ILO (International Labour Organisation)

ILO (International Labour Organization) was founded in 1919 at the treaty of Versailles and then later became a part of the UN in 1946. It has 187 member nations. ILO aims at uplifting and promoting the living standards and conditions of labourers.

Some of the activities of ILO are:-

1. Taking labour statistics.

2. Protecting immigrant workers.

3. Safeguarding trade union rights.

The basic goal of ILO is providing decent and productive employment for both men and women alike under the conditions of equality, freedom, social security and dignity.

Therefore the work of ILO can be subdivided into mainly 4 sectors:-

1. Employment.

2. Social Security.

3. Principles and fundamentals of right at work.

4. Social Dialogues.

ILO conducts a seminar at Geneva every year where conventions are described and embraced. All member nations participate in these conventions 4 delegates (two government delegates, one worker delegate and one employer delegate) and everyone having a right to vote.

Another important role of ILO is the adoption of conventions and recommendations. Every year ILO conducts an international Labour Conference where conventions and recommendations are adopted and those conventions which are ratified by the member nations are then considered as treaty and are legally binding. These treaties are to be implemented in the national legislations of the member nations. Member nations are given a time period of 1 year to implement this treaty within their legal system. Conventions which are not ratified by the member nations still have the legal force of recommendations. Recommendations  are non - binding guidelines that supports the conventions with in depth details and information. 

Conventions create legally binding obligations or policies to implement their provisions. Conventions does not have any legal authority unless ratified by member states into its own legal structure.

Recommendations provide guidance on policy, legislation and practice.

Some of the key areas covered in the conventions are child labour, forced labour, working at night, maritime sector, health and safety issues etc.

In 1998, ILO adopted Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Right at Work. This declaration identifies the core areas which required attention from ILO and at least the key conventions related to these core areas must be ratified by the member nations. According to the declaration the core areas are:-

1. Child Labour.

2. Forced Labour.

3. Discrimination.

4. Freedom of Association.

5. Right to Organize.

Types of Regulations

1. Work at Height Regulation, 2005 (implemented into the UK legal system by European Union directives).
2. Control of Vibration at Work Regulation, 2005 (implemented into the UK legal system by European Union directives).
3. Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (found in the UK legal system, reinforces "duty of care").

Legal Reasons for meeting Health and Safety Standards

 Preventive

As the name suggests preventive is nothing but preventing any injuries, ill health, accidents or incidents from occurring. This done by issuing enforcement notices/warning letters to organizations who have not complied with the minimum requirement of health and safety standards in the workplace.

Punitive

Punitive is nothing but giving punishments to the organizations who have not met with the minimum requirements of health and safety standards. Punitive actions are taken as a second step against those organizations who have not complied with the minimum requirements even after enforcement notices or warning letters. And if a mishap(incidents, accidents, injuries or ill health) occurs due to this non compliance then the management or organization faces fines or even jail time. 

Compensatory effects of law

According to the compensatory effects of law if an employee faces an incident, injury, accident or ill-health during the tenure period of his/her contract due to the poor safety standards followed by the company/ organization then that employee is entitled to compensation from the employer and the compensation amount is very large. So the company has to meet with the minimum requirements of the workplace so as to escape from the compensatory effects of law.

Self Regulation

Self Regulation as the name suggests is putting regulations on themselves. This is done by identifying the risks and hazards in the workplace and taking adequate control measures so as to reduce these risks and hazards thus minimizing the number of accidents, injuries, ill health and incidents. By putting restrictions on themselves a company can reduce the number of punitive and preventive actions taken against them by regulatory bodies or law.

ILO Convention 155 and Regulation 164:-

Article 4 of ILO C155, 1981

According to this article every member nation should have a national health and safety policy which has to be prepared, implemented and revised periodically. The main aim of this policy is to reduce the number of incidents, injuries, accidents and ill health.

Article 16 of ILO C155, 1981

According to this article member nations should impose restrictions/ requirements on the employers. And according to these requirements every employer should make sure that:-

1. All the workplace/ worksites, equipment, machineries and processes which are under their control are safe and does not provide any harm to health.
2. All the biological, chemical and physical agents under their control are safe and has taken adequate control measures so that they do not pose any harm to health.
3. The employers must issue adequate PPE to the employees so as to reduce the level of risk to health.

Also UK's Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) reinforces employers "duty of care" .

Cost - Benefit Graph

 

Cost-Benefit Graph shows the point of maximum benefit beyond which any resources (time, money, energy and people) spent on accident prevention, accident control and risk reduction is considered wasteful and unnecessary.

Cost of Safety

Cost of Safety basically represents the costs associated with incident/ accident prevention, accident control, risk reduction etc. These costs can basically be divided into the following.

Organizational Costs

These are costs associated with employing people/ staff, the time and energy spent on incident accident investigation so as to identify immediate and root causes. Also costs of arranging first and medical provisions.

Cost of Planning

As the name suggests these are costs associated with planning of organizational and engineering controls that have to be implemented. The arrangements and procedures that have to be in place. For example new safe system of work that has to be implemented, new permit to work system, new layout that has to be planned for the workplace, factories or workshop.

Design Costs

Design as the name suggests are costs associated with design, development, fabrication, installation and purchase of safety devices necessary for the implementation of both engineering and managemental control measures planned to prevent and control accidents.

Operational Costs

Operational costs as the name suggests are the day to day running costs of both engineering and managemental control measures that have been implemented. For example costs associated with testing, maintenance and sampling of safety devices. Some more examples are costs associated with periodic audits, reviews and active monitoring of the arrangements and procedures that are in place.

Accident Cost Sheet

 Accident Cost Sheet as the name suggests identifies and captures all the costs associated with an accident (both direct as well as indirect costs). It also contains other information like type of accident, date, time, location, no. of persons injured etc. Accident Cost Sheet can be used to make the organization understand the implications and costs associated with an accident.

Costs associated with health and safety (Financial reasons for implementing health and safety)

 Direct Costs

Direct costs are those that are directly related to a mishap (incident, accident, injury and ill health). Some of the costs are:-

1. Damage to plants, machineries, equipment, tools and materials.
2. Delay due to production downtime.
3. Investigation costs.
4. Medicinal first aid costs.
5. Legal fines etc.

Indirect Costs

Indirect costs are those that are indirectly related to a mishap (incident, accident, injury and ill health). Some of the costs are:-

1. Employee training and replacement costs.
2. Public liability claims.
3. Employee liability claims.
4. Loss of public image.
5. Loss of business.
6. Loss of contract.
7. Less chance of getting the equipment's, materials, plants, machineries etc insured.

The above mentioned costs can be again subdivide into insured and uninsured costs.

Insured Costs

Insured costs are those costs which can be seen and accounted for.

1. Damage to machineries, plants, equipment's, tools and materials.
2. Public liability claims.
3. Employee liability claims.

Uninsured Costs

Uninsured costs are those which cannot be seen and cannot be accounted for.

1. Loss due to production downtime.
2. Investigation costs.
3. Medical costs.
4. Legal fines
5. Employee training and replacement costs.
6. Loss of image
7. Loss of contract.
8. Loss of business.

Multi - Causation Theory

 Unlike Heinrich or Bird and Loftus domino theory which states that accident is the result of a certain number of factors happening in series or sequence, Multi - Cause theory states that accident is the result of various factors, its causes and sub-causes a certain combination which happening in series or sequence. 

Unsafe Acts & Unsafe Conditions - Active and Passive Violation

Active Unsafe Act

Active Unsafe acts are deliberate deviation from the set rules and regulations.

Eg:- Removing the safe guard of machineries in order to increase the rate of production, not following or bypassing the safe system of work etc.

Passive Unsafe Acts

Although passive unsafe acts are also deliberate deviation from the set rules and regulations these unsafe acts are mostly habitual in nature rather than acts that are a result of conscious thought. Passive violations or unsafe acts have become a part of day to day routine activity of the workplace.

Eg:- Not wearing adequate PPE in the workplace.

Active violations if not controlled will become passive violations.

Unsafe Conditions

Unsafe acts results in unsafe conditions. Some of the examples of unsafe conditions are:-

• Slippery, uneven or cracked surface.
• Protruding or sharp objects or structures.
• Improper housekeeping.
• Environmental factors like wet or humid conditions, high noise, hot or cold environment, lack of ventilation, lack of lighting etc.
• Presence of hazardous substances.
• Absence of machinery guards and safety interlocks.
• Absence of a safe system of work, arrangement and procedures in place

Bird and Loftus Domino Theory

 Unlike Heinrich Domino Theory which concentrates on individual factors, Bird and Loftus Domino Theory incorporates managemental factors as one of the causes that leads to an accident.

According to Bird and Loftus Domino Theory lack of management commitment leads to underlying causes (personal and job factors). These underlying causes leads to immediate causes (unsafe acts and unsafe conditions) which results in an accident and an accident causes injury, damage or loss. 

Personal and Job factors (Underlying Causes)

Some of the examples of personal factors are poor attitude towards occupational health and safety, lack of perception, lack of knowledge and training that can lead to skill and knowledge based errors, "faults in a person" as explained in Heinrich Domino Theory etc.

Some of the examples of Job factors are lack of lighting, low or high temperature, poor ergonomic design of the workplace, workload, lack of arrangement and procedures and so on. 

This personal and job factors are considered to be the "underlying causes" for unsafe acts and conditions.

Unsafe Acts and Unsafe Conditions (Immediate Causes)

Some of the examples of unsafe acts and unsafe conditions are:-

• Standing in the line of fire.
• Not wearing proper PPE.
• Not following or bypassing safety instructions.
• Removing machinery safety guards etc.

Accidents

Accidents are unplanned and unwanted events that has led to injury, damage or loss.

Heinrich Domino Theory

 Heinrich Domino Theory states that an accident/ injury is the result of 5 factors in sequence. Or in other words accident is the result of factors that precedes it.

Ancestry/ Environment

Character, trait or personality in a person such as tendency to steel, tendency to lie, tendency to cheat, aggression, tendency for violence, attitude, arrogance, ignorance, nervousness etc. are the result of the environment in which the person grew up in or the standard of education received or not received and also the characters/ traits inherited from one generation to an another (DNA).

These traits/ character/ personalities lead to the next factor which is "Fault in a person".

Fault in a person

Fault in a person as mentioned above are the traits or personalities of a person which are developed either through the environment in which the person grew up in or has been received through DNA (hereditary transfer). 

These negative traits results in the person committing unsafe acts which in turn results in unsafe conditions which is the next factor/ domino in the Heinrichs domino theory.

Unsafe Act/ Conditions

Unsafe acts committed due to "faults in a person" results in unsafe conditions.

Some of the examples of unsafe conditions are standing in the line of fire, removing machinery safeguards, bypassing or violating safety instructions, not wearing adequate PPE etc.

These unsafe acts/ conditions lead to incidents.

Incidents

Incidents are unplanned, unwanted event that has led to injury, damage or loss.

Some of the examples of accidents are struck my moving object/ vehicle, struck by flying object, fall from height etc.

Injury

Cuts, lacerations, fractures, broken bones, amputations etc are some of the examples of injuries caused due to an accident.

Incident/ Accident Ratio Triangles

 Incident/ Accident ratio triangles shows the relationship between incidents and accidents.

                                       Birds Incident/ Accident Ratio Triangle

                                        Heinrich's Incident/ Accident Ratio Triangle

Nomenclature and their Definitions

 Health

Absence of disease.

Safety

Absence of risk of serious personal injury.

Environmental Protection

The protection of the environment (land, air, water and all the living creatures that reside within it) from damage.

Welfare Facilities

Facilities provided by the organization/ employer so as to maintain and uplift the standards of living and working conditions of the employees.

Accident

An unplanned, unwanted event that has led to injury, damage or loss.

Near Miss

An unplanned, unwanted event that could have led to injury, damage or loss but actually did not happen so.

Dangerous Occurrence

An event that has to be reported to the relevant authorities by the statute of law.

Hazard

Something that has the potential to cause harm.

Risk

Likelihood that the hazard would actually cause harm in combination with the severity of the injury, damage or loss that might occur.

Risk = Likelihood x Severity

Moral Obligation of Employers

There are around 160 million occupational diseases and 270 million occupational accidents being recorded every year. 

Around 2 million people die every year due to these occupational incidents, accidents, injuries and ill health. 

The world also looses around 4% of its gross domestic product.

Every employer has a moral obligation to ensure the safety their employees. It is the duty of the employer to make sure that workplace is safe. This is done by identifying the risks and hazards in the workplace and taking adequate control measures so as to eliminate these risks or bring them under control to reasonably low as possible.