Importance of contractor safety management and improve worker’s perception

Importance of contractor safety management and improve worker’s perception

Contractor Safety Management: With references to many industrial accident’s studies, it is revealed that contractual workmen are most vulnerable population to work injuries i.e. Fatality, Lost time accident, accident frequency rate, restricted workdays rate within individual industries and all industries as a whole.

Needs of Contractor Management System

As the contractor workers are directly exposing to workplace hazards, it is a best practice for employers to have a formal contractor management program to select a contractor carefully based on their health and safety competence and ensure communication, participation, and consultation to prevent incidences.

Competency requirement for contractor selection

Below may be the competence criteria to select contractors: 

1. Documentary evidence of their health and safety policy.
2. Review of their risk assessments.
3. The qualifications and training records of staff/workers (skilled & Unskilled).
4. Membership of a professional organization or certified body.
5. Records of maintenance and test for plant and equipment.
6. Names of previous or current clients.
7. Health & Safety performance and accident history records.
8. Records of enforcement action taken by authorities against them.
9. Proof of adequate resources, such as access to specialist safety assistance.

How to influence a worker's safety related behaviour?

Individual worker’s behavior is critical importance to health and safety management of any organization. If one worker behaves in an ideal safe manner, but another may not, and this unsafe behavior may endanger themselves and others.

It is fact that most of the workplace accidents are caused by unsafe acts i.e. unsafe behavior of a worker. We cannot blame to worker and conclude as carelessness, but we should identify underlying causes, take corrective actions, and try to understand at how "human factors" influence working practices.

How to influence workers safety related behaviour

There are three main significant factors influence a worker's safety related behavior:

Individual factor:

Related to personal characteristics (attitude, competence, motivation, perception, etc.).

Attitude i.e. person's point of view or way of looking at something; how they think and feel about it. Good attitude must be encouraged, and bad attitude needs to be changed.

It looks very difficult to change individual attitude but can be done using various methods, such as: training and education, high impact intervention, enforcement, participation, and consultation, etc.

Job factor:

Related to task that they are performing.

Ergonomic design may affect workers comfortably to perform the task.

Workload i.e. the amount of work, rate of work, deadlines, and variety of work.

Work Environment i.e. workplace conditions such as space, illumination, noise, temperature, humidity, etc.

Displays and controls i.e. designed displays, marking, coding, capacity, etc. visual management.

Procedures i.e. Quality of procedures, revised/ obsolete, irretrievably, complexity etc. procedures should be accurate, concise, in use familiar language.

Organizational factor:

Related to organization’s characteristics that they are working for.

Safety culture of the organization

Safety policies and procedures

Safety commitment and leadership from management

Levels of supervision

Peer-group pressure

Consultation and worker involvement in management health and safety issues

Communication to convey health and safety messages and information to the workforce and validate the understanding of those messages.

Resources i.e. Availability of safe equipment, PPEs, safety training based on gap analysis, etc.

Work patterns i.e. Shift pattern, over time, etc.

 

How to improve worker’s perception of hazard and Risk?

We can define perception as the way in which a person interprets information detected by their senses (touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste).

How to improve worker’s perception of Hazard and Risk

Some hazards i.e. CO in the workplace cannot be detected by human senses as this gas is colourless, odourless and tasteless yet deadly at relatively low concentrations so the risk associated with these hazards will not be perceived. Similarly, partially-sighted person may not be able to see trip hazards, a colour-blind worker may not be able to differentiate correctly between red and green, PPE such as hearing protection reduces sharpness of hearing, gloves reduce sensitivity, loud noise in the workplace also reduces a person's ability to hear properly and this may create risk to themselves and others.

However, other than "sensory impairment" issue, person's brain may interpret differently the information sent to it by the senses. A person with fully functioning senses can still make errors in the way they interpret sensory information. There may also be other factors that can mislead a person's perception viz. Previous experiences, Drugs and alcohol, Illness, Stress, Fatigue, Training and education, etc.

Tactics of improving worker’s perception

1. Carry out surveys or/and collect information with personal discussion, try to understand the problems and accordingly plan corrective action as below:
2. Conduct safety awareness campaigns using posters, toolbox talks, shop floor safety meetings etc.
3. Increase awareness of the hazard and its consequences.
4. Provide gas detectors with alarm devices
5. Highlight hazards by displaying safety signs viz hearing protection, hazard warning sign, caution signage, barrier tapes, etc.
6. Ensure adequate illumination in workplace.
7. Remove distractions such as noise or excessive heat which can cause fatigue.
8. Implement drugs and alcohol policy and communicate disciplinary action procedure

Conclusion

Contractor safety management system help employers to maintain the competent workmen in workplace within organization. Competent workmen are less vulnerable to accident and helps to ensure health and safety compliance in workplace.

Different motivational, taring and influencing programmes may be conducted to improve the behavior and HSE perception of workmen.