Osh Intro New Entrants

OCCUPATONAL SAFETY AND
HEALTH
 Introduction
 The Problem of OSH at the workplaces
▪ Work plays a very important role in people’s lives, since

most workers spend at least eight hours a day in
workplace, whether it is on a factory,
 Office or plantation etc.
 Therefore, work environments should be safe and
healthy. Yet, this is not the case for many workers
because workers are faced with multitude of health
hazards everyday.
OBJECTIVE
❑At the end of the seminar participants will:
 Have a better understanding of the fundamentals of

occupational safety and health management.
 Be able to add the knowledge to improve upon the
safety health management within their organisation;
WHAT IS OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY
AND HEALTH?
 Occupational Safety and Health is a discipline with a

broad scope involving many specialised fields.
 In its broadest sense, it should aim at:
 It is the promotion and the maintenance of the highest

degree of physical, mental and social well-being of
workers in all occupations.
 The prevention among workers of adverse effects on

health caused by their working conditions.
 The protection of workers in their employment from
risks resulting from adverse to health
 The adaptation of work to workers
 In other words, OSH encompasses the social, mental

and physical well being of workers, that is, “the whole
person.”
CLARIFICATION
ACCIDENTS
 An undesired event that results in harm to people,
damage to property or loss to process.
 Accidents result from contact with a substance or a

source of energy above the threshold limit of the body
structure.
NEAR-MISS ACCIDENTS
 An undesired event which, under slightly different

circumstances, could have resulted in harm, to people,
damage to property or loss to process.
INJURY
 Harm done to the body as a result of an accidents
 They are usually harmful effects of a single contact
 Not all accidents result in injuries.

IILNESS
 The harmful effects of repeated contacts such as

cancer, liver damage, hearing loss etc.
HAZARD
 A condition or practice that has the potential to cause

an accident.
risk
 The chance that a hazard will result in an accident.

SAFETY
 Control of accidental loss.
 The loss refers to injury, illness and/or damage to

anything in the occupational or external environment.
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
 Control of work related illness
 It is the identification, evaluation and control of those

factors or stresses, arising in and from the workplace,
which may cause sickness , impaired health, and well-
being or significant discomfort and inefficiency among
workers.
ENERGY
 It is the ability to do work
 Accidents result from contact with source of energy

above the threshold limit of the body or structure.
 E.g. a flying or moving object has a kinetic energy,

which is transferred to a body it hits or contacts. If
energy is too much, it results in personal harm or
property damage.
WHY THE NEED FOR
OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND
HEALTH MANAGEMENT?
 OSH needs to be managed because of the following

reasons:
MORAL REASONS
 It is morally unacceptable to put the safety and health

of others inside or outside the workplace at risk for
profit or otherwise.
MORALE REASONS
 Worker's Morales are lowered after an accident
 Adverse publicity affects the fortunes of an

organization and weakens:
▪ Public confidence
▪ Community ties
▪ Market position/shares
▪ Reputation
Legal reasons
 Laws exist under the Factories, Offices and Shops Act
1970 (Act 328) and the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) to
protect workers against workplace hazards.
 Penalties for non compliance range from fine to

imprisonment or both.
Economic reasons
 Accidents result in losses:
▪ Harm to people and property
▪ Performance interruptions
▪ Quality degradation
▪ Environmental damage
▪ Profit reduction
legal framework
 ILO Conventions No.155- occupational Safety and
Health
 ILO Conventions No.184- Safety and Health in

Agriculture, 2001
 Factories, Offices and Shops Act, 1970 (Act 328)

 Workmen’s Compensation Law, 1987 (PNDCL 187)
 Environmental Protection Agency Law, Act 1994 (Act
490)
 Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) Part XV Section 118
 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana 1992
Why is safety important to the
manager
 However one looks at the matter there is no honour or

profit in industrial accidents; there is only incredible
suffering and loss’ (ILO report 1949)
 It is impossible to assess the effects of industrial
accidents in terms of human misery, not to those
injured but also to their families.
 Death, pain, permanent disability and worry all play

their part in the ‘incredible suffering.’
 Some attempts have been made to assess the financial
cost of these accidents to community.
 Insurance might cover the cost of replacing damaged

property and compensation to employees and their
dependants.
 It will not generally touch the hidden costs arising
from loss of production, those resulting from loss of
business due to delayed deliveries.
role of managers
 Managers cannot escape the fact that this is their
responsibility.
 They cannot put the blame on ‘circumstances beyond

their control.’
 Their job is to be in control.
Accidents reflect a failure in control; a failure in
managerial skill.
 To quote from one report of HM Chief Inspector of

Factories:
‘Efficiency in accident prevention is one of the marks
of an efficient firm.’
 Most managers would agree that:
a. Efficiency is the key to the future of their

organisation and of the country as a whole;
b. They are directly responsible for the level of

efficiency in their own organisation;
c. Its is grossly inefficient to allow human beings, plant
and production to be damaged, since many accidents
are preventable.
 A manager’s first responsibility in safety is to know:
➢ His or her legal obligations
➢ The state of affairs in his or her own organisation

 Accident prevention must therefore be
the aim of every manager.
What is accident prevention
 Accident prevention means:
▪ Applying safety measures before accidents happen;
▪ Foreseeing hazards
▪ Having an attitude of mind which automatically takes

account of safety in any deliberations about work.
In short, cultivating a
“safety eye”
 The real test is the ability of the manager to take
effective safety action.
 This entails three main objectives:
➢ To make the environment safe;
➢ To make the job safe;
➢ To make all employees safety-conscious

accidents at the workplace
 When accidents occur they may result in:
▪ A personal injury
▪ Illness
▪ Death
▪ Property damage
What is an accident
 An accident is an unexpected bad event or undesired

event that results in harm to people, damage to
property or loss to process.
Attitudes to accident
causation
 Bad luck
 Destiny
 Chance
 Act of God
 Act of devil
 Carelessness
 Inattentiveness
 Human Factor
WHAT IS THE TRUE
POSITION?
TRUE POSITON
 Accidents are not acts of God
 Accidents do not just happen
 Accidents are caused by people
 Accidents are avoidable

basic causes
 Personal factors
 Job/system factors
Immediate causes of accidents
 Unsafe acts: action of personnel who either out of
mistake or intentionally, disregard correct procedures
and thus, reduce the degree of safety.
examples
 Using equipment without authority or incorrectly
 Making safety device inoperative (removing or

disconnecting)
 Using unsafe or damage equipment
 Taking unsafe posture or position (lifting with back bent

exposing body to hazards, standing under suspended
loads)
 Unsafe loading or stacking of materials
 Failing to use protective clothing
 Horseplay (distracting, teasing, practical jokes,

annoying)
 Hazardous movements (running, jumping, stepping

on or climbing over)
 Under influence of alcohol or drugs
 Failure to follow procedures
 Servicing equipment in operation

 Failure to warn
 Failure to secure
 Operating at improper speed

ACCIDENTS COST ICEBERG
 Injury and illness cost
▪ Insured cost
▪ Medical
▪ Compensation
Property damage cost
 Building damage
 Tools and equipment damage
 Product and material damage
 Expenditure on emergency supply
 Repair and replacement cost

Uninsured miscellaneous costs
 Accidents investigation time
 Wages paid for time loss
 Cost of hiring and/or training replacement
 overtime
 Extra supervisory team
 Clerical time
 Decreased output of injured worker upon return
 Loss of goodness and goodwill

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OCCUPATONAL SAFETY AND

 The Problem of OSH at the workplaces

▪ Work plays a very important role in people’s lives, since

 Have a better understanding of the fundamentals of

 Occupational Safety and Health is a discipline with a

 It is the promotion and the maintenance of the highest

 The prevention among workers of adverse effects on

 The adaptation of work to workers

 In other words, OSH encompasses the social, mental

 Accidents result from contact with a substance or a

 An undesired event which, under slightly different

 They are usually harmful effects of a single contact

 Not all accidents result in injuries.

 The harmful effects of repeated contacts such as

 A condition or practice that has the potential to cause

 The chance that a hazard will result in an accident.

 The loss refers to injury, illness and/or damage to

 It is the identification, evaluation and control of those

 Accidents result from contact with source of energy

 E.g. a flying or moving object has a kinetic energy,

 OSH needs to be managed because of the following

 It is morally unacceptable to put the safety and health

 Adverse publicity affects the fortunes of an

 Penalties for non compliance range from fine to

 ILO Conventions No.184- Safety and Health in

 Factories, Offices and Shops Act, 1970 (Act 328)

 However one looks at the matter there is no honour or

 Death, pain, permanent disability and worry all play

 Insurance might cover the cost of replacing damaged

 They cannot put the blame on ‘circumstances beyond

 To quote from one report of HM Chief Inspector of

a. Efficiency is the key to the future of their

b. They are directly responsible for the level of

➢ His or her legal obligations

➢ The state of affairs in his or her own organisation

▪ Applying safety measures before accidents happen;

▪ Having an attitude of mind which automatically takes

➢ To make the environment safe;

➢ To make the job safe;

➢ To make all employees safety-conscious

 An accident is an unexpected bad event or undesired

 Accidents do not just happen

 Accidents are caused by people

 Accidents are avoidable

 Making safety device inoperative (removing or

 Using unsafe or damage equipment

 Taking unsafe posture or position (lifting with back bent

 Failing to use protective clothing

 Horseplay (distracting, teasing, practical jokes,

 Hazardous movements (running, jumping, stepping

 Failure to follow procedures

 Servicing equipment in operation

 Operating at improper speed

 Tools and equipment damage

 Product and material damage

 Expenditure on emergency supply

 Repair and replacement cost

 Wages paid for time loss

 Cost of hiring and/or training replacement

 Decreased output of injured worker upon return