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My practice at a Practical report, incl feedback (REVISON)

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Lisamw
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My practice at a Practical report, incl feedback (REVISON)

Post by Lisamw »

Exam tomorrow ... feedback from those in the know needed.

This is my attempt at a practice report for the practical exam ..... and I along the right lines ... or do you have any pointers for me ???

Would it convince you to take action ?

Sorry its a long one !!!!


On the afternoon of 14.2.07 I inspected the factory warehouse in order to assess the adequacy of our health and safety arrangements and to ensure the compliance of our activities with Health and Safety legislation.

During my inspection several breaches of the legislation were noted, including but not limited to the following :
Health and Safety at Work Act
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations
Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations
Electricity at work regulations
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health regulations
Working at Height regulations.

As you will be aware breach of any of this legislation could leave the company open to very substantial financial penalties if the HSE were to visit and it is therefore in our interest to address these matters urgently. Aswell as these legal and financial reasons for complying with health and safety legislation we have a morale duty to our employees and anyone else affected by our work activities to ensure that they are kept safe whilst on our premises.

I attach to this report my observation sheets highlighting all the shortcomings identified, together with areas where good practice has been noted. However, I must stress that the shortcomings far out way any good practices seen and immediate attention will be required in some areas if we are to avoid a serious injury to any of our workforce.

The areas that are of particular concern to me are highlighted below :

1. Housekeeping

This is an area where great improvement could be made for very little financial outlay. In general the state of the housekeeping with in the warehouse is not acceptable. We have inappropriately and incorrectly stored items posing both fire and fall hazards. The provision of a suitable, lockable, fire proof storage cabinet would help by ensuring that items are suitably stored and not left lying around as seems to be current practice. Training of our workforce in correct storage methods and locations would also greatly improve our performance in this area.

2. Equipment

During my visit I observed various unsafe acts using various items of company equipment. Damaged ladders were in use for maintenance work on the warehouse lighting and one employee was spotted standing on the forks of the fork lift truck while stacking boxes at height. Both these activities are breaches of the PUWER regulations. Firstly as a company are failing to provide safe equipment and additionally employees are using equipment in ways which their use was not intended. Regular inspection and maintenance programmes for our equipment would tackle the issue concerning the use of damaged equipment, which coupled with training our employees on reporting defects would ensure that this does not continue. However, this would need to be backed up with improvements to the supervision of our workforce and this could be achieved by a refresher course for all supervisors at minimal cost.

3. Fire

As a result of previously raised issues ie the lack of appropriate storage facilities and a general lack of safety awareness by our employees, coupled with the fact that one of the Fire exits was completely blocked by boxes and therefore unusable, we are in breach of Fire regulations. This issue is compounded by the fact that welding activities were taking place in close proximity of highly flammable substances. Again the reasons for this seem to be a lack of storage facilities and a lack of employee commitment to safe working practices.

4. Falls from height

Our employees are clearly not giving due consideration to their own safety or that of those around them. Whilst in the warehouse I noticed one employee working at height on damaged ladders which had not been securely tied and also the previous incident I mentioned of an employee standing on the forks of the fork lift truck to stack boxes. In addition to the risk of people falling there is also the potential of personnel being struck by items falling from height due to items stored on damaged racking which could collapse and overloading of various bays within the storage facilities. The potential for a serious accident is clearly evident.

5. Information, instruction, training and supervision.

I have no doubt that the majority of the shortfalls evidenced are as a result of a lack of awareness of the risks created by the activities being undertaken by our workforce or indeed a culture of ‘ noone else is bothered about safety round here so why should I be ‘. We need to arrange a programme of health and safety awareness and training sessions covering various different aspects for our workforce as a matter of priority and also improve on the supervision of our workers.


Conclusion

In order to avoid substantial financial costs, aswell as ensuring that we do not continue to breach legislation these issues, together with the others stated on my observation sheets, require the organisations immediate attention. I am sure you will agree that if Management are seen to be addressing these issues this will go a long way in convincing the workforce that we take their safety and well being seriously. By acting in a more visible manner and with improved supervision a lot of these issues could be addressed with little or no financial cost, but with great benefits to all concerned.

I trust you will give this report and my recommendations your full commitment and look forward to meeting with you in 2 days time to compile our plan of action.


Signed …….. Dated ………..
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Post by otto »

OK, my take on things -constructive criticism.

On the afternoon of 14.2.07 an inspection was carried outthe factory warehouse in order to assess the adequacy of [color=redthe[/color] health and safety arrangements and to ensure the compliance of activities with Health and Safety legislation.

During my inspection several breaches of the legislation were noted, including but not limited to the following :
Health and Safety at Work Act
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations
Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations
Electricity at work regulations
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health regulations
Working at Height regulations.

Good here - a good ides not to include the year if you are uncertain

As you will be aware breach of any of this legislation could leave the company open to very substantial financial penalties if the HSE were to visit and it is therefore in our interest to address these matters urgently. Aswell as these legal and financial reasons for complying with health and safety legislation we have a morale duty to our employees and anyone else affected by our work activities to ensure that they are kept safe whilst on our premises. Good

I attach to this report my observation sheets highlighting all the shortcomings identified, together with areas where good practice has been noted. However, I must stress that the shortcomings far out weigh any good practices seen and immediate attention will be required in some areas if we are to avoid a serious injury to any of our workforce. and subsequent investigation and court actions....

The areas that are of particular concern to me are highlighted below :

1. Housekeeping

This is an area where great improvement could be made for very little financial outlay. In general the state of the housekeeping with in the warehouse is not acceptable. We have inappropriately and incorrectly stored items posing both fire and fall hazards. The provision of a suitable, lockable, fire proof storage cabinet would help by ensuring that items are suitably stored and not left lying around as seems to be current practice. You need to estimate costs and the time scale required here - make it up if you aren't certain- the exam is about a rounded report as much as real world stuffTraining - How - internal breifings - low cost external higher cost but quality of training would be better. (In theory)of our workforce in correct storage methods and locations would also greatly improve our performance in this area.

2. Equipment

During my visit I observed various unsafe acts using various items of company equipment. Damaged ladders were in use for maintenance work on the warehouse lighting and one employee was spotted standing on the forks of the fork lift truck while stacking boxes at height. Both these activities are breaches of the PUWER regulations. Actually a breach of the WAH Regs and HASAW too.Firstly as a company are failing to provide safe equipment and additionally employees are using equipment in ways which their use was not intended. Regular inspection and maintenance programmes how and by who - trained, competent - training required, how will it be managed- timescale and costs for our equipment would tackle the issue concerning the use of damaged equipment, which coupled with training our employees on reporting defects would ensure that this does not continue. However, this would need to be backed up with improvements to the supervision of our workforce and this could be achieved by a refresher course for all supervisors at minimal cost. Again - internal/external and costs and timescale needed here
3. Fire

As a result of previously raised issues ie the lack of appropriate storage facilities and a general lack of safety awareness by our employees, coupled with the fact that one of the Fire exits was completely blocked by boxes and therefore unusable, we are in breach of Fire regulations - which ones - real life more detail need - also points available in the exam RRFO. This issue is compounded by the fact that welding activities were taking place in close proximity of highly flammable substances. Again the reasons for this seem to be a lack of storage facilities and a lack of employee commitment to safe working practices. How about permit to work procedures - low cost easy and quick to implement -
4. Falls from height

Our employees are clearly not giving due consideration to their own safety or that of those around them. Whilst in the warehouse I noticed one employee working at height on damaged ladders which had not been securely tied and also the previous incident I mentioned of an employee standing on the forks of the fork lift truck to stack boxes. In addition to the risk of people falling there is also the potential of personnel being struck by items falling from height due to items stored on damaged racking which could collapse and overloading of various bays within the storage facilities. The potential for a serious accident is clearly evident. And your solutions are???? You need to give solutions to these problems - new ladders - use for short duration - tower scaffolds -podiums - and you need training, information and instruction along with supervision - training internal/external - and costs and timescales - recommend throwing damaged ladders away.
5. Information, instruction, training and supervision.

I have no doubt that the majority of the shortfalls evidenced are as a result of a lack of awareness of the risks created by the activities being undertaken by our workforce or indeed a culture of ‘ noone else is bothered about safety round here so why should I be ‘. We need to arrange a programme of health and safety awareness and training sessions covering various different aspects for our workforce as a matter of priority and also improve on the supervision of our workers. Again - as above - internal or external, costs and timescales

Conclusion

In order to avoid substantial financial costs, aswell as ensuring that we do not continue to breach legislation these issues, together with the others stated on my observation sheets, require the organisations immediate attention. I am sure you will agree that if Management are seen to be addressing these issues this will go a long way in convincing the workforce that we take their safety and well being seriously. By acting in a more visible manner and with improved supervision a lot of these issues could be addressed with little or no financial cost, but with great benefits to all concerned. - Good conclusion

I trust you will give this report and my recommendations your full commitment and look forward to meeting with you in 2 days time to compile our plan of action.
There appear to be no recomendations - a bullet point list of recs raised in the main body would be good here with costs and timescales

Signed …….. Dated ………..

Other hints - don't write in the first person - write formal reports in the third person - or "it was observed" rather than "I saw"
Good basic report - need some more meat in areas and you need to be more specific with your solutions in terms of cost and timescale.

Hope this helps you
Otto 8)
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Thank you

Post by Lisamw »

Thank you soooo much. :-)

I'm glad I posted it now ... was hesitant on whether it was too long to post.

I will try to remember tomorrow to add in the bits you've suggested and also write in the third person. I just thought it would be more pursuasive if it was written as though it were a one to one discussion but will take guidance from those in the know.

Thanks again

:-)
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Post by Coldrop »

Otto is our god !

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Post by Gladiator »

Not to add to Otto’s response because I agree pretty much with everything he says. I would however point you to understand that the observation sheets carry a 55% reward as opposed to 45% for the actual written report.

Ensure where you can that EVERYTHING in your written report is detailed on the observation sheets, if you think of something whilst writing scribble it on the obs sheets, examiners will look to see that what is on the written report actually appears on the observation sheets.

This aside, I caution you regarding the time available to scribe down your findings. get your obs sheets titled up; get the heading on the written report done if you are permitted, (different tutors have different guidelines) above all else look up down around and behind you when carrying out the inspection; open doors to areas that you are permitted and don't be frightened to ask when you are there, 'where is your H&S law poster'? 'Where is the COSHH information' where is the first aid kit'? All easily overlooked in an intense against the clock situation.

For the written report don't forget to praise any issues or areas that meet minimum requirements or exceed them, positives are a plus, so mention them.

ABOVE ALL ELSE, GOOD LUCK.

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Post by dee234 »

Good luck with the exam Lisa. Let us know how you got on.

Thanks for all your responses to Lisa's report. They were very informative and I hope to take them on board.

Dee
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Practical

Post by Lisamw »

Just to bump this up for those about to take their Practical Exam.

I took note of the comments, feedback and suggestions made by the wonderful guys on this site when I sat my practical. Listening to that advice contributed to me getting 92% in my practical.

I hope some of the ideas will be useful to others.

Oh .... and GOOD LUCK .... its not quite as daunting as you think it might be !
Lisa :-D
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Post by Gladiator »

Way to go Lisa!!

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Post by Jack Kane »

I hope you don't mind Lisa, but I have edited your post title and made this a sticky for future reference. Just another addition to our excellent resources for revision.
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:-)

Post by Lisamw »

That's fine by me !!

I hope it provides help and guidance to many others ... it was certainly very useful for me .... and the guidance was obviously spot on looking at the mark I got by taking on board the comments made.
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Post by Twinkle Toes »

On your observation sheets don't forget to add on your long, medium and short term actions.
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Post by dave247 »

Lisa a great post! I'm sure it will play a large part in helping others pass.
I hope you don't mind Lisa, but I have edited your post title and made this a sticky for future reference. Just another addition to our excellent resources for revision.

Nice idea jack!
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