A life and death assessment?

Since the beginning of this year five workers left their home and bid farewell to their family in the morning but never went back. Not because they went for an overseas recreational visit but because they died at their workplace. Can you imagine waking up in your bed in the morning and then waking up once again in a hospital bed?

In life we all continuously carry out assessments: when we are growing up, when reach retirement age and also once we have retired. We carry out financial assessments when building our first home and when buying our car or boat. We even make assessments, this time of the eating kind, when we are choosing Chinese delicacies at our preferred oriental restaurant, not to mention our first sip of wine when we order our preferred Chianti or Barolo.

So why don't we conduct a risk assessment of our work place? Why don't we all try not to suffer injury or become ill at our place of work?

When I happily held the position of occupational health and safety officer within the Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OHSA), we, as inspectors, used to mention the simple and effective example of people crossing the road not knowing that they are continuously conducting a risk assessment (RA) of the situation while preparing to cross the road especially in heavy traffic, more so when no pelican lights are present.

Without knowing, every pedestrian crossing the road is assessing all the circumstances around him/her before deciding in a blink of an eye to cross the road safely. Risk assessment in this particular situation takes into account the amount of cars coming your way, their speed, the condition of the road, width of the road, your physical condition to sprint in case of an emergency and, in particular, the weather conditions, to give some examples; and, above all, whether you can make it safely to the other end of the road.

What if everyone, especially employees, conduct a simple RA of their work stations? What if every employer conducts a sufficient, systematic and suitable RA, as required by Act 27 (Chapter 424) of 2000, Legal Notice 36 of 2003 and other subsequent occupational health and safety regulations, of every work station and every work procedure under his/her responsibility? Obviously the end results of the RA must be implemented by the same employer.

I reckon the answers for these questions are obvious for everyone. There will be no accidents and, better still, no fatalities.

In simple terms, an ORA - or occupational risk assessment - is a careful examination of what in your workplace can cause harm, ill health and injury to people.

The idea is that the employee or the employer can evaluate whether enough precautions have been taken or whether more precautions and corrective measures should be in place to prevent accidents, incidents, injuries and ill health.

As a general rule and as a very basic form an ORA can be divided into three sections.

To begin with, one must identify the hazards and dangers.

The second step is to identify the people (third parties) and/or workers who can be affected by the same work and by the hazards listed in step one.

The third step is, in my opinion, the most important. The people identified to conduct the ORA must advise and recommend to the employer the need to seek remedial and corrective measures to adequately stop and eliminate the listed hazards.

Risk evaluation of the identified dangers and hazards must also be listed. Where these dangers and hazards cannot be eliminated, the employer must take adequate measures to ease such danger as much as possible.

Obviously, one has to record the findings and results and if necessary revise the ORA. Most importantly, the employer must abide by the conclusions of such ORA and implement, in the best possible manner and in the best knowledgeable way possible, the corrective measures deemed necessary.

Anyone who feels capable, experienced and skilled can perform and compile an ORA. The OHSA and its inspectors have the duty and the responsibility to ensure that every employer and self-employed person conducts an ORA in the most knowledgeable way possible. Obviously, if an employer or a self-employed person does not feel competent enough to do the job, one can designate a person on one's behalf to carry out the ORA. Only the employer or a self-employed person has the duty and the responsibility to implement, execute and oversee the conclusions of an ORA.

The OHSA has quite a number of people who can assist self-employed, employers and employees alike in safeguarding their occupational health and safety.

I sincerely urge all stakeholders to duly carry their respective responsibilities, both morally and etichally as well as those laid down by law, in order to prevent ill health, accidents and, ultimately, death.