Paper Example on Health and Safety of Workers

To ensure the health and safety of workers at DrugPharma workplace policies and procedures have been put in place; in addition to that, personal protective equipment is consistently used to keep workers from injuries. The organization is involved in the manufacture and supply of drugs, and as such, all the workers (drug technicians and chemical engineers) work with very reactive chemicals that irritate the eyes, skin, and any other parts of the body. Whats more, the injury may result from burns that harm the skin, inhalation of poisonous gases, fires, falls as a slippery surfaces and being fell on (by cartons at the warehouse) among other things.

Workplace Risk Assessment

Risk controls and measures developed as part of the risk assessment process include making sure that workers wear Air Supply Respirators that use filters; these will help in protecting workers from inhaling poisonous fumes any time they are involved in drug manufacture. Gloves and an overall will provide sufficient covering for the skin while a helmet will protect the head. It is worth mentioning that workers, being constantly at the risk of falling from as a result of slippery surfaces; as such, the need for boots with treaded soles is necessary because it prevents falls.

Workers that work at DrugPharma are at a constant risk of experiencing the lack of ventilation; for that matter, the control is to keep all the manufacturing spaces and floors in the company well ventilated or aerated. It is quite noteworthy that some solutions used to make drugs change in chemical structure when exposed to direct sunlight; as such the spaces used in manufacture are lit with incandescent light bulbs; sunlight may spur violent reactions and spills.

Fire is also a considerable amount of risk that may affect the company, and as such, there is a need to have fire extinguishers and fire hoses at the ready on the occasion of any eventuality (Durocher and Lawrence, 45).

Workplace Compliance with WHS Procedure

Workers to whom WHS procedures are demonstrated are ones being oriented at DrugPharma; demonstration takes place within two weeks of joining the company. It includes advising workers majorly on laboratory rules because that is where most of the manufacturing will be held. Some of the laboratory practices are very common and include not taking any manner of foodstuffs. Another rule that comes with working in the laboratory is that of nondirect inhalation of gaseous fumes; demonstration here involves an act such as wafting gaseous fumes in ones direction as opposed to smelling them directly. For the most part, a display will not be necessary since most of the rules will be understandable (this is with due consideration of the fact that all the new employees being oriented into the company know a thing or two regarding laboratory etiquette).

Work Health and Safety Action Plan

Risk Action Plan Monitoring and Reviewing Strategies

Falling from slippery surfaces Wearing boots with trodden soles Inspecting workers

Fire Fire extinguisher, hose pipes that are long enough and water at the ready. Making sure that workers are trained in the using of

Gas poisoning Gas masks and Supply Air Respirators Replacing the cartridges and air respirators

Skin burns Wearing gloves Supplying workers with gloves

Foreign objects getting into the eyes Wearing goggles Glasses custom fit for each worker.

Project 2: Simulated Emergency Situation

At DrugPharma a practical simulated emergency situation is that of an evacuation. The most likely reason that may call for an evacuation is a fire resulting from an electricity circuit mishap or an accident from chemicals.

Procedures followed revolved around alerting everyone in the building using a fire alarm that a fire has occurred. What's more, word of mouth was also used, but those involved had to be very careful not make the rest of their colleagues to get to a panic mode. Since the most important thing is to evacuate the building first, all the occupants of the building at DrugPharma got out of the building. Then after a head count was performed to make sure that everyone was safe and sound, right from the janitor to the chief laboratory technician (Freivalds and Benjamin, 92).

Right after everyone had gotten out of the building the next step was to look for ways of combating the fire; well-trained workers got well dressed in asbestos suits and went into the premises to fight the fire. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew contacted the fire department to call for meaningful backup. Once the fire department comes along, it is only appropriate that workers stay away from and keep off from any efforts meant to get rid of the fire.

The main aim of the simulated emergency situation was to find out those among the workers that are well educated on handling fire situations and those that needed further training. Knowledge of the procedures is essential because it helps in the prevention of fires in the first place; helps in the handling and stoppage of fires the moment that they occur and also in the prevention of injuries. Injuries, destruction of property, and the loss of lives happen to be the most potent risks in case of a fire eventuality (Dyreborg, 83)

Support for safe outcomes is very much necessary when it comes to fire because the risk for a stampede is always imminent. In DrugPharma all the employees are advised not to panic or get into a mad rush. Calmness and composure are important because it makes people lessen the likelihood of any risk that is brought about by commotion and disorder (Hammer, et. al., 34).

Recommendations for improvement come in the name of more training for the workers so that everyone would know what to do, without being stranded or to be in a panic mode. Besides, the number of hoses and fire extinguishers should be in plenty so that those who can be able to take part in battling the fire. It is worth mentioning that the approach adopted by the company at the moment is reactive as opposed to a proactive one. An approach that is proactive comes to be very handy as it helps even in the prevention of the fire. Proactive measures involve making sure that all the electricity lines used to wire the building are well done and that there is no chance of a gas leakage or chemical spill. In addition to that, all the employees should be advised to double check the ways in which they carry out each procedure so that potent risks are kept at bay.

Works Cited

Durocher, David B., and Lawrence A. Kay. "A journey toward electrical workplace safety and production reliability." Cement Industry Technical Conference, 2017 IEEE-IAS/PCA. IEEE, 2017.

Dyreborg, Johnny, et al. "Safety Interventions for the Prevention of Accidents in the Work Place: Protocol." (2015).

Freivalds, Andris, and Benjamin Niebel. Niebel's Methods, Standards, & Work Design. Mcgraw-Hill higher education, 2013.

Hammer, L. B., Johnson, R. C., Crain, T. L., Bodner, T., Kossek, E. E., Davis, K. D., ... & Berkman, L. (2015). Intervention effects on safety compliance and citizenship behaviors: Evidence from the Work, Family, and Health Study.