Lesson 5 - Health and Safety SAQ

**After reviewing injury statistics from your brewery over the past three years, you will see that slips and trips account for 35% of all injuries. Explain what you would do to reduce these types of injuries. Refer to the Deming management model in your answer.

Response:

Your approach will vary according to the size of your brewery, but in all cases, the steps of Plan, Do, Check, Act can be applied.

Mention that these steps are an on-going cycle and that for an existing operation, you may start at the Act step. In fact, by reviewing the injury statistics, the Act phase has already commenced. However, it is important to look at the injury reports in much more detail; look for any patterns which emerge, and try to answer some of the following questions:

• Where on-site, do the most injuries occur?

• Are accidents on stairs more severe than elsewhere?

• Which employees (job type) seem to be the most prone or exposed to these injuries?

• What time of day do they occur? (Not just actual time, but event related, such as after CIP’s - cleaning in place).

• How often were the injured parties carrying something?

• What learnings have already been identified in the accident reports?

Then do some planning (Plan phase). The next logical step is to understand the risk better. An internet search will greatly assist with this.

Most countries will have some material on slips and trips. Here is a fact sheet from the Australian government website:

https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/system/files/documents/1702/slips_and_trips_fact_sheet.pdf

Next, still under the Plan phase, review existing policies and procedures to ensure they are broad enough to capture slip and trip type injuries.

An important part of planning is hazard identification. This should be a team-based activity, and it is important to look for unsafe acts, as well as unsafe conditions. The list may look something like this:

• Uneven floor in the milling room

• Trip point next to control room door

• Worn safety shoes (name the person/people)

• Lack of handrails on stairs up to brewhouse mezzanine

• Staff messing around or running in the change room

• Engineer carrying large replacement part on their own

• Inadequate lighting in finished goods warehouse

Now, we move on to the Do phase. Detail what the new plan would be and how this will be implemented. This must cover who needs to do what, and when. Examples could include to:

• Get a quote of what a non-slip floor in the laboratory would cost (person X, two-week deadline)

• Develop and deliver a training course for employees (person X, all staff trained by year-end)

• Mandate holding on handrails when walking up or down stairs (person X, notices installed within four weeks)

Once all the Do items above are done, you can progress to the Check phase to monitor performance and audit your plans. Examples include:

• How long does it take for leaks onto the floor to be reported and repaired?

• How often do employees replace their shoes?

• Is there a planned maintenance task or checklist to check the treads on the stairs are tight?

Finally, return to the Act phase and measure if the steps above are making a difference. Ensure that near-misses are captured going forwards and encourage employees to assist with on-going hazard identification and reporting.