Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

particular job. The operator should have sight of the job 
description and be trained in the safe system of work 
before commencing the job. More information on both 
these latter items is given in Chapter 6.
The following simple checklist may be used to check 
that the principal health and safety considerations of the 
job have been taken into account:
➤
have the critical parts of the job been identifi ed and 
analysed?
➤
have the employee’s decision-making needs been 
evaluated?
➤
has the best balance between human and automatic 
systems been evaluated?
➤
have ergonomic principles been applied to the 
design of equipment displays, including displays of 
plant and process information, control information 
and panel layouts?
➤
has the design and presentation of procedures and 
instructions been considered?
➤
has the guidance available for the design and con-
trol of the working environment, including the work-
space, access for maintenance, lighting, noise and 
heating conditions, been considered?
➤
have the correct tools and equipment been 
provided?
➤
have the work patterns and shift organization been 
scheduled to minimize their impact on health and 
safety?
➤
has consideration been given to the achievement of 
effi cient communications and shift handover?
Figure 4.3
Well-designed workstation for sitting or 
standing.

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Introduction to Health and Safety at Work
54
HSG48 gives following causes for failures in job health 
and safety:
➤
illogical design of equipment and instruments
➤
constant disturbances and interruptions
➤
missing or unclear instructions
➤
poorly maintained equipment
➤
high 
workload
➤
noisy and unpleasant working conditions.
It is important that health and safety monitoring of the 
job is a continuous process. Some problems do not 
become apparent until the job is started. Other prob-
lems do not surface until there is a change of operator or 
a change in some aspect of the job.
It is very important to gain feedback from the operator 
on any diffi culties experienced because there could be 
a health and safety issue requiring further investigation.