Articles in Health & Safety
Ergonomic Considerations
May 23rd, 2011South African organisations need to realise that ergonomics is not another marketing tool, but a value added activity. Ergonomics will not solve all problems at work, but will establish intervention programmes to implement and support any technological or system changes.
Defining Ergonomics:
Various definitions or explanations of this term exists. The most common of these include:
The relationship between the employee, the task and the working environment
Human factor science or engineering
Man, machine and task – the effective safe, healthy and environmental friendly interaction between the three
Ergonomic considerations and requirements can find a place across all functions of any organisation.
When manually handling items in the workplace, employees should ask the following six questions in order to assess the risks related to their answers.
Must the load be moved?
If the load does not need to be moved – do not do it.
Must the load be lifted?
Rather assess whether the load can be slid, pushed, rolled, poured or moved in any other manner, before resorting to lifting.
Can the load be moved mechanically?
Amputations Related To The Workplace
November 17th, 2010Amputations are widespread in the workplace. Most of all workplace amputations occur in the manufacturing sector. The rest occur in construction, agriculture, wholesale, retail and service industries.
Your Incident Investigation Process – A True Reflection?
October 18th, 2010We cannot get away from fault finding!
The concept of focusing on facts – is not practiced. So what is really happening in our organizations?
We have safety or production bonuses.
How does …
Safety of Woman In The Working Environment
July 14th, 2010Woman in the working environment has become a more prominent force over the past decade due to factors such as employment equity and gender equality issues, to mention a few …
Health Safety Legal Liability
June 22nd, 2010It is 17 years since the promulgation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (Act 85 of 1993), yet there are many organisation who have not yet complied with the …
Health and Safety of Children at Work Regulations
April 8th, 2010The Health and Safety of Children at Work regulations were promulgated on the 15th of January 2010 and subsequently added to the list of existing regulations in the Occupational Health …
Differentiating between a SHE File and a SHE Plan
November 10th, 2009There is a common misperception that the SHE File and the SHE Plan is one and the same thing. This is incorrect. The SHE Plan forms part of the SHE …
How to implement a job safety analysis process
October 14th, 2009Success at implementing a job safety analysis process depends partly on the frequency of its use. If your team had produced a valuable business management tool, make it a living …
Health and Safety Inspection Checklist
September 15th, 2009Due to popular demand, we return to an example of a section of a health and safety representative inspection checklist.
It is important to notice that there is a BIG difference …
The Causes & Effects of Incidents
August 17th, 2009Causes of Incidents
Incidents can be generally defined as being the result of unsafe workplace conditions, acts, or poor decision making by someone in the chain of events. Statistics differ, …