NEBOSH International General Certificate in

Occupational Safety and Health

Unit IGC1

Element 1: Foundations in
Health and Safety

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 Unit IGC1
Element 1.1

The Scope and Nature of Occupational Health and

Safety

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 Scope and Nature of Health and
Safety
• Multi-Disciplinary
• Barriers to Good Standards
• Definitions

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 Multi-Disciplinary
Health and safety practitioners need to be
familiar with:
• Chemistry/Physics/ Biology
• Engineering
• Legislation
– Standards which apply
– Strengths and weaknesses of options

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 Barriers to Good Standards
• Complexity of the Workplace
• Conflicting Demands
– Timescales
– Standards
– Budgets
• Behavioural Issues
– People failing to act as
desired or making mistakes

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 Definitions
• Health - absence of disease

• Safety - absence of risk of

serious personal injury

• Welfare - provision of
facilities

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 Definitions

Environmental Protection:
Prevention of damage to air, land, water and
living organisms

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 Group Syndicate Exercise

Why might the

management of an
organisation not
consider health and
safety to be a priority?

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 End of Section Quiz
1. What barriers might there be to good
health and safety practice?
2. Define the terms
• Health
• Safety
• Welfare

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 Unit IGC1
Element 1.2

Reasons for Maintaining and Promoting Good

Standards of Health and Safety

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 Why Manage Health and Safety?

Moral reasons

Legal (or social) reasons

Economic reasons

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 Group Syndicate Exercise
An employee at your workplace has been
seriously injured in a workplace accident.
In groups, as indicated by the tutor, list the
possible effects and implications of this
accident on:
• The injured employee
• The company
• The line manager

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 Group Syndicate Exercise - Answers
Key points include:
• Injured Employee
– Pain and suffering, lost time/wages, impact on
family, ongoing impact on work
• The Company
– Payment of sick pay, overtime cover for employee,
recruitment costs for replacement, insurance
claims, fines/prosecutions, increased insurance
premiums
• The Line manager
– Loss of skills from team, time and cost of retraining
replacement, effect of overtime cover on shifts

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 The Legal and Social Expectation
Health and safety law is usually based on:

• International standards
from the International
Labour Organisation
• A country’s own health
and safety standards

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 Who's Responsible for
Health and Safety?
Everybody - but most of the responsibility
lies with the employer to provide:
• Safe place of work
• Safe plant and
equipment
• Safe systems of work
• Training and supervision

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 The Business Case
• Accidents and ill-health cost money
• Costs may be:
– Direct - measurable costs arising directly from
accidents
– Indirect - arise as a consequence of the event but
may not directly involve money. Often difficult to
quantify

• H&S failure can affect the broader

economy as well as individual
companies

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 Group Discussion

• An employee has been injured at work

• Identify potential
– Direct costs of the accident
– Indirect costs of the accident

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 Group Discussion - Answers
• Direct costs include
– First aid treatment, sick pay, lost
production time
– Fines and compensation
• Indirect costs
– Lost time for investigation
– Lost morale and damaged worker
relationships
– Cost of recruitment of replacements
– Lost reputation
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 The Cost of Accidents at Work
Insured Costs £1
• Fire
• Worker injury/death
• Medical costs
£8 - £36
Uninsured Costs
• Loss of raw materials due to accidents
• Sick pay
• Overtime
• Equipment repairs
• Lost materials
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 End of Section Quiz
1. What are the 3 main reasons for
managing health and safety?
2. What should an employer provide to
ensure health and safety:
• Safe place of _______________
• Safe plant and ______________
• Safe _______ of work
• Training, _____ and competency of
______

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 Unit IGC1
Element 1.3

Role of National Governments and International

Bodies

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 Roles of National Governments and
International Bodies
International Labour
Organisation (ILO)
• Agency of United Nations
• Most countries are
members
• Sets international
standards for H&S by
publishing:
– Conventions
– Recommendations

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 Employers’ Responsibilities
Article 16 of C155 identifies obligations placed on employers:
• To provide and maintain workplaces, machinery, equipment
and work processes
• To ensure that chemical, physical and biological substances
and agents are without risk to health when protective
measures have been taken
• To provide adequate protective clothing and equipment to
prevent risks of accidents or adverse health effects

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 Employers’ Responsibilities
Article 10 of R164:
• Provide and maintain workplaces, machinery and equipment and use
working methods that are safe
• Give necessary instruction, training and supervision in application
and use of health and safety measures
• Introduce organisational arrangements relevant to activities and size
of undertaking
• Provide PPE and clothing without charge to workers
• Ensure that work organisation, particularly working hours and rest
breaks, does not adversely affect occupational safety and health
• Take reasonably practical measures with a view to eliminating
excessive physical and mental fatigue
• Keep up-to-date of scientific and technical knowledge to comply
with the above

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 Regulatory Frameworks
ILO has also published Conventions associated
with specific hazards:
• C115 - Radiation Protection (1960)
• C162 - Asbestos (1986)
• C167 - H&S in Construction (1988)

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 What Employers Must Provide
• Safe place of work – and safe access and egress

• Safe plant and equipment – the need to inspect,

service and replace machinery will depend on the
level of risk

• Safe system of work – should be safe in all

circumstances - appropriate review, planning and
control ensure continued safety of methods

• Training and supervision to ensure competency

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 What is “Competence"?
K – NOWLEDGE
A – BILITY
T – RAINING
E – XPERIENCE

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 Group Exercise
Apart from employees, who else must the
employer protect?

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 Group Exercise
Anyone affected by their business activities:
• Visitors
– Invited / uninvited
– Lawful / unlawful (law differs from
country to country)
• Contractors
• Members of the public

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 Workers’ Responsibilities
Article 19 of C155 also places obligations on
workers, expanded in R164 as follows:
• Take reasonable care of their own safety and that
of other people
• Comply with safety instructions
• Use all safety equipment properly
• Report any situation which they believe could be
a hazard and which they cannot themselves
correct
• Report any work-related accident/ill-health

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 Workers’ Rights
Article 19 of C155 states that every worker must be:
• Given adequate information on actions the
employer has taken to ensure safety and health
• Given the right to the necessary training in safety
and health
• Consulted by the employer on all matters of safety
and health relating to their work
• Given the right to leave a workplace which he has
reason to think presents an imminent and serious
danger to his life or health, and not be compelled
to return until it is safe

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 Enforcement Agencies
• No harmonised global standard
• Country-specific agencies may include:
– H&S Enforcement Agency
– Fire Authority
– Insurance Companies
• Police may be involved in enforcing H&S
law in some countries

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 Consequences of Non-Compliance
Breach of H&S legislation is usually a
criminal offence leading to:
• Enforcement action
– Improvement
– Prohibition
• Prosecution
– Organisation may be fined
– Individuals may be fined or imprisoned

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 Claims for Compensation
Fault-Based Compensation Systems
• Worker brings claim against
employer
• Civil legal system
• Must prove employer was
negligent and therefore to blame
for injury/ill-health
• UK and USA
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 Other International Standards
International Organisation for Standardisation
• World's largest developer of management
standards, for example:
– ISO 9001 – Quality Management
– ISO 14001 – Environmental Management
– ISO 12100 – Safety of Machinery
• These standards are not "law", they're good
management practice
• They lead to a worldwide common approach to
good management
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 Other International Standards

• Internationally recognised standard for

Occupational Health and Safety is
OHSAS 18001
• Compatible with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001

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 Sources of Information
Sources can be
• Internal
• External
... to the organisation

List all the internal and external

sources you can think of and discuss
them
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 Sources of Information
Internal External
• Accident records • National legislation
• Medical records • Safety data sheets
• Risk assessments • Codes of practice
• Maintenance reports • Guidance notes
• Safety inspections • Operating instructions
• Audit reports • Trade associations
• Safety committee • Safety publications
minutes
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 Source Organisations
International Labour Organisation (UN)
http://www.ilo.org

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (USA)

http://www.osha.gov
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU)
http://agency.osha.eu.int
Health and Safety Executive (UK)
http://www.hse.gov.uk
Worksafe (Western Australia)
http://www.safetyline.wa.gov.au

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 End of Section Quiz
1. What are the two main standards that
the ILO has produced for health and
safety? What do countries do with these
standards?
2. What are employers responsibilities
under R164?
3. What are employees responsibilities
under R164?
4. What action could be taken against
organisations breaking health and safety
law?

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