THE PROVISION AND USE OF WORK EQUIPMENT REGULATIONS. ILLUSTRATE YOUR ESSAY WITH SPECIFIC EXAMPLES.

INTRODUCTION

The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations were introduced in 1992 and placed wide-ranging responsibilities for health and safety in the workplace on employers and employees alike. The regulations are predominantly aimed at equipment used at work. These regulations were necessitated by the incessant accidents in various industries where machineries are the buck of the useful tools.
According to Pilz consultancy (2003) Health and safety at work has become a significant issue, and regulations governing the safe construction and use of machinery have been in force since the original Provision and Use of Work Equipment (PUWER) came into effect in January 1997.
There is a legal requirement for companies to comply with this legislation. Failure to comply with regulation can result in prosecutions, leading to heavy fines.

NEAR MISS ACCIDENTS

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 requires employers to ensure, so far is as reasonably practicable, the safety and welfare of its employees whilst at work. Other legislation requires employers to report, investigate and keep a record of accidents causing injury, dangerous occurrences and occurrences of disease or ill health.
The National Savings and Investments (NS&I) Health and Safety Policy set out organizational arrangements and the responsibilities at each level for injury reporting, investigating and recording of accidents. This is also covered in the associated Health and Safety: Code of Practice. The NS&I Health and Safety Policy require all staff to report all accidents and Near Miss Accidents at work.
Partnership and Operations Directorate (2002) defines Near Miss Accidents as unplanned event which does not cause injury or damage but could do so. SOP (2002) defines it as an undesired event, which could have resulted in harm to a person and/or property, but was avoided by good luck. While Sey (2004) explains it as an unplanned, uncontrolled event which, under different circumstances could have been an accident (i.e. hurt someone) or incident (i.e. damaged property) but did not in the case.
According to SHRM white paper, recording of Near Miss Accidents are necessary for the following purposes:

1. Satisfy legal requirements (National Institutes for Occupational Safety and Health-NIOSH, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration-OSHA).
2. Find out what happened and determine immediate and underlying or root causes.
3. Rethink the safety hazard
4. Introduce ways to prevent a reoccurrence.
5. Establish training needs.

Near Miss Accidents recording is useful for corrective measure incase of faulty equipment. It is also useful for prompt actions, investigations and prevention of further accidents.
If the recommendations made after the investigation of Near Miss Accidents are implemented, this could prevent a reoccurrence. Photographs of the scene can be a training tool for staffs in order to prevent a reoccurrence.
Regular review of Near Miss Accidents reports can always help in organization Health and Safety decision making.

HIDDEN COSTS OF ACCIDENTS

Hidden costs are unrecognized costs such as losses in labour productivity, disrupted schedules, supervisory and administrative time, replacement of damaged materials and equipment, loss of customers. Some of the costs associated with accidents can be quickly identified such as medical treatment, lost wages and decreased productivity. These easily-identified expenses are often known as the “direct” costs associated with accidents. Less evident expenses associated with accidents are known as “indirect” or “hidden” costs and can be several times greater than the value of the direct costs. According to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), accidents are more expensive than most people realize because of the hidden costs. Some costs are obvious-for example, workers’ compensation claims which cover medical costs and indemnity payments for an injured or ill worker.
“Listed below are just a few of the hidden costs associated with most accident.

1. The expense and time of finding a temporary replacement for the injured worker,
2. Time used by other employees to assist the injured worker,
3. Time used by supervision to investigate the mishap, preparation of accident reports and adjustments made to work schedules,
4. Property damage to tools, materials and equipment,
5. Delays in accomplishment of work task by a group.

Indirect costs exist, vary greatly from case to case, and are often difficult to quantify. The main point to remember is that accidents are much more costly than just the basic or direct costs” Smith (1998)
Farmer Business Insurance says that Hidden costs typically run from four to seven times the insured direct cost which include:

1. Time lost from work by injured employee.
2. Economic loss to injured employees family.
3. Lost of time by fellow workers.
4. Loss of efficiency due to break-up of crew.
5. Loss of time by supervisors Cost of training a new crew.
6. Damage to tools and equipment.
7. Spoilage- fire, water, chemical, explosives, etc.
8. Failures to fill orders
9. Overhead cost (while work was disrupted)
10. Miscellaneous- there are at least 100 business items of cost that appear one or more times with every accidents.

OSHA highlighted the hidden costs as follows:

1. Costs of training and compensation of replacement of worker
2. Repair damaged property
3. Investigate the accident and implement corrective actions
4. To maintain insurance coverage
5. Cost of schedule delays
6. Added administrative time
7. Lower morale, increased absenteeism, and poorer customer relations. These are hidden or indirect costs which are not obvious until a closer look is taken.

Farmers Business Insurance affirms that insurance pays only the obvious costs of an accident while the other party takes responsibility for the hidden costs out of his profits.

MACHINE AND EQUIPMENT GUARD

The relevant standards have been prepared to be some harmonized standards to provide means of conforming to the essential safety requirements of the Machinery Directive and associated EFTA Regulations.
The primary purpose of the standards is to give guidance to machinery designers and writers on how to design or select interlocking devices associated with guards with a view to complying with the relevant essential safety requirements of the EC machinery directive. They may also be use as guidance in controlling the risk where there is no standard for a particular machine.
EN 292-1:1991 defines interlocking device as a mechanical, electrical or other type of device, the purpose of which is to prevent the operation of machine elements under specified conditions (generally as long as a guard is not closed). Guard is associated with an interlocking device, so that

1. The hazardous machine functions ‘covered’ by the guard cannot operate until the guard is closed;

If the guard is opened while the hazardous machine are operating, a stop instruction is given;
When the guard is closed, the hazardous machine functions ‘covered’ by the guard can operate, but the closure of the guard does not by itself initiate their operation.

3.22.4 of EN 292-1: 1991.
Guard associated with an interlocking device and a guard locking device so that:

1. The hazardous machine functions ‘covered’ by the guard cannot operate until the guard is closed and locked;
2. The guard remains closed and locked until the risk of injury from the hazardous machine has passed;
3. When the guard is closed and locked, the hazardous machine functions ‘covered’ by the guard can operate, but the closure and locking of the guard do not by themselves initiate their operation.

3.22.5 of EN 292-1: 1991.
One of the ways by which dangerous parts of moving machinery can be guarded is by the use of mechanical interlocking between a guard and a movable element. In this method, the function ensured is that of an interlocking guard with guard locking. As long as the movable element is not at rest, the guard is locked in the closed position while as soon as the guard is no longer in the closed position, the movable element is blocked.
Direct (mechanical) interlocking between guard and start/stop manual control is another way of guarding dangerous parts of moving machinery.
According to BS EN 1088:1996, whenever the start/stop manual control is in the raised position, it prevents the guard from being opened. While lowering the lever causes the device it actuates to positively interrupt circuit continuity. When the lever is in the lower position, it is possible to open the guard. As long as the guard is open, it prevents the lever being lifted.
Another example of safeguarding moving machinery is the use of Guard-Operated device with tongue -operated switch. This device comprises of:

1. A circuit-breaking element
2. A mechanism which, when operated, causes the circuit-breaking element to be opened and closed.

A specially shaped part (tongue) is fixed on the guard so that this tongue cannot be removed. The circuit-breaking element only ensures the continuity of the circuit when the tongue is inserted into the detector. When the tongue is withdrawn, it operates in the positive mode the mechanism which opens the circuit-breaking element.