that gave rise to the event itself. These
will be the things that occurred at the time and place of the accident. For example, a worker slips on a
patch of oil spilt on the floor - immediate causes: the slip hazard (unsafe condition), the worker
walking through it (unsafe act).

Underlying or root causes are the things that lie behind the immediate causes. Often root causes will
be failures in the management system, such as:

Failure to adequately supervise workers.

Failure to provide appropriate PPE.
Failure to provide adequate training.
Lack of maintenance.
Inadequate checking or inspections.
Failure to carry out proper risk assessments.

15. Outline the benefits to an organization for investigating accidents at work and typical
contents that should be considered when developing an accident / incident reporting form. (4)

To identify the immediate and root causes of the incident

To identify corrective action to prevent a recurrence a key motivation behind incident

investigations.

To record the facts of the incident people do not have perfect memories and accident investigation
records document factual evidence for the future.

For legal reasons accident investigations are an implicit legal duty imposed on the employer in
addition to any duty to report incidents.

For claim management

For staff morale

For disciplinary purposes

 To enable the updating of risk assessments (an incident suggests a deficiency with the risk
assessment which should be addressed)

To discover trends

Developing an accident / incident reporting form

Name and address of casualty

Date and time of accident

Location of accident

Details of injury

Details of treatment given

Description of event causing injury

Details of any equipment or substances involved

Witnesses names and contact details

Details of person completing the record

Signatures

16. An employee has fallen from height resulting in broken leg and arm;

a) Outline four possible immediate causes. (4)

b) Outline four possible underlying causes. (4)

17. Identify the various documents which may need to be checked during the investigation
process, giving reasons why each would need to be considered. (4)

Site plans

Company health and safety policy

Risk assessments

Training records

Safe systems of work

Permits-to-work

Maintenance records
 Previous accident reports

Sickness records

18. Outline the reasons why an organization should review and monitor its health and safety
performance. (2)

Are we on target?

If not, why not?

What do we have to change to continually improve?

Essential part of management system

Requirement of ISO certification

19. Outline the key points that should be covered in a training session for employees on the
accident / incident reporting. (4)