HEALTH AND SAFETY 31
Do you have your C . R . A . P together ?
By
Chris Coetzee of OHSS Consulting
All plumbers have their ups and down , their highs and lows as well as those days that you just want to burn your clothes after a job . It ’ s to be expected – not every job is the same . But you continually lift yourself up and keep your quality high , because you know that this is what sets you apart from the competitors .
Knowing that jobs change constantly and that you try to prepare for the unexpected , we would like to remind you of another variation of circumstances within your operations – C . R . A . P .
No , we are not trying to bum you out , nor are we trying to make light of health and safety , or risks . So , what are we trying to do ? We want you to remember this information , and what better way than to make it something humorous and different , it will surely stick out . Well , we thought so in any case .
Let ’ s get into what we mean by C . R . A . P : Continuous Risk Assessment Programme . Why do we need to bring this to your attention ? For one thing , we started off by stating that things change , situations are never the same , job to job . Understanding that our circumstances change rapidly and often without warning means that we do truly need to “ Be Prepared ”.
In what way can you be prepared for the ever-changing health and safety situations you and your team will find yourselves in ? To start off , let us first understand the nature of the Risk Assessment and its impact on the overall health and safety of an organisation . Risk management is a management function with the objective of protecting people , assets , environment and income by avoiding or minimising the potential for loss from pure risks , and the provision of funds to recover losses .
The purpose of every plan is to facilitate the attainment of an organisation ' s objectives , mission , and goal . Safety is a goal , which organisations must achieve . Since it ’ s the foundation of risk management , a risk assessment is the most up to date information on what could harm us and how the effects of risks could lead to injuries or loss . Maintaining a risk assessment then is vital to have the clear knowledge of what is creating incidents and accidents within our organisation .
Risk Assessments also give clear and specific safety controls to avoid the nasty consequences of hazards . Knowing these controls is one thing , ensuring they are implemented and monitored in another . And
this is why we have the “ Continuous Risk Assessment Programme ”, it is designed to assist us in ensuing that we have the best available information , instructions , training and supervision to complete jobs in a manner that is not only safe , but also promotes health and welfare .
Senior executive staff must make it clear that they attach the same importance to such a risk prevention and control programme as to any other organisational objectives . Only then will it be possible to have an effective programme .
Chris Coetzee
The purpose of conducting continuous risk assessments is to :
• Identify hazards with the purpose of immediately treating significant risks ;
• Gather information to feed back to Issue-based Risk Assessment and
• Gather information to feed back to Baseline Risk Assessment .
A continuous risk assessment should be conducted on a continuous basis in the work environment . It is a powerful and important form of assessment and should take place continually , as an integral part of day-to-day management . In continuous Risk Assessment , the emphasis is on day-to-day hazard awareness , through Risk Assessment , and immediate risk treatment .
" A continuous risk assessment should be conducted on a continuous basis in the work environment ."
© Plumbing Africa
July 2024 Volume 30 I Number 5 www . plumbingafrica . co . za