Overview
This policy is an overview of the Health and Safety policy for Steelfab Water Solutions.
The company covers several areas of operation from office administration, sales and engineering design departments, steel and sheet metal engineering workshops, liner manufacturing workshops through to site assembly and installations of our products on site.
Steelfab management is a committed to providing a safe workplace for all workers in the organization.
Responsibilities and Authorities
The Steelfab Health and Safety Policy is designed with specific roles of responsibility throughout the organization.
Being a smaller company, Steelfab designate the individual department managers as the safety manager for their specific area or department.
The safety manager for the company is Kelvin Turner.
Managers of the respective departments are as listed below
Office and Administration: Steve Eggers and Sharn van Derlaan
Commercial Sales and Engineering: Kelvin Turner
Sheet and Metals Workshop: Colin Ovens
Liner Division: Aadiel Alexander
All staff within the organization are required to read, understand and agree with all aspects of this policy. Staff are also requested on an ongoing basis to make suggestions of areas that can be improved to provide a safer workplace and where procedures or equipment can be changed or modified to improve the overall safety and wellbeing of the workplace.
Steelfab Water Solutions conduct monthly safety meetings with managers of all departments to monitor the individual areas of the business and make changes to procedures, where applicable, and discuss any suggestions that have been raised by staff throughout the preceeding month
Employee Representation
Each department has a representative that will take part in the safety management meeting to witness the meeting and voice the opinions of his workmates and report back to them with the results of discussions in the meeting and any changes that relate to their workplace.
Safety Coordinator Role
Given the size of the organization the role of safety coordinator is taken by the safety manager. This allows for the Safety Management Plan to develop alongside other operational procedures within the organization.
Ongoing discussions are held weekly as part of our production meetings to include the safety issues in the workplace and to keep up with new and innovative ideas to improve the overall health and safety of our workers.
The Safety Coordinator is also responsible to ensure that all relevant PPE and safety equipment is available at all times to the workers and to ensure they adhere to the company requirements that they be used at all times where the task requires.
The Safety Coordinator will liaise with the individual department Safety Managers to communicate company Safety Requirements to their respective staff.
Occupational Health and Safety Meetings
Steelfab Water Solutions currently conduct monthly Occupational Health and Safety Meetings. These meetings are initially between managers of the departments within the company and then opened up to the staff for their involvement and input. These meetings are designed to deal with any complaints or concerns of the staff and to identify areas of the organization’s safety that can be improved. Genuine concerns will be taken on board and procedures or equipment changes implemented.
Internal House Inspections
Steelfab conduct weekly inspections of each department to identify safety hazards or breaches in the workplace and to identify areas that can be improved for discussions at the next meeting.
These inspections are supported by all staff, given the positive effect on their well being and job satisfaction.
All inspections meetings and discussions are noted and recorded. All meetings have minutes generated and circulated to department managers for discussions with the staff in their respective departments.
Each Department has a log sheet where the suggestions from the staff are written down for discussions at the next meeting. Each item on the list is discussed and results of each discussion are relayed back
to staff.
Documentation and Evaluation of Risks
Each department is in the process of conducting JHA and Risk Assessments for all facets of the operation to produce written procedures for all repetitive tasks and individual JHA’s and “Take 5” evaluations of one off tasks either within the facility or on site.
The Quality Manager is responsible for the implementation of these systems and will conduct the preparation of these JHA’s and preparation of the work procedures. Documentation will be prepared, filled and held in each work place for constant re-evaluation and up-dating as tasks change and develop.
All of this documentation becomes part of our existing quality system.
Training
Steelfab Water Solutions are committed to offering ongoing training to our workers to enhance the capability of our operations and the wellbeing of our staff. Steelfab have apprentices and trades people on staff and seek to maintain a healthy and interesting workplace by on-going training and a variety of work.
Steelfab also provide all training required for site-specific tasks including Confined Space Training, Working at Heights, Lock Holder, MARCSTA and all other relevant training courses to ensure that our site technicians are up to date and familiar with all facets of their work tasks and of all site specific training and safety requirements.
Steelfab are also ensuring that one member of our team both on site and in the workshops is a trained First Aid Officer.
Routine Inspections
Steelfab Water Solutions have a documented inspection procedure that requires that, on a weekly basis, the entire workplace is inspected and documented. Evidence of this inspection is maintained in our Safety Manual. The results of this inspection are discussed at weekly production and safety meetings and any items requiring attention are acted upon immediately in order to rectify any potential hazards.
Steelfab is moving to ensure that the Health and Safety System is fully implemented and operational at all times, and that the attitude of all staff becomes singularly focused on safety.
The ongoing agenda permanently in place for weekly production meeting is the safety inspection report. This ensures that the inspection is never overlooked.
Inductions
Steelfab Water Solutions have a generic Safety Induction that is required for all new workers starting in our operation. Given the size of our operation, the Induction is brief and to the point. The induction includes a requirement for our new staff member to read and confirm that they understand the Quality and Safety Policy, and then sign a declaration that they agree with the processes and systems we have implemented, and that they agree to abide by these systems and to work in a safe manner, utilising all appropriate safety equipment and PPE appropriate to the task.
Visitor Procedure
All visitors to the Steelfab Water Solutions Facility are required to remain out of the workshop areas at all times unless accompanied by a Steelfab Worker appropriately trained for access to that work area. Access to the work area will also require the use appropriate PPE for the area concerned.
The visitor is to remain at all times with the Steelfab Staff Member and is not to be left un-attended unless approval is given by management for a specific reason i.e. equipment repair, servicing or installation.
The safety of Steelfab Staff and of the visitor themselves is the primary objective of this protocol. Other objectives are also security of information, processes and equipment.
Accident Reporting
There is an existing protocol in place within Steelfab that all accidents and injuries, no matter how trivial, are reported to the supervisor and appropriate medical attention can be sought and provided to the employee.
Minor injuries can become more serious if not dealt with appropriately at the time of the incident. It is the responsibility of the Employer to ensure that appropriate and timely action is taken to ensure the safety and well being of the employee and as such this protocol exists and will be adhered to.
Duty of Care requires such action be in place for each and every incident.
Any incident that occurs even if injury does not occur must be reported. Accidents causing damage or near misses that could have the potential to cause damage to equipment or injury to workers must be reported, and as a result procedures be put in place to ensure there is not a recurrence of the same incident.
Careless behaviour or wilful damage to equipment or materials will not be tolerated and will be dealt with appropriately.
Accident Data Collection
A register is put in place where all incidents and accidents are to be recorded by the manager of the department.
The register is brought to the weekly production meetings for discussions by management. These discussions will result in procedures or protocols being altered— if required—to remove the hazard that caused the incident or accident, or action will be taken to re-train the staff member or disciplinary action could be taken if it was found to be wilful or careless behaviour that caused the incident or accident.
A master register will be maintained of all incident and accident reports once they have been completed and finalized. Unresolved reports will be held on the active log board with the department manager and will remain until the matter is finalised to the satisfaction of the department manager and the safety manager.
External Contractor HSE Requirements
In situations where Steelfab Water Solutions requires the services of an external contractor for part of the works on a contract we undertake, the contactor is made aware of the Steelfab HSE Health and Safety Policy. The Contractor will be required to agree to the protocols outlined in this policy and will fall under the requirements of the policy as would any employee of Steelfab Water Solutions.
The only exemption from this requirement will be where the contractor is able to produce to Steelfab Water Solutions their own Health and Safety Policy that provides adequate controls and reporting to mirror the Steelfab Water Solutions’ System.
Any work carried out directly under the “Steelfab” banner either at our premises or on site will be deemed to be “employed by” Steelfab and as such will report directly to the Steelfab Site Supervisor who will be our site Safety Manager. All incidents, accidents or near misses where personnel or equipment could be at risk will be required to be reported to the Site Safety Manager.
Sub-contractors employed by Steelfab on site for the assembly and installation of our products and services will also be deemed to be “employees or staff members” of Steelfab Water Solutions and will also fall under our HSE Health and Safety Policy.
All contractors and sub-contractors will be required to read our HSE Safety Policy, carry out a project specific safety induction and sign a contractors declaration agreeing to abide by the Steelfab Safety Protocols and to abide by any “Site Specific” Safety protocols outlined by our client on site.
Document Control
The Safety Manager will be responsible for the overall document control for the HSE Safety Management Plan for Steelfab Water Solutions.
The Safety Manager will have the authority to select an appropriately responsible person to carry out, or assist with, safety inspections in the work place.
The Safety Manager and/or his authorized inspector will have the authority to remove any plant or equipment from services (in discussion with the department manager) if it is deemed that there is an immediate risk or potential hazard. If the particular equipment, tool or material can be altered, repaired or re-arranged resulting in the risk or hazard being removed, the plant or equipment can then be immediately restored to service. Detailed records of the hazard are to be recorded and details of action taken to rectify the situation are also to be recorded and signed off by the Safety Manager and the Department Manager.
Desired Outcomes
The Desired Outcome of the HSE Safety Management Plan and Policy is to remove all hazards from the work place, instill a mindset of safety before production in the minds of both staff and management and ultimately increase production, profitability and safety—and the well being and job satisfaction of our staff and contractors.