Play your part!
How you can help improve health & safety offshore
Contents
If you work offshore, for an operator or a contractor, read this document. It explains how you can help to improve health and safety offshore by simply being involved. First you should know:
- for their part, individual employees must take care of their own and others' safety and co-operate with management in these matters:
- offshore workers can elect safety representatives to speak to management for them on health and safety matters. Safety representatives have special training.
Why be involved?
- You will benefit from high standards of health and safety.
- You are likely to have the most direct contact with work hazards and may be the first to know about any problems which arise.
- The best ideas for safety usually come from the installations, where you have a key role to play in the management of safety.
- You can help to create a 'safety culture'. In an organisation with a good culture, everyone puts safety at the top of the list.
Good cultures depend on effective ways of informing and consulting the workforce. As an employee, see how this applies where you work. Some key areas are the four 'C's:
Control
An effective management system needs control. People need to know clearly what they are responsible for and how their duties will be checked.
Can you see ways of improving this where you work?
Competence
You need to be competent for your work tasks which obviously include health and safety issues. You also need to be competent for any specific safety role. Employers should provide you with appropriate training to ensure the safety culture is successful.
Are you aware of your training and development needs - do you act on them as much as you can?
Co-operation
This is important on offshore installations because of the many different work groups present. Health and safety depends on all groups being aware. In such a close community, it should not be too difficult to achieve. Managers will often set up teams to look at specific problems.
Are there arrangements of this type where you work?
Communication
Good communication is essential. Information should go up, down and across the organisation in a way that suits the people receiving it. Some examples of communication are:
- toolbox talks;
- safety bulletins;
- handbooks with technical information and control measures;
- minutes of safety meetings.
Safety meetings can be a good way of getting information across and seeking ideas. Safety committees must meet at least once every three months.
What sort of communication methods are used on your installation?
Do you have any comments to make on what you have just read? Or would you like to see action taken? If so, see your manager or safety representative NOW!
The safety case
A safety case is a written document prepared by the operator of a fixed installation or owner of a mobile installation. It sets out comprehensive information on arrangements for managing health and safety and controlling major accident hazards on the installation. A safety case must be submitted to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for acceptance and be revised and updated whenever needed throughout the life cycle of an installation. Safety representatives must be consulted on the preparation of the safety case and have access to safety case contents.
Safety representatives help individual employees to keep in touch with important developments which may affect their health and safety, including matters relating to the safety case.
Play your part
So be involved. Now you know how you can contribute towards improving health and safety on your installation.
For more information, ask your employer to get you a copy of Play your part!, a booklet prepared by the Health and Safety Commission's Oil Industry Advisory Committee, ISBN 0 7176 0786 0. A copy should be available on your installation.
Further information
HSE priced and free publications are available by mail order from:
HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 2WA Tel: 01787 881165; Fax: 01787 313995.
Website: http://books.hse.gov.uk (HSE priced publications are also available from bookshops and free leaflets can be downloaded from HSE’s website: www.hse.gov.uk.)
For information about health and safety ring HSE's Infoline Tel: 0845 345 0055 Fax: 0845 408 9566 Textphone: 0845 408 9577 e-mail: hse.infoline@connaught.plc.uk or write to HSE Information Services, Caerphilly Business Park, Caerphilly CF83 3GG.
This document contains notes on good practice which are not compulsory but which you may find helpful in considering what you need to do.
This document is available at www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg239.htm
© Crown copyright This publication may be freely reproduced, except for advertising, endorsement or commercial purposes. First published 11/96. Please acknowledge the source as HSE.
Published by the Health and Safety Executive
INDG239 11/96
Added to the web Site 05/6/98
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