MNO2603 EXAM PACK

MNO2603 EXAM PACK Safety Management mno2603 STUDY UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION TO SAFETY MANAGEMENT 1.1 Introduction Managing safety in all contexts of life requires specific knowledge, skills and intentions in order to prevent unsafety and ensure safety. Unsafety implies harm to people or damage to property, equipment, business operations, natural environment or environmental ecosystems. 1.2 Historical developments before the Industrial Revolution (i) Code of Hammarubi This code introduced the practice of noticing and dealing with injuries in the workplace. Payments were made to physicians who treated such injuries, while workers who injured others were charged financially or punished on an eye-for-eye basis. (ii) Rameses II Rameses introduced an industrial medical service for workers, regular cleansing of workers by bathing in the Nile River and isolating injured workers. (iii) Romans The Romans improved the general quality of life and workplace standards by building aqueducts, sewerage systems, public baths, latrines and ventilated houses. 1.2.1 Employer liability During Industrial Revolution, no prescriptions governing safe working conditions existed. In the second half of the 19th century, laws for making the workplace safe were passed. These laws introduced employer liability and government inspection programmes to oversee their implementation. 1.2.2 Making equipment safer During the late 19t century, efforts to enhance safety in the workplace took a different form. The use of child labour declined and was later abolished. Safety measures for the design and maintenance of different types of machines became a legal requirement. Fire escapes became mandatory. 1.2.3 Employee compensation This legislation determined that an employer’s compensation to the injured employee did not depend on whether either party had been negligent or not. The assumption was that both parties were jointly responsible. 1.2.4 Safety regulations and inspections The second half of the 20th century saw a drastic increase in government regulations pertaining to security. The compliance with legislation set a clear direction for ensuring safety in the workplace. Government inspections of focused on identifying and rectifying faults. 1.2.5 The need for training in safety management Understanding and providing the cause of an accident was difficult in the late 19th century. The high frequency of accidents resulted in the need for extensive training in all aspects of safety in all types of work. Formal academic university courses along with informal, basic safety problem-solving courses were introduced. 1.3 Safety hazards, safety management and safety risks 1.3.1 Nature of safety hazards For something to be a safety hazard, it must be tangible. If it is, the safety hazard will consist of matter and can interact with other things, and is thus capable of damage. Once something is classified as a safety hazard, it will always be a safety hazard. For this reason, there is no such thing as a potential safety hazard. 1.3.2 Characteristics of safety hazards Structural characteristics • Tangibility – based on the material having mass, meaning that physical contact can be made with it. • Density – forms the basis of solids, liquids and gases, and represents the amount of matter within a given volume. • Size or dimension – describes the volume of the length, width or depth. • Weight – describes the amount of mass of the gravitational pull from the centre of the Earth. • Shape – focuses on the point of contact between safety hazards. • Texture – relates to the area of contact between safety hazards. Functional characteristics • Energy relates to the kinetic energy that operates within the atoms of each safety hazard. • Energy refers to the capacity to do work. • The two basic energies that all substances possess are kinetic energy and potential energy. • Kinetic energy is the energy that enables a substance or object to move or to be moved from one point or position to another. • Potential energy is the ability of a substance or object to function in an energy type that is not an integral part of this substance. • Consistency (also called symmetry) relates to the unique, consistent way in which each safety hazard functions. The origins of this consistency lie in the natural, physical laws that apply to each safety hazard. For e.g. pure water (a safety hazard) will turn into ice when chilled to freezing point. Ice (also a safety hazard) has a different consistency to pure water. • Interaction is the ability to exchange energy with other safety hazards through contact. For e.g. striking a match on a matchbox (both safety hazards) will generate enough heat to ignite the match. 1.3.3 Safety management as a science The study object of safety management points to the phenomena in the world that are the focus of safety management. The safety study object focuses on the interaction of safety hazards, whether natural, planned or unplanned and the exchange of energy. The management study object focuses on the purposeful selection and use of resources to achieve specific objectives, taking into account the economic principle. The combined study object of safety management as a science focuses on applying the scientific method to the analysis and solution of problems, arising from the management decisions about the safety and orderliness of the interaction between people and machines. 1.4 Basics of safety risk management 1.4.1 Origins of safety hazards Safety risks originate from the interaction and energy exchange of safety hazards in accordance with natural physical laws, and from the contribution of one or all 10 characteristics of safety hazards. When safety hazards interact, some form of exchange occurs. The exchange of energy creates threats, which can result in loss to people and the