Improving Safety Performance by Collaborative Workplace Hazards Finding

by Lee Tzu-yu, Tong Pao-Hong

Publisher - Chung Hung Steel Corporation, Taiwan

Category - General Novel

Iron and steel industry is one of the high risk heavy industry, using heavy-duty machines and equipments for production and movement of large masses of materials, that generate health and safety hazards existed in the workplace. In order to control hazards in the workplace, the first priority should always be identifying and understanding those hazards. An effective method for identifying hazards and improving workplace safety is full participating cooperation of all workers for finding potential workplace hazard, simply rely on competent safety persons’ auditing is invalid. Chung Hung Steel Corporation (CHS) in Taiwan launched a program “Collaborative workplace hazards finding” to encourage workers’ cooperation in finding potential workplace hazards from 2011 until 2013. The employees and contractors together found 5.388 potential hazards including 1,965 cases of high-hazards about falls, electric shock and rolled-in that might lead to serious injuries. Afterwards all potential hazards have been corrected and re-evaluated to assure the workplace hazards were eliminated. Each correction was later assigned to individual employee for regular examination to make sure the correction is properly maintained. We compare the result of year 2012 and 2013 found hazards data, the high-hazards have been reduced from 551(2012) to 256(2013). It means our workplace safety was upgraded effectively. Besides workplace hazards reduction, the “Collaborative workplace hazards finding” activity could improve workers skill to find the hazards of workplace quickly by observing other experienced partner in hazards finding and correction actions. Join to find workplace hazards of other work unit could also inspire the worker to look at his own workplace to find existing or potential hazards.

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