Occupational Safety: Preventing Workplace Accidents & Diseases
Prevention of Risks: Joint Efforts for Occupational Safety
Risk: The probability that a hazard results in a loss.
Danger: The act or condition in which a loss is possible.
Loss: Risk out of control.
Substandard Action: An action by a worker that ignores or breaks a rule, potentially leading to a loss.
Substandard Condition: A condition in the working environment that enables an accident.
Accident: An unwanted event that could cause damage to property, people, or processes.
Incident: An unwanted event that, under certain circumstances, could cause harm (near misses).
Occupational Disease: A disease caused directly by the exercise of a profession or work, leading to disability or death.
Common Disease: Any physical or mental health condition not related to work factors.
Work Accident: An injury suffered by a person as a result of or in connection with work, leading to disability or death.
Commuting Accident: An accident that occurs on the direct path between the residence and workplace, or between two workplaces with different employers.
Inherent Risk: Risk that is part of the activity itself.
Embedded Risk: Risk introduced by an employee’s actions.
Speculative Risk: Risks that may result in gains or losses.
Pure Risk: Risks that offer only the possibility of losses and lost profits, but cannot generate gains. These can cause physical, psychological, economic, legal, functional, and environmental damage to people, equipment, machinery, and facilities.
Risk Management (4-T)
- Terminate the risk: Control the risk. For example, change a dangerous substance for a safer alternative.
- Treat the risk: Take preventive measures, such as training, providing protective clothing, and establishing rules and procedures.
- Taking on risk: Consists of live with the risk in tolerating labor.
- Transfer the risk: Transfer the risk to another party, for example, through insurance.
Law 16,744
Compulsory social insurance for occupational accidents and diseases.
Objectives:
- Prevention of occupational accidents and occupational diseases
- Medical benefits
- Economic benefits
- Rehabilitation
- Re-education
Protected Persons:
- Public officials of the state civil
- Employed persons
- Students
- Self-employed workers and family.
Agency Administers the Law:
- ISL
- Mutual Security
- Delegated Administration
Costs Caused by Accidents
Insured Costs (Injury and Illness)
- Doctors
- Compensation costs
Costs of Property Damage (Not Insured)
- Damage to buildings
- Damage to equipment and tools
- Product and material damage
- Production interruption and delay
- Legal costs (liability)
- Forecast costs for equipment and emergency
- Rent equipment replacement
Other Costs Without Ensuring
- Investigation time, wages, recruitment and training of replacement staff, overtime, reduced production of the injured worker, prestige, etc.
GEMA VIII
Set of elements or subsystems responsible for the accident
People: Includes both staff and management, through their actions or lack thereof.
Actions make this subsystem fail. (Immediate causal factor)
Team: Tools and machinery they work with the operator, if you fail, no accidents.
Materials: Material that uses or makes people work a source of accidents is also included in this subsystem.
Atmosphere: All material or physical surrounding people (including air and sound).
Analysis of Accidents:
Crash-source: This is what the worker was doing at the time of the accident.
Accident-Agent: Physical or material contacted the person.
Agent of Injury: The specific point of the agent that came into direct contact with the injured.
Types of Accidents:
- Beaten against
- Beaten by
- Caught in, on or between
- Fall to the same or different level
- Slip
- Contact extreme-T °
- Particle-Projection
- Contact with electric current
- Contact with chemicals
- Contact with body piercing and cutting
- Radiation
- Inhalation, absorption, ingestion