PART 2: BACK TO BASICS
In Part 1 of our series “How to prevent mining and other workplace accidents” we addressed the unfortunate, often exponential increase in the number of high potential incidents and fatal accidents during what is called the “silly season” towards the end of each year, and we explored the various reasons for this, including what we have called the “Pearl Harbour Syndrome”. In summary, the “Pearl Harbour Syndrome” provides four reasons why accidents happen, namely (a) ignoring the warning signs, (b) complacency (“it won’t happen” and absolute faith that the health and safety system in place will prevent accidents without testing and re-testing the system), (c) underestimating the potential for incidents and accidents to happen (“if we cannot do it, they cannot do it”), and (d) a lack of co-operation, co-ordination and communication between various disciplines, working teams, management, and supervision. A copy of Part 1 in the series can be found here https://bv-inc.co.za/ph/.
In Part 2 we focus on what we refer to as “getting back to basics” and understanding key components of the health and safety system which are required in order to prevent incidents and accidents from happening.
Health and safety in South African workplaces is governed by two pieces of legislation. The Mine Health and Safety Act, No. 29 of 1996 (MHSA) applies to the mining sector, while the Occupational Health and Safety Act, No. 85 of 1993 (OHSA) applies to non-mining workplaces.
Regardless of whether the MHSA or OHSA applies there are certain universal and basic principles that apply and must be complied with in order to prevent incidents or accidents.
These “back to basics” principles consist of six separate, but related principles. If any of the principles are not addressed appropriately, the system has the potential to fail, allowing incidents and accidents to occur.
The “back to basics” principles are the following:
- Principle 1 – Conducting appropriate hazard identification and risk assessments (HIRAs) consisting of baseline HIRAs, issue-based HIRAs, and continuous HIRAs;
- Principle 2 – Preparing and implementing appropriate measures to address the identified hazards and the assessed risks consisting of codes of practice, standards, procedures and instructions;
- Principle 3 – Preparing and implementing an appropriate health and safety training and communication system aimed, primarily at communicating the identified hazards and risks and the measures to be implemented to avoid the risks from eventuating, consisting of induction, refresher training, on-the-job training, job-specific training, formal training, communication through health and safety meetings, etc.;
- Principle 4 – Appointing appropriate and competent supervisors who know and understand the hazards and risks to which employees are exposed and how to address these hazards and risks;
- Principle 5 – Implementation of a system of overinspection aimed at “closing of the loop”, consisting of formal and informal inspections, planned task observations, etc.; and
- Principle 6 – Implementation of a contractor management system which is aligned with the five key principles referred to above.
Principle 5 is aimed at “closing of the loop” is designed to facilitate identification of new hazards and risks. If new hazards and risks are identified, appropriate amendments must be made to the applicable codes of practice, standards, procedures, and instructions. Where changes are made to these documents, the training modules must be updated, and employees must be trained on these amendments. Once this process has been completed, the appointed supervisors must implement the amendments to the health and safety system within the area of their responsibility. The process starts again, with overinspection, and there must be a continuous improvement through “closing of the loop”.
The six principles should not only be reflected in the formal health and safety system, and individuals can implement the six principles, informally, within the area of their responsibility. What is important, is that the six principles are implemented, holistically, and will go a long way towards preventing incidents and accidents.
For more information, please contact Warren Beech at warren@bv-inc.co.za.