Accident prevention strategies should be geared to:

1. Reduce danger in the workplace - ‘safe place’ strategies

2. Increase people’s perception of the risks at work – ‘safe person’ strategies

Both strategies are primordial to be included accident prevention strategies.

Safe workplace

‘Safe place’ strategies – concerned with reducing or eliminating dangers which threaten the safety of
workers. They include

Premises Structurally safe in terms of stability, soundness of floors, staircases and general
means of access and egress.
Safe for workers, visitors, clients and subcontractors
Environment High standards of working environment
Adequate levels of lighting, ventilation, temperature control and prevention of
stressors such as noise, vibration, dust and fume emission
Poor environment can also affect health of employees
Plant and Plants and machinery adequately fenced or controlled in such a way that operators
machinery are not exposed to risk of injury.
All machinery should be assessment for machine safety (engineering, electrical,
chemical, fire), and proper functioning of safety devices and safe operations
All new machinery should be assessed for hazards prior to acquisition
Maintenance and cleaning systems should take into account the safety
requirements of employees
Materials Assessment of the toxicity and health hazards and physico-chemical hazards of
materials
Reduction, elimination or controlled usage
Communication of the hazards
Processes Safe work processes should be designed and
The design should include number of machines, materials and operating skills
Safety of work processes should be subject to regular monitoring – especially
loading and unloading of machines, presence of injurious by-products, levels of
skills and supervision.
Systems of work Need for clearly defined and documented safe systems
Systems abundantly clear for work situations
Safe systems, training of operators in their use, supervision and control of these
systems and review of them
Supervision and Good standards of safety supervision stated in the health and safety policy and
control implemented
Specific health and safety duties should be specified for different levels of
management and workers
Training Legal duty of employers to provide information, instruction, training and
supervision
 Attention to safety requirements should be stressed during induction training, on-
the-job training and training in specific tasks and operations, such as the operation
of lifting equipment and the use of permit to work systems

Safe workplace

‘Safe person’ strategies – Increase people’s perception of the risks at work. They include

Personal Suitable for the work being done and the work environment
protective Suitable to the extent that the risk has been adequately controlled
equipment
Suitability:
 Appropriate for the risk(s) involved, the conditions at the workplace where
exposure to the risk may occur
 Takes into account the ergonomic requirements and the state of health of
the person(s) wearing the PPE
 Capable of fitting the wearer correctly after adjustments within the range
for which it is designed
 Practicable and effective in preventing or controlling the risk(s)
 Compliance with regulations

Employers must assess PPE prior to selection and purchase. Factor of assessment:
 Assessment of risk(s) to health or safety that have not been avoided by
other means
 Definition of characteristics which PPE must have in order to be effective
against the risks, taking into account any risks which the equipment itself
may create
 Comparison of the characteristics of the PPE available
 Assessment of compatibility with other PPE that are in use and which the
employee would be required to wear simultaneously

Employees must report loss or obvious defect in the PPE.

Others factors to be considered in order to encourage the utilization of PPE:

 Comfort
 Choice of the equipment involved
 Ease of movement
 Ease of putting on and removing
 Specific restrictions created by the equipment
 Effects of high temperature
 Ease of cleaning
 Replacement (masks)
 Maintenance of the PPE
Vulnerable Vulnerable by virtue of age, physical condition, lack of experience, work attitude
groups  Young persons with limited experience with hazards
  Pregnant women
 Disabled workers
Unsafe Supervision and control should be raised to prevent tampering with safety devices,
behaviour bypassing, short-cuts, non-compliance and other unsafe behaviours
Personal Many substance used in industrial processes can promote occupational skin
hygience conditions
These substances should be properly controlled and facilities for maintaining good
standards of personal hygiene should be provided and maintained
Creating and Everyone should be aware of the risks in the workplace.
Maintaining Hazards and the necessary precautions should be clearly identified in the health
awareness and safety policy and communicated
Communication means: posters, training, safety competitions, safety monitoring,
hazard spotting exercise, hazard reporting

Forms of accident prevention strategies:

Prohibition Total prohibition on inherently dangerous processes and practices

Prohibition of toxic substances
Prohibition of unsafe practices, such as riding on the tines of a forklift truck,
climbing over moving conveyors or working on roofs without safety gears
Substitution Substitution to lesser dangerous material or system of work to reduce accident
potential
Replacement of asbestos in lagging
Remote control handling replacing direct manual handling
Change of Process design or Process re-engineering to ensure better operator protection
process
Process control Isolation of a particular process through the use of:
 ‘permit to work’ systems
 Mechanical or remote control handling systems
 Restriction of certain operations to highly trained and competent
operators
 Introduction of dust and fume arrestment plant
Safe systems of Formally designated safe systems of work with high levels of training, supervision
work and control
PPE

Safe systems of work

Definition: integration of men, machinery and materials in the correct environment to provide the safest
possible conditions in a particular work area. They should include the following:
 A correct sequence of operations
 A safe working area layout
 A controlled environment in terms of temperature, lighting, ventilation, dust control, humidity
control, sound pressure levels and radiation hazards
 Clear specification of safe practices and procedures for the task in question.
Safe systems of work are generally designed through the technique of ‘job safety analysis.’

Job safety analysis

Based on task analysis
Two stages:
1. Examination of job title, task operations, details of machinery, equipment, materials, substances
used, hazards, degree of risk (low, medium or high), the specific tasks, work organization, the
form of operator protection necessary
2. Assessment of:
a. Specific job operations
b. Hazards associated with these operations
c. Skills required to perform the task safely in terms of knowledge and individual
behaviour
d. External influences (environment) on behaviour:
i. Nature of influences
ii. Source of influence
iii. Activities involved under the external influences
e. The learning method for this method and the use of alarm system

Permit to work systems

This system is a form of safe system of work. It is operated fundamentally where there is a high degree
of foreseeable risk such as:
 Entry into confined spaces or vessels containing agitators
A typical permit to work system incorporates a number of clearly defined stages:
Assessment Assessment of the work to be done, the method, materials and equipment
to be used and the inherent hazards
This assessment must be made by a senior member of management team
/ highly competent person with a view to identify the safest possible ways
to undertake a potentially dangerous task or operation
Withdrawal from service Withdrawal of the plant from service, designated by warning signs or
fencing around the area, limitation access in certain cases and restriction
of entry to identified personnel
Isolation Physical, electrical and/or mechanical isolation of the plant
Controlled restriction of access
Physical locking off of sources of power
In certain cases, it may be necessary to undertake environmental testing
to ascertain whether the use of breathing apparatus is necessary before
entry into a confined space
Completion of work and Completion of the scheduled work is recorded and clearly identified in
return to service permit to work
Certificate is cancelled and returned to originator for checking to ensure
that work has been satisfactorily completed.
Plant is then handed back for normal use to the manager responsible for
same, who in turn should check for satisfactory completion of the work
undertaken
 Signature Certifying completion of the particular stage before the next stage can
proceed

Permits are generally produced in triplicate:

 Original going to the person undertaking the work
 First copy to the departmental manger in whose area the work is being undertaken
 Second copy being retained by the originator

At completion of the operation and final clearance of the permit, all copies are returned to the
originator.

It is standard practice to maintain a record of all permits to work issued.

Safety monitoring systems

It is concerned with the measurement and performance of safety performance:

Safety surveys Detailed examination of number of critical areas of operation
In-depth study of al health and safety related activities in a workplace
Safety tours Unscheduled examination of a working area, frequently undertaken as a group
exercise (health and safety officer, safety committee representatives, foremen) to
assess general compliance with safety requirements
Safety audits Systematic critical examination of each area of the organisation activities
Audit through questionnaire including:
 Operation of safe systems
 Compliance with health and safety policy and procedures
 Operation of hazard reporting systems
Safety Scheduled inspection of a premise of working area to assess levels of legal
inspections compliance and observation of company safety procedures

Usually undertaken by safety specialists and trade union safety representatives

Safety sampling Measure by:
 random sampling of accident potential in a workplace, or
 identifying defects in safety performance or omissions
Hazard and Critical examination of process and engineering intentions regarding new facilities
operability
studies Assess hazard potential arising from incorrect operation of equipment and
consequential effects on the facility. It enables remedial action to be taken at an
early stage
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.