Health and Safety in the Engineering Workplace

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Task 1

Workers present in an auto-body manufacturing shop are theoretically exposed to a multiplicity of physical and chemical hazards. The physical hazards include ergonomic injuries, noise, repetitive stress, lifts and cutting tools. On the other hand, the chemical hazards include polyisocyanates and diisocyanates from spray paints and volatile organics from solvents and fillers. However, due to these physical and chemical hazards, there are regulations set to protect the health and safety of the workers. The key features of relevant regulations in the shops include the reduction of risks sources, prevention of accidents trough higher forfeits for poor safety management. The regulations also instill greater ownership of health and safety outcomes by the shop.

Additionally, the Workplace Safety & Health Act stipulates that the management should conduct risk assessments to control or remove risks to workers at the work place. This means that it is the duty of the employees to report to the relevant authority in the shop if they feel that their health and safety is at danger due to the duties they are performing in the shop. Conversely, the employer has a duty of listening to the employees and ensuring that the employees are not overworked or performing hard tasks which might threaten their health and safety. However, if the employees do complain about their health and safety issues and the management does not listen or help them, the employees have a responsibility to report to the proper authorities such as workers unions. These workers union ensure that there is fair treatment of employees in their work place. For discarding the health and safety of the employees, the management can face serious law suits.

Key features of health and safety legislation and regulations

The welfare of employees working in any engineering environment is of primary importance. All workers should carry out their work in a safe manner where there are no any negative effects on their safety or health. Many engineering organizations make sure that there is an improvement in their health and safety regulations not only for the subsidy of the workers but also for the competitive aspect. Good examples of organizations that do ensure improvement of health and safety regulations of employees include America Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). In these two engineering organizations, safety and health of employees in the work place is about the measures put up to protect the employees who may be affected by undertakings in the work place.

Since both organizations have improved safety and health regulations for the employees, the organizations expect that it is the responsibility of the workers to follow safety working principles and procedures. The organizations expect that the workers do not participate in any unsafe act that may endanger the follow workers or themselves. Additionally, the employees have a responsibility of using personal protective equipments when working. This means that it is the responsibility of the management to ensure that the employees adhere to all their responsibilities. The management has the responsibility of providing personal protective equipments to the workers and providing working principles and procedures. Moreover, the management has a responsibility of ensuring that all equipments in the organization are in good working condition. This means that the inspection of the equipments has to be regularly done .

Apart from the regulations, the legislation largely controls the health and safety of employees in (ASEE) and (ASCE) engineering organizations. The laws put up by the legislation govern the handling of employees in terms of their safety and health. For instance, in the two organizations, the law states that all employees should have an insurance cover for their health. Apart from this, the working environment should be conducive for all employees. If the management breaks these regulations and rules, the legislation has to intervene, and criminal charges are taken towards the management. The management will end up paying damages to the employees.

Task 2

Workers have the right to have a safe place of work. The health and safety regulations require all employers to provide the employees with working conditions that are not dangerous in any way. However, both the employees and the employer are responsible for safety and health in the workplace. Therefore, in the case of packaging and shipping department, it is the responsibility of the employees to co-ordinate copiously with the employer on all issues relation to safety and health. The employees have a responsibility to inform their employer of any unsafe manual handling practice they detect. Additionally, the employees have the responsibility of following all the safety and health guidelines provided by the employer. On the other hand, the employer has the responsibility of reviewing the working practice and eliminating any manual handling that is not utter necessary. The employer also has the responsibility of carrying out assessments of all the manual handling that may cause injury to the employees.

The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 which was amended in 2002 is responsible for ensuring safety and health of employees involved in heavy lifting. As per the law, valuation should be conducted on all working conditions that involve heavy lifting. Any risk of injury associated with heavy lifting should be reduced in the working places. As a result, employees should be provided with machines to help them in the heavy lifting duties. If the management fails to follow the regulation, the employees may file personal injury claim for compensation if there is any injury.

References

Stallcup, J. G., & Stallcup, J. W. (2003). OSHA – Stallcup’s high-voltage andtelecommunications regulations simplified. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.