INTRODUCTION TO HSE
INTRODUCTION
In every human activity, the health, the safety and the wellbeing of people must
be the highest priority. Therefore:
ᴥ. Never do anything that would be unsafe for you
ᴥ. Always stop a job if it cannot be done safely
I. Hygiene- safety and environment
The HSE is a training which provides necessary knowledge and skills about job
hazards and the measures to take for a safe work.
Today we talk of Quality- Health-Hygiene- safety and environment (QHSE)
II. Definition and purpose of safety
Safety is a state of being safe, free from any danger, hurt or loss. The main
objective is to prevent and protect workers against job hazards.
SAFETY AGENT : a person skilled in the techniques of safety. He/she is trained so
that he/she understands what to do exactly in every situation. He/she identifies
easily the job hazards and takes preventive measures. The duties of a safety agent
are:
Arrange and put the workers in a safe work conditions
Eliminate or avoid any hazardous situations
Advice workers and enterprises about the importance of safety measures
Make the workers use the PPE
Protect the equipment, tools of the company, and also the environment
Organize and lead safety meetings to discuss about safety problems
(toolbox)
The finality is to eliminate, avoid, control or minimize any job hazards
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III. Hazards identification
A. Definitions
The hazard: it is an event which may cause the disruption of the normal activities
of people (cause of injury), of equipment (cause of breakage) of property (cause
of fire)
●The hazard of a substance is its potential to cause harm
The accident: is an unexpected, unplanned event that occurs through a
combination of causes and which results to physical harm (injury or diseases),
damage or loss
The risk: it is a process which is governed by:
●The exposure (the frequency of contact with the hazard)
●The probability (the likelihood of injury)
●The consequence (the degree of harm cause by the hazard)
B. Some hazards
Electrical: live electrical equipment, static electricity
Hazardous environment: untidy workplace, sunburn, bites, stings, confined
space, working at heights, working at ship side
Personal: manual handling, trip and fall, fixed posture, repetitive movement,
increased and decreased pressure, heat and cold stress, working alone, mental
stress
Radiation: ionizing, ultraviolet, infrared, radiofrequency, electromagnetic field,
extremely low frequency, laser
Temperature: high temperature items
Mechanical: moving vehicle or machine, falling objects, noise, vibration, pressure
equipment
Chemical and biological: solvent, corrosive agents, toxic substances, carcinogens,
irritants, dust, vapor, fumes, genotoxins, allergens
Remark: risk zero does not exist. Every activity is hazardous at some degree. We
must identify the hazard in order to take safety measures (avoid, eliminate,
control, etc)
C. Causes of accidents
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Safety is an attitude. It is not something that we can ignore. Safety is the
awareness of the environment and actions. Safety is to know what is going on, to
know, what can cause injury and act to prevent it.
SAFETY PROVERB: ‘’unsafe people create unsafe conditions which cause
accidents and these accidents often result in injury or damage’’
There are many causes of an accident:
Unexpected movements
Hazardous atmospheric conditions
Unsafe equipment
Noise
Lack of hazard awareness
Lack of job knowledge and skills
Lack of adequate instructions
Expressing resentment
Complacency
Inadequate supervision and inspection
Inadequate safety procedures and systems
Lack of preventive maintenance
D. Consequences of accidents
Immediate Short term Long term
Death Medical treatment Suffering
Injury Repairs Disability
Pain Replacements Loss of income
Disease Loss of production Mistrust
Damage Increase of costs Missed target
Loss Low moral Loss of profitability
fear
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