LECTURE 6

• These objectives are adapted from the mandatory 8-hour safety and health seminar for workers under Section 16 of RA 11058 and section 3 of DO 198-18.
• It is an undesired event that results in harm to people, damage to property or loss to process. It isusually a contact with a source of energy above the threshold limit of the body or structure

  ACCIDENT
• It is an undesired event which, under slightly different circumstances, could have resulted in harm topeople, damage to property, or loss to process

  INCIDENT
• an action to regulate or restrain a condition or event.


  CONTROL
• Are unsafe practices or conditions, that if not controlled, may result into the occurrence of an accident or an incident

  HAZARDS
• Is chance of a physical or personal loss

  RISK
• Is the control of hazards to attain an acceptable level of risk

  SAFETY
• Are behaviors which could permit the occurrence of an accident or incident Unsafe acts also represents the deviation from standard procedures or practices

  UNSAFE ACTS
• are circumstances which could permit the occurrence of an accident or incident. This alsopertains to deviation from standard conditions regarding equipment, materials, or environment.

  UNSAFE CONDITIONS
• Response to unwanted conditions:

  1.) Management

  2.) Safety Programs

  3.) Safety Audit
• All work exposes workers to hazards ( especially for construction job-site): • Manual handling of materials • Use of machines • Exposure to toxic substances • Contact to electricity • stress
• Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) - state of being certain that exposure to workstate of being certain that exposure to workplace conditions will not cause adverse effects to the wellbeing of a worker in terms of INJURY or ILLNESS
• Importance of OSH:

  1. It is the right thing to do
  2. It is the smart thing to do
  3. It is the law
• First Argument

  • based on ethical principle, employer has moral obligation
  • To protect employees from accidents & illnesses
  • workers have the right to safe & healthful workplace
• The second argument, the smart thing to do, is based on the economic principle that no business ownerwants accidents because accidents and illnesses impose a massive cost to business. Accidents not onlylower productivity, but in the worst case, can even end the business.
• The third argument, it is the law, is based on the legal principle that employers violating the provisions of thelaw are imposed penalties and can be issued work stoppage orders by the appropriate authorities.
• MANAGEMENT, is a special group of people whose job is to direct the effort and activities of other peopletoward common objectives
• SAFETY PROGRAMS, are activities designed to assist management and employees in the recognition, evaluationand control of workplace hazards.
• SAFETY AUDIT, Is the critical examination of the safety and health management programs todetermine their effectiveness and compliance to regulatory programs.
• Other key points to consider about economics & safety:

  1. Serious accidents can be critical to meeting contract deadlines.
  2. Losing key personnel can spell the end of the business altogether.
  3. Loss of business reputation can lead to loss of new/repeat business.
  4. Accidents can damage workforce morale.
  5. Accident claims mean higher insurance premiums.
• On average, 7,500 die everyday due to work related accidents
• 160 million incidents of occupational illness every year
• 270 million work-related accidents every year
• Biggest killers in the workplace

  • cancer (32%)
  • circulatory diseases (23%)
  • accidents (19%)
  • communicable diseases (17%)
  • others
• The International Labor Organization (ILO), releases statistics regarding incidents, illnesses and accidents in workplaces across all industries
• A striking figure is the percentage of accidents leading to death occuring in workplaces
• Profile of Most Commonly Injured Worker

  □ Male

  □ Married

  □ 26-30 years old

  □ With 1 to 5-years work experience

  □ Assigned in the first shift
• The most common type of injury is the “superficial injuries and open wounds”. In the agent of injury, machines & equipment plus materials and objects take the top spots. Note that the top agent of injury is highly prevalent in a construction site and can be easily confirm visually.
• ACCIDENT: A window cleaner dropping a bucket from a height, which caused injury to a person underneath.

  INCIDENT: A window cleaner dropping a bucket from a height, which just missed a person standing underneath. □ This can be considered a near-miss □ A slightly different circumstances & the person may have been injured
• Accidents are “occurrences or events that are unexpected, unforeseen, unplanned and unwanted which result to damage, injury, loss or death”.
• Incidents, on the other hand, are “events, which under slightly different circumstances, may have resulted in injury or ill health, or damage or loss to property, plant, materials or the environment or a loss of business opportunity” (HSE-UK).
• Common reasons for accidents (according to a layman)

  1. “Ang malas naman niya!”
  2. “Ang T_ _ _ a kasi niya!”
  3. “Oras na niya; pana panahon lang yan.”
  4. “Kasama yan sa trabaho”
• System theory of Accident Causation

  □ Possibility of an accident to occur is dependent on the interaction of work components such as: people, equipment/machineries/tools, materials & environment.

  □ Each component (or a combination) is considered source of hazard.
• Hazard + Exposure = Accident/Incident
• Hazard in another definition is: “any source of potential damage, harm or adverse health effects on something or someone
• The System Theory of Accident Causation claims that components of accidents are regularly interacting and interrelated. And these components include people, equipment/machineries/tools, materials and environment.
• In essence, it takes a hazard, and someone exposed to the hazard to produce an accident. (Hazard + Exposure = Accident/Incident).
• “A hazard is any source of potential damage, harm or adverse health effects on something or someone”
• Harm is referred to as physical injury or damage to health.
• there are two classification of hazards: Safety and Health, hence the term OSH. Safety hazards are something that has potential for injury while health hazards are something that has potential for illness.