Supervising for health and safety involves a variety of tasks at various stages.
INITIALLY, before a new job begins (either at the start of a new project and/or when workers are starting new tasks), you need to lay a foundation for health and safety through job planning and hazard assessment, by establishing safe work practices, job procedures, and on-the-job training for employees.
- PERIODICALLY, you will conduct toolbox safety meetings and distribute health and safety information. You will conduct regular site inspections, hazard assessments, and take part in health and safety audits. You should conduct investigations of any accidents/incidents that occur. You will enforce policies, rules, regulation, and code among the workforce, and follow-up on corrective actions identified during hazard assessments, inspections, or investigations.
- CONTINUALLY, in a process that should be second nature, you will be monitoring the worksite for substandard conditions and substandard acts. You will be complying with the regulation and code yourself, always setting a good example in making health and safety a top priority. You will go beyond regulation and code, setting a professional example by working to create a good impression, while maintaining health and safety standards. You'll do this on the site by paying attention to details such as housekeeping and materials storage. You will do this for yourself by always being neat, clean and appropriately dressed for the worksite. Some of these tasks will be discussed in detail later in other course modules, when we look at what is involved in training, performing inspections, and investigating accidents/incidents. Let's briefly discuss four of these tasks - job planning, hazard assessments, health and safety audits, and risk analysis.