Students are given an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the obligations of employers: Occupational Safety & Health Assignment, ATU, Ireland

Objectives

1. Students are given an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the obligations of employers arising from current national occupational health & safety legislation relating to the development, revision, and communication of health and safety information.
2. Students are given an opportunity to demonstrate an understanding of the primary subject topics that must be addressed within the health and safety management system of their chosen workplace.
3. Students are given an opportunity to consider and demonstrate their understanding of the purpose of a health and safety policy statement, the role of management in its development, and how policy can be used to align the organization on a common set of operating practices.
4. Students consider and account for a range of practical challenges likely to be encountered when developing, implementing, and communicating health and safety arrangements in the workplace.
5. Students are given an opportunity to develop policy and related procedures addressing a common psychosocial hazard and provide the basis for the precise wording and account for any practical implementation considerations.
6. Students are given an opportunity to practice the development of safe work procedures in a format and language that is likely to be clear and effective, accounting for the workforce who will rely on it to direct them on the necessary precautions when performing a work task.

Assignment Elements

Element 1: Introduction

The assignment should begin with an introduction/preface, which will include a description (with emphasis on OHS relevant information) of the overall workplace including a physical description of the work area that you have chosen to focus on.

The description should detail the nature of activities performed in the workplace, in addition to any pertinent information that would be accounted for when developing the safety statement components.

Relevant information may include hardware aspects of the workplace such as the age of the building(s) and equipment, its condition, layout, level of maintenance and employee aspects (such as age, education literacy, language, compliance, etc.) and organizational culture and business aspects (culture, discipline, management style, commitment, communications, policies, procedures, profitability, margins, etc).

Photographs and graphical information may be used to support the description of the workplace.

Element 2: Health & Safety Policy Statement

Critique the Health & Safety Policy Statement for your organization, propose revised structure and wording; providing reasons for your decision.

The statement should be approx. one page in length. Account for the Ibec/TU Dublin Diploma OHS course material relating to the purpose of OHS policy, critical contents of a policy statement, and policy development considerations.

Refer to relevant HSA and available industry-specific guidance.

Students may consult policy wording of other workplaces as a resource; however, the chosen policy wording must account for the activities and requirements of their own workplace.

Element 3: Safety Statement Communication

Describe a range of methods designed to effectively communicate health and safety information to relevant groups in your organization taking into account the employer’s legal obligation to communicate health and safety information ‘in a form, manner, and appropriate, language that is reasonably likely to be understood.

Take account of information relating to the organization outlined within Element 1, the Introduction.

Element: Intoxicant Policy.

Prepare a workplace Intoxicant Policy for your organization, accounting for the nature of work.

Develop two supporting guidance documents: one guidance document for employees that might be included within a communication package, and another guidance document for managers/supervisors to provide them with guidance on practical policy implementation aspects.

Account for current legislation published guidance and good industry practice. Account for the different forms of intoxicants, the types of testing, intoxicant threshold limits (where applicable), any respect and dignity considerations, training considerations, disciplinary measures, considerations dealing with an intoxicated worker, and supporting those with dependencies.

Element 5: Safe Work Procedure

Prepare a draft Safe Work Procedure (SWP), designed to be followed by one or more employees in the student’s workplace.

The draft document shall be prepared as it will be sent to team members for review. Therefore, it should include additional supporting comments and rationale

The SWP can relate one of a number of risk control measures designed to address a hazard identified within Project No. 1 (Risk Assessment).

The language, content, clarity, format, and structure of the SWP should account for the environment it applies to and the employees who will use it.

When developing the SWP, the student should seek to achieve clarity of requirements, especially in relation to precautionary measures and ease of use in the workplace. Include references to any researched evidence within the SWP.

Refer to your lecture notes and resource materials, including, the SHWW Act 2005, the SHWW (General Application) Regulations 2007, and associated legislation relevant to the requirements of each component.

Account for guidance documents from the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) on topics including Risk Management, Health & Safety Management, Risk Assessment, and Safety Statements and other relevant policies, guidance, and published Codes of Practice where appropriate.