NIBOSH IGC-1 Question Answer

                                                           NIBOSH IGC-1 Question Answer

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Find below the latest NIBOSH IGC-1 element question paper with answers. The answers are explained in brief. The required technique used for answering  NIBOSH latest question paper is as per the expectation of Examiner. Ther are many other techniques that are also available. You can opt whichever you find easy. All questions and answers are on my operation experience. I hope these answers will be useful to get success in the NIBOSH exam.
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  NIBOSH IGC-1 Question Answer

Question:

1.

(a) Give the meaning of the following (2)

       i. Health ii. Safety iii. Welfare

Answer 

Health: Health is a physical condition or status of any living or non-living item. It may be good or bad.

For a person, it may be psychological as well as physical

For the property it may be good or bad e.g. Pump is running but it’s with mechanical seal leaking 

The atmosphere is hot or cold.        

2. Safety: It is an assessment of control measure taken or required to be taken, to protect yourself, others, assets as well as the environment from any damage during or in the future performing any task.

           

Example: 1) The release of hydrocarbon into the atmosphere is an unsafe condition. Hence to avoid unsafe condition what are the safety precautions to be taken is a safety.

In this example any hydrocarbon releases to the atmosphere, if it is toxic in nature it will lead to health effects (depends on the property) may catch fire (This will lead to property damage) Release to the atmosphere will pollute the environment.

2) While driving on a car, safety belt not worn by a driver in an unsafe condition 

3) Welfare: In Industry welfare means the fulfillment of the basic needs of the persons working in premises for day to day activities. e.g. toilets, personal protective equipment

(b) Outline workers’ health and safety responsibilities (6)

Though Under health and safety law, the primary responsibility for this is down to employers, workers do have their responsibility towards health and safety as safety is everybody’s responsibility.

 The main responsibility of workers are

·      Follow all rules and regulation

·       Follow all safety procedure

·      Do not horseplay at any place

·      Report any unsafe condition is seen in the plant

·      Report all near misses as well as incidents to his supervisor.

·      Use all mandatory and necessary PPE’s mentioned in the job permit.

·      Do not carry out any job without a permit.

(c) Outline the Employer’s health and safety responsibilities. (8)

Under health and safety law, the primary responsibility for this is down to employers

·         Provide all necessary personal protective equipment to the workers

·         Take all necessary precautions concerning the safety and health of the workers.

·         Educate all workers through training about hazards in the plant.

·         Comply with legal laws and regulations

·         Provide basic welfare to the workers for day to day activities

·         Provide first aid services to the workers in case of injury

2.(a) Identify the three key sections of a health and safety policy. (3)

Statement of Intent: Demonstrates management commitments towards safety by defining a goal, objectives for the organization.

Allocation of roles and responsibility

Arrangement: This sets out the details of the system and procedure that show how the policy will be implemented.

           

  (b) Outline ways in which line managers can implement their organization’s health and safety policy. (5)

             

Line managers are the media of communication between shop floor employees and top management. 

·         Educate all workers about hazards in the plant or the job to be carried out.

·         Provision of all mandatory and necessary PPE’s to the workers

·         Toolbox talks to all workers working in the plant.

·         Directing and monitoring the work execution 

·         Carry out risk assessment and control measure is taken before the handover of        any maintenance job to any Worker        

·         Communicate suggestions received from the shop floor to top management and initiate compliance as per top management decision. 

3 (a) Explain the objectives of carrying out a workplace risk assessment (4)

Risk assessment is carried out for routine as well as non-routine jobs. The main objectives of the process are 

·         Maintain statutorily compliance concerning health and safety standards at the workplace.

·         Evaluate hazards in terms of physical, ergonomically, biological, and environmental and protect the workers from these hazards

·         Asses, what can happen and under what circumstances?

·         Asses, what are the possible consequences?

·         Asses, how likely are the possible consequences to occur?

·         To take the control measures necessary for the safety and health protection of workers.

·         Check whether control measures taken are adequate for the reduction of risk.

·         Demonstrate Management commitment to Health and safety.

·         Protection of the asset from any abnormal condition which may create during performing any task.

·         Last but not least is avoiding a negative business reputation as the consequences of any incident which may lead to a huge cost.

           

(b) Identify why a risk assessment may need to be reviewed. (4)

Implementation of Management of Change  

              Industry day by the process are optimized for cost reduction and increased productivity and certain changes are incorporated in the process by following the management of change the procedure, it may introduction of new equipment, it may be an introduction of new chemical, change in procedure, etc., and this will change the nature of hazards. Hence it is highly required to review the risk assessment.

Improvement in workplace safety may create another hazard

Some times by making some improvements leads to create another hazard. For example provision of louvers from all directions in acidic filtration unit for the protection from monsoon rain but it creates another hazard. It creates a confined area and leads to exposure of acidic vapors during leakage hence the risk assessments need to be reviewed.  

Near miss or Incident Investigation

If any near miss or accidents reported then it needs to be investigated. The elimination of hazards identified during investigation requires some changes, which would lead to a change in hazardous levels.

In that case, Risk assessment is required to be reviewed in that area.

Changes in legislation:

There maybe a change in legislation norms over some time by Government. Organizations have to follow these norms and required to implement those changes. For implementing these changes it may require to introduce new equipment or anything that would comply with the statutory norms. This would also change the level of risk hence in that case Risk assessment required to be reviewed.

  

4. A worker has been injured by slipping on the wet floor after cleaning (8)

Outline possible root causes (Management system failure) of accident

Incident: A worker has been injured by slipping on a wet floor after cleaning.

Root Cause: 

·         Surfaces were slippery was not dried completely after cleaning

·         Slip resistance of flooring too low or patchy for expected use, and type and amount of contaminants

·         Poorly maintained access ways

·         Limited vision or poor illumination

·         The worker could have rushed, running and performing manual tasks on floors with     contaminates

·         Wet floor signage board not placed 

·         Worker was not attentive

·         Pedestrian walkways not well defined

·         Unsuitable footwear worn by a worker

·         Inadequate risk assessment and the safety system works.

·         Cleaning procedure is not up to the mark.

·         Training for a worker is inadequate.

·         Conditioning monitoring of the workplace was not up to the mark.

5. (a) Identify types of emergency in the workplace for which people may need to be evacuated. (4)

Any emergency at the workplace is an unanticipated condition that may hurt your employees, customers, or the public; disrupts or shuts down operations; or causes physical or environmental damage. There should be an emergency plan defined and educated to the concern persons. People are trained to firefight the emergencies on the Emergencies which are natural and emergencies which cannot be controlled by the available staff 

in that case, people are required to evacuate. There should be clear guidelines or procedures for evacuation to be defined. In the following emergencies evacuation of people is required.

·         Floods,

·         Hurricanes,

·         Tornadoes,

·         Fires,

·         Toxic gas releases,

·         Chemical spills,

·         Radiological accidents,

·         Explosions.  

      

(b) Outline why workers must receive training on emergency procedures. (4)

·         Training for all potential emergencies will help both employer and employees be ready for unexpected situations

·         An emergency plan promotes safety awareness and shows the organization's commitment to the safety of workers.

·         Training also helps employees to follow emergency plans which reduce the incidence of injuries and fatalities and also reduces damage to, facilities and other property.

·         This is important to boost employee morale and improve the productivity of the company. It will help save money in the long run.

·         Training Empowers the employee how to use safety Equipment

·         Good reputation of the company

·         Compliance of Statutory requirement

6. Outline what an organization should consider when assessing the Competence of a contractor at the pre-selection stage.  (8)

Following points to be considered for preselecting of Contractor  

1. Planning Stage.

·         In the planning stage decide what type of job is required to be done

·         Scope to job to be defined

·         What are the risks are associated with the job

·         Placement of bids of contract

2. Selection of Contractor

·         Authorization: Ensure contractor fulfill all statutory terms holding 

·         Labour license, Is there any legal case or charges imparted by the government authority

·         Previous experience in the job defined in the scope, what type of problem he has faced earlier

·         Contactor performance report: Is there any safety incident happened in the past, 

·         Competency level

·         Qualification of contractor persons

·         Understanding of language 

·         Reference from an earlier organization

·         Terms and condition  

·         Resource management in case of an additional requirement if it arises.

·         Penalty clauses

·         Financial conditions.

7. Identify possible costs to an organization of work-related ill-health (8)

The possible cost to an organization of work-related ill-health can be categorized into two types.

(1) Direct Cost

(2)Indirect Cost

·         Direct costs relate to elements of the care process, such as prevention, diagnosis, therapy, rehabilitation, and care

·         Indirect costs arise as a secondary consequence of the disease or provide treatment.          

(1)   Direct Cost: 

·         Health Care Cost: procedure-specific staff, along with the supplies required for this particular treatment

·         Medical cost for rehabilitation, treatment

·         Cost of arranging resources

·         Number of absenteeism days of the employee

·         Compensation on sick leave benefit

·         Cost on disability benefit 

 (2)Indirect Cost: 

·         Temporary replacement of the employee

·         Recruitment cost of a new employee for that position

·         Training cost of a new employee for the build-up of competency of the job

·         Productivity cost due to absenteeism of ill employee

·         Quality of life 

·         Loss of contribution to society

·         Budget Impact cost

·         Insurance premium impact cost.

·         Fines resulting from prosecution by the enforcement authority

·         Loss of goodwill and a poor corporate image;

·         Additional administration time incurred

·         Lower employee morale possibly leading to reduced productivity

8. Outline what needs to be considered when organizing first aid in the Workplace. (8)

·         No of Boxes: In India, the employers are required to provide one first-aid box for every 150 workers

·         Number of first aid trained person 

·         First aid trained a person should be available during the working hours of the workplace

·         Availability of first aid equipment like first aid box, CPR cardiopulmonary resuscitation kit, etc.

·         Easy access to first aid kit equipment.

·         Inspection and maintenance of first aid kit/box 

·         Maintaining of record on the use of material.

·         Availability of first aid material

·         Signage board like CPR chart to be displayed in the workplace.

·         Common medicine to be placed inside the boxes. (Non prescribed)

9. Outline reasons why accidents in a workplace should be reported and recorded

·         Reporting an accident at the workplace is a legal requirement (8)

·         Accident reporting is required for finding out the root cause of the accident (Investigation)

·         Take the necessary steps for the elimination of root cause.

·         It should not get repeated.

·         Increase awareness of risk to others so that their morale should get boosted

·         Commitment of management towards a safe culture.

·         To claim for the benefit to the employee

·         The employer may also face negative consequences in the long-term. For example, not reporting injuries may result in higher premiums and audits

·         Reporting accident in time will help for cutting down on the health costs and legal fees related to workers’ comp, and the ability to improve workplace safety as well as safety programs.

·         Avoid legal consequences. 

10. Identify information that could be considered when reviewing an Organization’s health and safety performance (8)

·         Comparative data the trend with analysis report of various types of incidents happened in the workplace.

·         Analysis of Target Vs achieved a goal

·         Audit performance report

·         Outcome from safety committee meetings i.e. safety (observations shared during the safety committee meeting and their compliance report

·         Risk analysis review 

·         Change in statutory norms (Standards)

·         Comparison of the safety performance of some types of Organization  

·         Feedback from various agencies

·         Any new change or the facility incorporated in the workplace.

·         Competency report of employee’s w.r.t health and safety. Which will help for further improvement

·         Occupational health report of employees.

11. Posters are commonly used to communicate health and safety information in the workplace

(a) Outline benefits of using posters to communicate to workers (3)

·         Safety posters increased awareness among the workers of what, to do and what not to do. Sometimes some safety posters represent the correct way of doing, this also helps them how to do the job correctly.

·         It helps to subsidize management responsibility.

·         By providing safety posters at the workplace it shows management commitment towards safety 

·         It helps in the reduction of workplace incidents.

·         It is a quick and correct instant message to all.

·         It helps to boost up the morale of all.

·         By reduction in an accident, it helps to save money.

·         It increases safety performance. 

(b) Outline the limitations of using posters to communicate with workers. (5)

·         People start to notice only what is new. Using the same poster beyond a point can be useless as it merges into the background

·         Language barriers, if posters are only in English and not in the local language then it is difficult to give a correct message to the worker if he does not understand the English language.

·         Too many posters irritate the workers so the impact of the poster gets diminishes and does not create the correct message to the workers.

·         If the posters are not creative or attractive in nature People can pass by a poster 100 times without really changing the way they work,

·         If the poster text size is not clearly legible or only partially legible then people use to ignore reading of the poster.

·         If relevant posters are not placed then workers assume that these posters are for marketing safety culture only.