Free Essay Example on Public Safety Management

Health and safety are imperative in any workplace. There are laws that govern the health and safety of the workers at the workplace. Such laws must be followed otherwise serious accidents might occur at the workplace. Moreover, frequent update of the safety measures is important since it ensures efficiency; this includes aspects such as the escape ladder. This is important especially during fire accidents since people will be able to move out faster before the incidence worsens. This is possible if the workplace has a health and safety advisor. The health and safety advisor plays a major role in advising the staff on safety matters at work. However, it is more important to prevent the risk completely than waiting for it to occur. For instance, when dealing with fire, before the installation of fire extinguishers, it is important to keep the place safe so that there are little chances of a fire breakout. This might involve covering live wires among other safety measures. This reduces the expenditure on health and safety and in the long run it helps people from getting injured. In this light, this paper highlights health and safety at the workplace focusing on regulations, risk assessments and risk rating.

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Recommendations on Improving Health and Safety Management

The following are the health and safety recommendations for the workplace. Firstly, the company must install the building with fire fighting machines. The most recommended one is a fire extinguisher to help the workers in case there is a fire breakout. Apart from that, they should provide markings on the doors and the floor that guide people on their movement in case of a fire breakout. Secondly, housekeeping is an important aspect of health and safety. Flammable materials like paints and varnish should be stored in a proper place. These materials induce burning in case of an accident. According to Ball and Ball-King (2014), when they are kept in the right place, there will be fewer chances of fire spreading all over and causing harm. Still, on the issue of housekeeping, the company should remain clean at all times to reduce chances of contracting diseases from the workers. There are also small incidents whereby people fall. Such accidents occur because the slippery floors are not marked. Regarding this, slippery floors need to be marked so that both the workers and visitors can walk with caution; this will reduce the rate of accidents.

Hazard Identification and Risk Management

A hazard is anything that might cause an accident or result to some risks. Hazards are dangerous in any working area. In the company, the main hazards identified were the flammable materials left after use and the naked cables. These include; paints tarnishes and fillers. According to Brooke (2004), they are hazardous since they support burning and can worsen a fire outbreak. In this perspective, such hazardous materials need a risk management to help curb them. The company should reduce the number of the flammable materials they store at their stores. The increase in a number of the flammable materials will mean an increase in the rate at which the fire will spread. Since the place needs to remain safe for the workers and the visitors, reduction in storage of the flammable materials is ideal. Arguably, the company can still store the materials but make sure they are stored in the right places. Poor housekeeping is dangerous since it can spark a fire. When the flammable materials are stored near any source of fire, they might experience a fire outbreak (Zealand, 2014). The naked cables too are hazardous and covering them or replacement will be the best step in risk management.

Risk Rating Process

Normally, people rate risks after identifying the hazards in a given place. Risk rating is crucial since it helps in decision-making. The rating of the risk focuses on the possibilities of the risk happening and the number of people that might be injured. Risk rating should be done from a low to high scale. Della-Giustina (2014) agrees that the application of qualitative risk rating method is ideal in determining the risk-rating process. This method deals with possibilities of the risk occurrence; that is minimum, low, medium and high. Firstly, one should have the likelihood and the severity of injury in numbers (Texas Department of Public Safety, 2008). With these numbers, you multiply the two so that you manage to get the rating that might be minimal, low, medium or high. For example,

LIKELIHOOD x SEVERITY of INJURY = RISK RATING.

Certainly, these ratings are important since they help in decision-making. When the rating is low or minimal, even the risk is minimal. However, one can still take risk management to ensure that they bring the risks to zero. Medium and high ratings are dangerous. With such ratings, one should seek the help of the professionals to review the whole safety system.

Findings of a Safety Inspection

There was a safety inspection at the workplace that resulted in both positive and negative outcomes. The first positive finding was that there was a risk management measure in place case of a fire outbreak. This involved an alarm and the exit door in case of an inferno. As noted before, these are important measures for practicing at any workplace to ensure the safety of the workers. With the alarm, alerting others during a fire breakout will help them to move out swiftly and save them from injuries and even deaths (Pastor, 2009). Moreover, the exit indication will also help the workers and visitors to use the right doors in case of an accident. Conversely, the workplace had negative findings as well. One of the noted negative findings is the careless placement of flammable liquid; this is very dangerous since it can lead to fire breakout. Moreover, the floor is not linear all through. Piled off tiles at some sections and this can cause a person to fall.

In conclusion, as discussed, safety measures are very crucial in any workplace. The first safety recommendation is that the company must install fire fighting equipment. The most recommended one is a fire extinguisher to help the workers put off a fire in case there is a breakout. Additionally, hazard identification is necessary as well. The company should reduce the number of the flammable materials they store at their stores. An increase in the number of the combustible materials will also mean an increase in the rate at which the fire will spread. Since the place needs to remain safe for the workers and the visitors, reduction in storage of the flammable materials is ideal.

References

Ball, D. J., & Ball-King, L. (2014). Public Safety and Risk Assessment: Improving Decision Making. New York: Routledge.

Brooke, K. (2004). Sharing Information Between Public Safety and Transportation Agencies for Traffic Incident Management. Chicago: Transportation Research Board.

Della-Giustina, D. E. (2014). Fire Safety Management Handbook. New York: CRC Press.

Pastor, J. F. (2009). Terrorism and Public Safety Policing: Implications for the Obama Presidency. New York: CRC Press.

Texas Department of Public Safety. (2008). Texas Department of Public Safety: Management and Organizational Structure Study. Chicago: Deloitte Consulting.

Zealand, S. N. (2014). Electricity and Gas Industries: Safety management systems for public safety. New York: ISBN.