Estimated Duration: 2 Hours
Objectives:
- To outline the principal differences between safety and health hazards;
- To demonstrate a practical methodology for undertaking risk assessments on health hazards;
- To outline the reasons for undertaking health surveillance;
- To identify some common health hazards in the quarrying industry.
Lecture Plan
Typical Health Risks
Risks to health from work activities include:
- Skin contact with irritant substances, leading to dermatitis etc;
- Inhalation of respiratory sensitisers, triggering immune responses such as asthma
- Badly designed workstations requiring awkward body postures or repetitive movements result in upper limb disorders, repetitive strain injury and other musculoskeletal conditions
- Noise levels which are too high, causing deafness and conditions such as tinnitus
- Too much vibration, eg from hand-held tools leading to hand arm vibration syndrome and circulatory problems;
- Exposure to ionising and non-ionising radiation including ultraviolet in the sun's rays causing burns, sickness and skin cancer
Regulations covering health hazards include:
- Chemicals & hazardous substances: The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations , 1999
- Noise: Noise at Work Regulations, 1989
- Manual Handling: Manual Handling Operations Regulations, 1992
- Ionising radiation: Ionising Radiation (Protection) Regulations, 1985
Health Risk Management:
- Identifying hazards
- Assessing risk by looking at:
- The potential severity of exposure to the hazard is related to the properties of the hazard.
- Potential for exposure means the opportunity to do harm.
- Controlling risk using the hierarchy of risk control
- Example of hierarchy for noise hazards
- Sound absorbent material around noisy machinery
- Use of sound absorbing wall and floor materials
- Cover the source of the noise (eg using hoods);
- Arranging plant and equipment to create screens and reduce the level of reflected sound;
- Isolating workers from the noise source
- As a last resort provide comfortable PPE
Health surveillance
Health surveillance means having a system to look for early signs of ill-health caused by work in order to:
- Detect adverse effects early
- Prevent further harm being caused.
Elements of a health surveillance programme (from QPA Health Surveillance Guide)
Suggested Reading & Other Resources
- QPA Health Surveillance Guide. Published by the Quarry Products Association