Unit 6 - Ensure Your Actions Reduce Risks to Health and Safety

Unit 6.1 - Understand hazards and risks in the workplace

1.1 Define hazards and risks

Hazard - A chance of being injured or harmed ie danger
Risk - The possibility of suffering harm or loss; danger

Some of the most common hazards and risks in the workplace tend to be the ones you look past every day, but these actually are big accident causes in the workplace. Obviously many workplaces will differentiate in terms of what they do and whether they operate machinery or not.
I'll start off with wires these are an obvious hazard for people tripping over, cable ties and wire guards are the best way to keep these safe and also tidy. Spillages are also an important one and to always remember to clean these up once established it's not a dangerous chemical. Another main risk is injuring yourself from lifting incorrectly.

1.2 Outline key hazards and risks in own workplace, describing safe working practices

At my workplace we have a health and safety policy in place with a first aid kit and trained first aider. As I work in a home office environment you obviously don't have signage that is required in an office building, such as 'fire exit' however I feel common sense has to prevail in this circumstance as I would react with instinct the same way for any fire I was in.
At my workplace one of the biggest risks was wires and battery backups being on the floor in one of the offices, however recently me and the producer removed the danger by organising this onto a shelving unit.

1.3 Outline key hazards and risks within own job role, describing precautions

As mentioned before the biggest hazards and risks within my job role would be tripping over wires and precaution used would be wire guards and cable ties. Also lifting heavy equipment the precaution is lift from the legs and never from the back and if you still don't feel comfortable lifting on your own then get someone to help you. Spillages are rule of thumb with the precaution that if you spill something then you should clean it up to prevent anyone slipping and causing injury. During Production we obviously had a lot more hazards and risks, that meant we had to fill in a risk assessment 'The process of determining the likelihood that a specified negative event will occur. Investors and business managers use risk assessments to determine things like whether to undertake a particular venture, what rate of return they require to make a particular investment and how to mitigate an activity’s potential losses.'

Unit 6.2 - Understand own responsibilities for health and safety in the workplace

2.1 Identify own responsibilities for health and safety in own workplace and job role under health and safety legislation, explaining the importance of personal presentation and behaviour
And
4.2 Manage any health and safety risks within own capability and responsibility

Under my current job role as a Production Assistant, in legal legislation terms I do not have a responsibility to ensure the workplace is kept up to scratch, however as a professional individual I always keep an eye out for potentially dangerous situations (despite me hating the red tape culture that we live in today). As an individual it's very important to eliminate these risks from the workplace to avoid any injuries to myself or other colleagues. When I was working at Waitrose we had a strict regime in health and safety, with multimedia videos and questions involved to make sure you knew the correct protocol for each emergency this would be done every three months. Also as Waitrose deal with the general public it's very important to enter any accidents into the 'Accident Book' which is a 'Bound book in which employers in certain businesses are required to record all small or big accidents which occur on their premises, or to their employees while at work off site.' I also learnt about COSHH 'Control of Substances Hazardous to Health', that I found very interesting to know and has helped me ensure that my present workplace is a safe working environment.

2.2 Describe procedures for dealing with risks outside the scope of own responsibility, identifying the appropriate personnel with whom to liaise in own workplace

When something falls outside your scope of responsibility this doesn't mean that it's 'not your problem', it's very important to work as a team and to support one another. And this includes spotting these potentially dangerous health and safety issues. In the larger of workplace you should usually have a Maintenance Book this is a written acknowledgement of say - a plug socket not working or a leaking pipe in the bathroom. Despite the fact your not expected to fix these problems it's always good to ensure that you report it as firstly it could pose a serious risk to someone else and secondly if you don't report it, then whats to say that someone else will (vicious circle of maintenance issues).
However in smaller places of work such as mine (home office environment) I would report said problems with equipment to either the Director who's home it is or to the Producer who also works at the office with me, and from there we could organise a way to promptly fix the problem.

Unit 6.3 - Be able to evaluate hazards and risks in the workplace

3.1 Identify workplace instructions relevant to own job

In my workplace we have health and safety policies in place to ensure no one is put at any unnecessary risk. This includes knowing where are fire assembly point is (as we're in a house, depending on where the fire is we would assemble either at the front or the back of the house).
Also it's always best to only tackle a fire with the relevant fire extinguisher (water, foam, CO2) when you feel confident and it's safe enough to do so, without putting yourself or others at risk). This is the reason you should have a fire marshal at bigger companies who will conduct a register of employees in and also hold a first aid kit and specified mobile phone.

3.2 Identify any unsafe practices in own workplace and job role

In my current job with Cyclops Vision Ltd we have a tested and proved health and safety policy in place, despite the fact we operate from the directors home. The home has fire alarms placed on each level of the house, ensuring safety if there was a fire. Also in the kitchen there is a fire extinguisher and fire blanket making sure no food burns anything.

3.3 Check which potentially unsafe working practices present the highest risk to self and others

The most unsafe working practices that spring to mind in the world of health and safety are -
Obstruction of the fire exits in a workplace, these should never have equipment blocking them and fire doors should never be propped open.
Another one involves spillage's and wiring in the workplace, these present a high risk in regards to people having falls.
Also funnily enough other people can present a large accidental endangerment to yourself, this could be someone leaving a hot cup of coffee by your hand without you realising.

3.4 Take action to address any hazards in accordance with workplace procedures and legal requirements

The best way to enable you to make a safe judgement of your workplace would be with a Risk Assessment. This gives a legal standard judgement on whether or not your abiding to the current regulations in place. After filling in this document you will then be able to address whether or not your workplace is up to a legal safety standard.

Unit 6.4 - Be able to reduce risks to health and safety in the workplace

4.1 Work safely in accordance with own level of competence, relevant instructions and legal requirements, following environmentally friendly practices

In regards to this question the one word that sticks out is competence 'The quality of being competent; adequacy; possession of required skill, knowledge, qualification, or capacity'. Generally this question makes me think that we should no undertake a task if we haven't had the appropriate training to deal with said task, this could involve using machinery that we haven't been shown how to use. Many companies have training cards that they will use to show the employee how to use certain equipment or protocol ie using a foul drain to pour away stale milk.

4.3 Suggest ways of reducing risks to health and safety to the appropriate personnel

In my personal experience I have found that workplace health and safety training is a great way for your employees to be in the know on the potential risks in their work. This could involve making sure they are aware of COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) and also regular refresher training to ensure employees have the knowledge to deal with hazardous situations.

4.4 Report any differences between workplace and suppliers' or manufacturers' instructions

THIS IS AN AMBIGUOUS QUESTION. PLEASE VERIFY!!!