Taylor and Francis Group is part of the Academic Publishing Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 3099067.

Informa

Students: Chapter 10

Click on the tabs below to view the content for each chapter.

Quizzes

Self-test Questions

  1. What are the main duties of employers laid down in Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974?
  2. What services can be provided in an employee assistance programme?
  3. The number of fatal accidents declined in the period 1981–2011. True or false?
  4. What is the difference between a safety officer and safety representative?
  5. What are the principal requirements of the COSHH regulations 1988?
  6. Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, employees can work up to eight hours without a statutory break. True or false?
  7. Name six causes of occupational stress.
  8. What are the three main stages in risk assessment?
  9. What are the duties on designers, manufacturer, suppliers and installers under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974?
  10. What is an improvement notice?
Answers

1.

  • The provision of systems of work, equipment and an environment that are all safe
  • Arrangements for the use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances that are all safe
  • Adequate and necessary information, supervision training and instruction to ensure effective employee safety

2.

  • Confidential telephone helpline for employees for personal emergencies
  • Workshops to help employees who have to deal with stressful caring responsibilities
  • Assistance in dealing with work-related traumatic events
  • Confidential referrals to specialists dealing with drugs, HIV or alcohol-related problems

3. True. See Figure 10.1.

4. The safety officer is appointed by the organisation, whereas the safety representative is elected by the workforce (often through the union) to look after the interests of the workforce.

5.

  • A risk assessment must be made to identify all potentially hazardous substances and to set out the precautions required
  • System must be put in place to prevent or control these risks
  • Employer must make sure that these controls are effectively put to use and that records are kept
  • Employers must carry out health surveillance of employees where there is a known identifiable risk
  • Employees must be informed of hazards and trained in the control processes

6. False – up to six hours.

7. Select six from:

  • Job insecurity
  • Increase in work intensity
  • Aggressive management styles
  • Lack of effective workplace communication
  • Overt or insidious bullying and harassment
  • Faulty selection for promotion or transfer and lack of guidance and training
  • Employees may be exposed to situations which they find uncomfortable, such as continually dealing with customers, excessive computer work, repetitive or fragmented work or having to make regular public presentations
  • The constant fear of organisational change through restructuring, takeovers, mergers or business process re-engineering
  • A lack of control over their work, their environment or their career progression can also be stressful

8.

  • Identifying risks and hazards
  • Assessing those risks and hazards
  • Designing, implementing and monitoring measures to eliminate or minimise risk

9.

  • Incorporating safety features at the design stage
  • Testing for risks to health
  • Providing full safety instructions and hazard details

10. A notice issued by the enforcing agency (usually a factory inspector) that requires a contravention of a statutory provision to be put right within a specified time period.

Annotated Links

The Health and Safety Executive website, which provides a comprehensive list of publications. http://www.open.gov.uk.hse

Best practice from the British Safety Council. http://www.britishsafetycouncil.co.uk

Occupational health and safety information from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. http://www.rospa.co.uk

See Times 100 case on Portakabin at http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/portakabin/adding-value-through-health-and-safety/introduction.html#axzz2PgFkBj13

See Times 100 case on First Group at http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/first-group/investing-in-safety/introduction.html#axzz2PgFkBj13

See Times 100 case on BOC at http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/boc/operating-an-effective-safety-health-and-environmental-policy/introduction.html#axzz2PgFkBj13

Annotated Further Reading Guide

ACAS (2009) Stress at Work. Advisory booklet. Acas. Available at: http://www.acas.org.uk/. 

Barrett, B. (2009) The Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008: The Cost of Behaving Dangerously in the Workplace. Industrial Law Journal, March, 38(1): 73–79.

IDS (2009) Employee Health and Well-being. HR Study 891. Income Data Services. April.

The case on Tate and Lyle is especially illuminating.

Cudworth, A. (2010) The Positive Impact of Communication on Safety at Shell. Strategic Communication Management, January, 14(1): 16–19.

A case study of the initiative Goal Zero to reduce Shell’s number of accidents.

Godwin, K. (2011) Mental Health at Work. Equal Opportunities Review, February, 209: 10–14.

Labour Research (2011) Workplace Safety must be More Gender Aware. Labour Research, March, 100(3): 19–21.

Sinclair, A. and O’Reagon, S. (2007) Mental Health at Work. Institute of Employment Studies.

Stranks, J. (2008) Health and Safety at Work: An Essential Guide for Managers, 8th ed. Kogan Page.

Stranks, J. (2010) Health and Safety at Work: An Essential Guide for Managers, 9th ed. Kogan Page.

Suff, R. (2010) Managing Stress at Work: The 2010 IRS Survey. IRS Employment Review, 8 March, 10pp.  

Suff, R. (2010) Managing Stress-related Absence at Work: The 2010 IRS Survey. IRS Employment Review, 30 March, 7pp.  

Tolley’s Health and Safety at Work 2011 (2011). 23rd ed. LexisNexis.

Walker, S. (2010) Health and Safety: Law and Practice for Small to Medium Enterprises. Bingley: Emerald Group.

Croner Publications produce a monthly Health and Safety at Work, which contains general articles and a full list of current legislation.

Extra Case Studies

Case 1

Health and well-being at Daily Telegraph

In order to be more proactive about early intervention and preventative measures, in 2010, the Daily Telegraph set up a health and well-being committee in which key stakeholders come together every quarter to ensure all healthcare benefits are integrated and geared to meet strategic objectives. Stakeholders include the HR team, gym manager, health and safety manager, insurer, EAP and healthcare provider, physiotherapists and GPs.

Integration was considered important because the benefits, such as onsite GP service two afternoons a week, onsite physiotherapists, nutritionists and masseurs and annual health checks, had grown over the years without much overall plan to ensure resources were working together to keep employees at work or get them back as quickly as feasible.

During the first two years of the committee, the group reduced the number of average sick days per staff member from 4.1 to 3.5 and staff turnover reduced from 21 to 10 per cent, which allowed private medical insurance costs to reduce by 15 per cent.

Source: Griffiths, J. (2012) Taking Care of Business. People Management, October, 39–42.