Electrical Safety in the Workplace: Control Measures
Electrical Safety in the Workplace: Control Measures |
|
Control measures encompass the actions that have been taken, the requirements that have been put in place in an effort to control the environment. This involves a legislative framework as well as a workplace administrative framework. Safety legislation provides an important landscape for safety. Government agencies enforce workplace health and safety legislation. Depending on the area of the world in which you live, there may be different types of governmental regulations in place regarding workplace safety. In the country of Canada, Labour Canada handles workplaces regulated by the federal government. Provincial Government Departments and Ministries deal with all other workplaces within provincial boundaries. In the province of Nova Scotia, the Occupational Health and Safety Division of the Nova Scotia Department of Labour deals with workplaces under the provinces' jurisdiction.
In Nova Scotia, the piece of legislation governing workplace safety is the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The provisions described in this proactive piece of legislation are intended to help create safer and healthier workplaces. The Act outlines the rights and responsibilities of employees, employers and others in the workplace. However, the new Act goes further in that it provides for minimum standards on the policies and procedures that must be in place in a workplace in order to ensure a safe and healthy environment. The legislative Act is the actual legal document regarding Occupational Health and safety. The implementation of the Act is structured around a number of different regulations which specify additional detail with regards to how the spirit of the Act are to be implemented. The list below provides active links to the appropriate section of the Government of Nova Scotia legislative documents:
We all share the desire to ensure our workplaces are safe and healthy. Each of us can be an important agent in integrating the Internal Responsibility System as a key operating principle in how we go about our work. We all want everyone to be able to go home at the end of the work day without injury or illness related to their work.
The laws, legislation and regulations that have been enacted will vary in scope and breadth depending on the jurisdictional area. Health and safety legislation and regulations incorporate many aspects of the workplace. It is important to have an understanding of what the local laws, and regulations are in the country and area where you are working.
Another important aspect of proactive electrical safety relates to the workplace management and administration. Different workplaces are managed in different organizational structures. Some organizations are small, whereas others are quite large, some people are entrepreneurs and are in fact their own personal managers. Management exerts a great proactive influence with regards to electrical safety in the workplace. While management has the responsibility to provide a safe working environment and lay down the rules with regards to safety, it is the responsibility of the employee to use the protective equipment and devices provided. Orientation and training for new employees is crucial and a continuing committment to professional development and safety training for all employees is very important. Maintaining safety is now a mandatory part of every job.
It is not necessary to look very far to see examples of how administrative level control and influence can be wielded with respect to workplace safety. Administrative and management level control and influence is evident in the policies, procedures and actions taken within the workplace. One of the workplace procedures that has been developed as a safe practice includes what many have termed the "lockout" or "lockout/tagout" procedure. This is a procedure that saves lives. It implements a process whereby if someone is going to be working in association with a component of the electrical system, they have isolated the energy source or sources from a machine, equipment, tool or electrical installation. Once the power has been isolated, action is taken to dissipate any residual energy in a system, and then the isolated components of the system are secured by an inhibiting device that is operated by a key or other process. Locks are used to keep the disconnected aspects disconnected and tags are used as indicators of what has been blocked and/or disconnected. An integral aspect of this system is the committment by all that no person, other than the person who installed it, shall remove a lock-out device or a lock-out tag on a machine, equipment, tool or electrical installation. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is also an important aspect of workplace safety. This encompasses things such as head protection, hearing protection, eye protection, foot protection, hand protection, protective clothing and respiratory protection. Again, depending on the type of work, different types of personal protective equipment will be warranted. Protective safety equipment should be available and supplied at the work setting. PPE is to be used only when there is no other way to eliminate a health or safety risk. All other possible measures and actions should be taken to prevent an accident from occurring before resorting to protecting oneself should an accident occur. PPE is a last resort safeguard that must be chosen to match the individual job and specific situation.
Management and administrative controls are aspects of loss control or loss prevention safety systems. Administrative controls include things like creating job procedures, purchasing proper tools and equipment, and defining policies and procedures for doing things. As the examples above indicate, with personal respect to the provision of protective equipment and defined procedures, there is a tremendous influence that can be exerted at the higher organizational levels that influence workplace safety. These are an important line of defense in promoting and creating a safe workplace.
 |
Something to think about with regards to work: "It is not real work unless you would rather be doing something else." ~ James Matthew Barrie (1860 - 1937) Scottish dramatist, novelist |
|
|
 |
 |
