Occupational Safety And Health Hazards In BHP Billiton, An Essay.

Discuss about the Occupational safety and health hazards in your chosen Organization.

With rapid development and advancement of industry, there has been rising concerns in occupational and health hazards. The health risks have no limitation in external space. However, it is present in internal environment, which is known as occupational health hazards. Worker exposure to health hazards is biological, physical, chemical or psychological in nature. Occupational health signifies long term as well as short-term risks related to the workplace environment and in the field of occupational safety and health.  On the other hand, development of an organization relies on efficiency of the workforce. Thus, it is important to create safe and healthy work environment for the workers. In the present study, health and occupational hazards in BHP Billiton is evaluated. The study describes organizational context regarding occupational and health hazards and literature review related to risk identification and risks analysis as well as evaluation. Apart from this, recommendations are provided in the current study.

In the present study, BHP Billiton has been considered as a case study organization. BHP Billiton is a mining company where health and safety measures pose an important aspect for the company (Jilcha & Kitaw 2017). Hence, the organization set clear requirements in their projects with minimum mandatory controls to mange as well as protect health and wellbeing of the workers in the company. The harmful health risks as well as agents at the workplace of the company consists if exposure to musculoskeletal stressor, noise, dust of coal mine, silica as well as diesel particulate matter. Thus, it is important to manage the exposure with internally occupational health exposure (Albert et al. 2014). In this case, it is important to involve with regulators as well as OEL setting agencies and benchmark against peers along with seeking independent advice.

Apart from this, safety for the workers of the company exposes the workers as well as contractors to risk. Thus, the objective of the company is identification of risks and implements control or mitigation techniques (Bice 2014). The project management group of the company has set global safety priorities in order to guide decision-making as well as safety approach for safety.  The standard helps to define a number of common safety risks and minimum controls. The operation evaluates further controls for managing risks at operation in order to encounter with objective of no fatalities.  

Literature Review

Risk identification:

It is important to identify, evaluate as well as manage risks to workers, contractors, environment and communities in the organization. In BHP Billiton, following risks are required to identify as followed.

• Reinforce the safety comes before the process of productivity
• Emphasize on in-field verification of material as well as fatal risks
• Improve internal investigation procedure, widely share and apply lessons and
• Enable extra quality field time to involve workplace

The performance of BHP Billiton in the field of health, safety, environment as well as community is driven through commitment of the people and effective management of risks alon with pursuit of operational excellence. Integration of the health and occupational hazards responsibilities, it is important to develop effective integration of responsibilities as well as objectives that can be articulated by the strategic framework of the company. In working towards achieving zero harm to people, the organization developed the following principle for safety leadership (Boiral & Henri 2017). People need to be aware of hazards as well as risks in workplace. Compliance with safety standards along with procedure are not considered as absolute.

The principal causes of important incidents remained as consistent over the current years. The organization has set up performance expectations into distinctive aspects of operations. Conduction of exercise has a valuable forum in order to learn and share knowledge across the enterprise (Caldwell et al. 2015). Through operations and products, it can affect health of the employees, communities as well as customers in positive and negative ways. It is important to focus on occupational health initiatives is evaluating and minimizing the level of exposure to hygiene risks in the project site of the company. Hence, improvement in occupational health as well as hygiene programs that will be helpful to manage the process in the organization (Saenz 2018). However, data from operations can indicate that there is one third of employees are potentially exposed in the organization to the noise level that exceeds 85 dBA time-weighted average as well as one-fifth are exposed to the level of occupational exposure limits. Hence, the actual exposure of the staffs needs to be measured by the organization.

Hence, the actual exposure of the workers of BHP Billiton includes exposure limits where measures are required to be taken.  It includes engineering and designing for minimizing personal protective equipment. The organization has been maintained that consistent upper quartile will be helpful for process. It has been reported that 1.7% of the employees are affected by occupational illness (Fuisz-Kehrbach 2015). It comprised 1.3% diagnosis with the noise generated hearing loss. In addition, target has been set by minimizing occupational illness. It is also required for development of occupational disease along with the requirement of occupational health hazards. 

Risk Identification

Risk analysis and evaluation

There are several health initiatives produced for the workers throughout the organization.  Several sites can operate health and wellness programs in order to help workers optimizing the level of personal health.  Education is one of the programs through which staffs can optimize level of personal health (Murphy et al. 2016). Strong focus is required to the major academic community. In addition, it is required to manage threat of the diseases in the organization. Responsibilities in relation to the potential health effects of the products on the customers are included in the process (Retzer et al. 2017). During the period, health and safety measured need to be taken by the industry. The external groups as well as organizations recognize the awards through various operations.

Substantial progress is made during the ongoing process and implementation of the management standards along with related management systems. The environmental performance is measured by ensuring that the information generated is complete as well as accurate (Baum et al. 2016). On the other hand, due to various classification as well as calculation methodologies are comparable in parameters.  Research and development activities for mitigating the risks are focused. 

BHP Billiton follows accepted accounting principle in order to provide site rehabilitation. The provision for site rehabilitation is processed effectively. The activities as resources of the organization may have impact on natural environment (Stewart & Nite 2017). The quality of social performance data enhanced sustainability over sustainability reporting period. Hence, implementation of management standards as well as requirement for community relations management plan is useful to increase awareness of the requirement as well as report data related to the aspect and community.

The significant occupation illness within the organization is noise-induced loss in hearing along with occupational respiratory diseases (Sincovich et al. 2018). It is important to focus and minimize exposures where it is possible. Environmental performance across the organization needs to be improved. In addition, it is important to categorize risks in projects. The level of risks is categorized based on the potential harm or adverse health that has effect on hazards. In addition, the exposure needs to be classified as highs single exposure that may cause potential fatal, whereas the risks are related to the process (Gereffi et al. 2016). Control measures including the actions need to minimize potential of the exposures to hazards. Apart from these, the control measures would be secured by guarding and moving parts of the machinery by elimination of potential for contract (Asif & Chen 2016). Elimination of hazards is not achieved by removing hazards as well as eliminates the risk of exposure. Substitution of the hazards need to remove the hazards related to the process or activities and may introduce distinctive hazards for overall harm along with health effects. Isolation of hazards need to be achieved by making restriction of access to plant as well as equipments in substances locking.

Risk Analysis and Evaluation

Effective controls need to be taken in BHP Billiton in order to mitigate security measures for the organization. The measures will be helpful to avoid injuries, illness as well as incidents and reduce or eliminate safety and health risks. Moreover, it assists the employers providing workers safe as well as healthful working conditions. Apart from these, in order to control and prevent hazards, the employers need to be taken for mitigating security risks.

• It is required to involve employees having sound knowledge regarding the conditions of creating hazards as well as insights into the process to be controlled.
• Identification as well as evaluation of controlling hazards using hierarchy of controls in helpful is useful for the organization to mitigate the security issues and hazards in managing their projects.
• Development of plans with specific measures in order to protect workers during emergency conditions as well as non-routine activities would be beneficial.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of the existing controls in order to determine they continue providing protection will be helpful for the process.
• It is required to provide protection and different controls that need to be effective for the organization.
• Reviewing new technologies for potential and implementing controls need to be processed according to the plan.
• Development of the plan with measures in order to protect workers during emergences as well as non-routine activities would be useful to mitigate the health and occupational hazards in BHP Billiton.

The organization need to collect, organize as well as review information with the employees in order to determine the types of hazards present and workers may be exposed. Information available in the workplace may include the following.

• Reviewing sources like OSHA standards as well as guidance for industry consensus standards as well as engineering reports in order to identify potential control measures would be useful to identify control options. In addition, it is required to keep current on related information from trade organization needs to be included in the process.
• It is important to investigate control measures utilized in workplace as well as determine the process, which would be effective at workplace.
• Getting input from employees’ required to able for suggesting and evaluating solutions based on knowledge of facility, equipments along with work process is included in the process.
• However, for complicated hazards, it is required to consult safety as well as health experts consisting of on-site consultation program of OSHA would assist the process.

Selection of controls needs to be feasible, effective as well as permanent. Elimination of controls over serious hazards immediately can assist to accomplish the process. Use of interim controls during development and implementation of longer tem solution is included in the plan.  It is also required to avoid selecting controls, which can directly control options and need to ensure the controls as feasible as well as effective in its nature. Moreover, development of hazard control plan in BHP Billiton will be helpful for the workers of the organization to mitigate health and occupational hazards in the organization.

Conclusion

From the above study, it concludes that it is important for an organization to take effective measures and proper planning in terms of managing projects effectively. In addition, it is required to provide opportunities to make interactions in order to enhance safety performance.   On the other hand, pre-start meetings and in-field leaders for discussing job-specific safety risks would be helpful for managing safety risks. It is required to undertake activities improving physical and mental well-being of the staffs. It consists of provision of preventative health measures. Adaption of mental health framework is useful for supporting as well as pro-active management of mental wellbeing of the employees. The work of health, safety and environment committee has an important role to monitor implementation process and ensure plans for enhancement are in proper place. Substantial progress will be helpful to mitigate health for occupational hazards in the organization.

References

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