implementing a new health and safety system

James Hong

Occupational Health Safety and Environment Manager for Canadian Operations

Management Systems: CSA Z1000-06 and ISO 14001-04

Industry experience:

Food Service, Plumbing, Water Quality, Piping, Environmental

Established in 1919

Independent, not-for-profit

Global leader in standards development, testing and certification

Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong

Planning and Continuous Improvement•Commitment and Policy

•Responsibilities

Employers

SupervisorsEmployees

Internal Responsibility System

How to determine risk• A committee of workers and supervisors have an open discussion• Determine risks involved with the work• Brainstorm all possible hazards• Talk with other companies in the same industry

• Go one step further

Collecting Data to determine risk• Risk is a dynamic metric, it is always changing and evolving• Using data from actual incidents can help focus areas of concern• How can data work to improve the system

TYPICAL STATS USED IN THE INDUSTRY

Incident Rate = Number of OHSA Recordable Cases X 200,000 Number of Employee labor hours worked

Lost Time Case Rate = Number of Lost Time Cases X 200,000 Number of Employee labor hours worked

Severity Rate = Total Number of lost workdays Total Number of recordable incidents

ADVANTAGES

Good for comparing from company to company

DISADVANTAGES

Only highlights severe injuriesDoesn’t help to determine problem areas

LTA

Medical Aid

First Aid

Near Miss

Lost Time Accidents - Primary focus of most companies - Usually the most reported incident - Used a tool to determine safety cultureMedical Aids - Results in a visit to medical professional - Precursor to a lost time accident - Used a tool to determine safety cultureFirst Aid Accidents - Happens frequently in many industries - Usually not reported - Generally not seen as a metric

Near Misses - Most unreported incident type - No focus is usually given to this category - The most important metric for a safety culture

• Catching concerns before they become a problem• water on a floor• blocked fire exits• leaking pipes• poor maintenance

• The building block to prevention

Near Miss

LTAMedical

Aid

First Aid

Near Miss

Resources• If we believe we can record and fix as many near misses as

possible, how can this happen?

• The system needs to be easy for anyone to report an incident or possible incident

• The data needs to be categorized to ensure we are capturing useful information

• All concerns need to met in a timely manner, or it won’t matter that the problem was identified

Data Entry• Identify key categories for incidents and near misses:

• Slip and fall• Cut hazard• Electrocution • Chemical exposure

• As you have more incidents in one of your categories, you will see where to focus on improvements

• Work on areas of immediate danger and highest frequency to start

• Your focus will change as you improve one area, a different area may emerge as your most dangerous hazard

Solutions• Keep your solutions simple to follow

• Adding procedures may be the answer, but if it is not practical no one will follow it

• Add to your existing programs and automate the control to make easier for employees to follow

• If your solution doesn’t work, try something else, ask for input from the people using the solution

Emerging Trends

- Psychological Health and Safety- Safety training- Personal Protective Equipment- Wellness

QUESTIONS