Work Health and Safety Practices

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b.) Give an example of a situation that would be classified as an emergency throughout an organization. Describe how this situation could occur in first instance.

Although there are myriads of situations that can be classified as an emergency throughout an organization, but among them FIRE accidents ranks top. The major causes that lead to such accidents could be smoking materials, electrical faults, cooking fires and many more. The leakage of gas in kitchens may catch an immediate fire. Higher voltage supplies or faulty electrical lines may also lead to fires. This situation generally occurs due to improper earthing of wires. A stock of flammable liquids such as kerosene or petrol is another reason for fire accidents. Apart from this, smoking materials like, cigarette, cigars or pipes may act as secondary causatives of fire.

5.)

a.) Using the internet as a research tool, describe an organization emergency procedure if a fire breaks out on the premises. (Please enter a step by step process)

Step 1: Don’t panic! This is the universal step taken to combat any emergency situation. Try to keep yourself and the guests’ calm.

Step 2: Treat every alarm even if you don’t know the root cause of fire and do not silence it until permissions are given. Also do not reset the alarms until not investigated by the officials of the fire dept. The investigation is carried out to determine the initial source of fire.

Step 3: Inform the telephone-operator to call the nearest fire brigade station and all the other station in the organization.

Step 4: Shut down the elevators to avoid the occupants using them. This is to be done because an elevator may fail during fire or the shafts may get filled with smoke. Although, elevators may be used by the firefighters to reach the fire source immediately.

Step 5: The trained personnel of the organization should start fighting the fire with fire extinguishers till the official team arrives.

Step 6: The guests should be immediately evacuated through emergency exits by using only staircases. Elderly, women and children should be preferred over others.

Step 7: The management at front office should look after the whole property in order to avoid any harm due to miscreants.

Step 8: The victims should immediately be taken to hospitals. For this, nearby hospitals and health centers may also contribute.

b.) Explain why is it necessary for all employees to follow organizational emergency procedures.

The emergency response plan needs to be followed by all the associated staff of an organization. This is because in case of emergencies the staff needs to work as a single team leading in a single direction. Contradictory thoughts in such situations gives rise to confusion which may further lead in delay of problem solving procedures. Hence the supervisors should make sure that each of its staff members is aware of the current organizational emergency tactics and should deliberately follow them in case of hazardous emergencies.

c.) What would the ramifications be if an employee failed to follow an organization’s emergency procedure?

This course of action is bound to have legal ramifications. An immediate legal action should be taken against such employees who fail to follow the emergency procedure set up by an organization. The main aim of any Tourism industry is to take extreme care of their guests and therefore the one who risks their lives should be deliberately punished. But, prior to this the actual cause of such a failure should be seek and dealt with patience.

d.) When would you seek assistance from:

(i) Colleagues?

The colleagues should be consulted when emergency situations or issues could be handled at personal level, For instance, if any guest suffers from minor injuries then the staff can collaborate among themselves to give primary first-aid treatments to him. Hence the staff needs not to bother the officials in case of such small matters.

(ii) Authorities?

The people in authority are to be approached in case of huge impact of any mishap and this approach must be quick. For instance, if a number of guests suffer from food poising after the lunch then the authorities needs to take charge in their hands and seek out for best possible remedies as quick as possible. The people in authority are quite experienced; hence they have their own ways of dealing with such situations.

6.) List four ways in which you can actively participate in organizational Workplace Health and Safety practices.

To be an active participant in WHS practices one needs to:

- Attend meetings and seminars organized by the organization to promote such disciplines.

- Be regular at office to keep oneself updated about the reforms being carried out in reference to such practices.

- Place their new ideas during meetings in order to improve current conditions of WHS.

- To communicate the benefits and consequences of WHS practices among the ones who are less aware.

7.) Respond to the following:

a.) Describe two employee responsibilities that relate to Workplace Health and Safety within a workplace.

In order to deliberately follow the WHS practices the employee should have the following responsibilities:

- Each employee needs to take care of both his and his workmates safety. In case of any breaches in safety measures there should be an immediate reporting by him to his supervisors.

- Each employee should work in alignment and cooperation with the management in setting up and following the safety practices. Clashes of ideas should be avoided at both ends.

b.) Describe two employer responsibilities that relate to Workplace Health and Safety within a workplace.

Not only the employees but the employers also need to safeguard the WHS practices. For such a purpose they need to:

- Install norms and practices to safe premises, machinery and equipments and systems