Christmas is on the snowy horizon. So during this festive month, let us be your Buddy (yes, that is an Elf reference), and debunk a number of health and safety Christmas myths that just leave us laughing like a bowl full of Santa’s jelly.
Safety myth
Indoor Christmas lights need a portable appliance test (PAT) every year
Safety reality
This health and safety myth unfortunately drives many companies to waste money under the pretence that they need to test their Christmas lights annually.
Perhaps even worse, some become the Christmas Grinch and don’t put them up at all!
The safety solution is simple: follow a few sensible precautions, such as checks by the user for obvious signs of damage, then your workplace can switch on safely and sparkle!
Like Rome, be advised to calendar more than a day to build a competence management system (CMS). Important work, after all, takes time. And within our sector, competency most surely resides atop the importance scale. It is the barrier protecting the safe from the unsafe.
So what is a CMS? In plain old English, it pertains to introducing arrangements to control a cycle of activities within your tank storage organisation. The end result? A system which assures and develops competent performance on the part of directors, managers and operators.
The bulk liquid industry is making great headway. Training, on-the-job learning, instruction, assessment and qualifications have indeed become the norm for those planning a safer tomorrow, today.
Even so, whilst the initial impact is fantastic, what happens a month or year after providing training to a worker? Down the road, how can you assure their progression? And, in doing so, how can you demonstrate to yourself, the regulator and wider community their ability to undertake responsibilities and perform activities to a recognised standard on a regular basis?
Competency training, unlike Chesney Hawks, shouldn’t be a one-hit-wonder. It requires a cyclic approach. It requires a process which takes into account work life and work roles. It requires a strong competence management system.
Building a CMS in 5 phases
What type of CMS does my site need? There’s a number of different systems out there. As such, knowing where to start can be tricky – in fact, it’s caused many site managers to shed precious follicles.
Don’t worry, though. The ideals permeating these different systems are actually similar in nature.
So much so, in fact, that the Health and Safety Executive has rationalised things down into five core principles. The end result? A compelling roadmap readymade to help you drive forward a robust CMS tailored around the actual needs of your site.
Let’s take a look and explore each phase in detail.
Phase 1: Establish requirements for the CMS
Identify activities and assess risks: The epicentre of this phase is identification of safety critical tasks. Why is this so important? Well, according to Cogent, safety critical tasks are ‘those where sub-standard performance could contribute to a major accident hazard’. In practice, if we don’t identify the hazards, it’s impossible to manage the risks associated with the activity or process. This is key in opening the door to defining the scope of the CMS.
Select standards: Pick a card, any card. Well not quite. Selecting the standards against which assessments will be undertaken is anything but random. It’s a highly strategic process. So factor this into your thought process: how do you plan to measure competence and, more to the point, what does good and bad competence look like?
As with potatoes, standards come in a range of shapes and sizes. You could, for instance, opt for solid off-the-shelf external standards such as L2 Diploma in Bulk Liquid Operations or L3 Diploma in Control Room Operations.
Flip that coin and consider how your site is unique. To ensure the shoe fits the foot, then, you might also want to set about developing your own procedures for key tasks into ‘standards’. This is a recognised and effective approach as a well-designed procedure can be transformed to your standard enabling demonstration of compliance to YOUR process. It is key that the standard enables a consistent measurement of competent performance to be undertaken.
Phase 2: Design the CMS
So you’ve laid the groundwork. You know the hazards, the risks, controls and safety critical elements. All’s looking good. But how can you develop this into a system that demonstrates competent performance?
Well, the first step here is a crucial one. You’ll need to develop policies, procedures and methods of assessment. Whether you are developing a system in line with a relevant awarding body, or a bespoke product this would encompass core areas including:
Defining the range of roles within the system: From candidates, to assessors, quality assurers and coordinators of the process, clearly define responsibilities within each element
Selection criteria for the relevant roles: Monitoring and maintaining the quality of the assessment team, their training and competency requirements is fundamental in the assessment process and validity of the management system
Forms used: Record all elements of the assessment process whether online or via paper based systems, providing consistency and audibility
Monitoring: Develop a robust monitoring process and ensure those tasked with managing it fully understand the process and their responsibilities
Policies and procedures: Equal opportunities, assessment strategy and appeals procedure, for example
Remember, the aim of the CMS is to demonstrate the level of competence within the organisation. So, should an individual fail to demonstrate competency, ensure you have measures in place to address this.
Phase 3: Implement the CMS
Full steam ahead. Time to implement the system. This is driven in part through your selection and recruitment policy, matching individuals to the criteria set out within the job descriptions.
Consider how you will cultivate competence by building the Knowledge, Skill and Experience underpinned by individual and group behaviours. And, in doing so, take account of how you will develop and MAINTAIN competency throughout the whole work life.
Change management systems should also factor in changes in personnel and competency requirements, whilst consideration should be given to increased hazards that may be encountered by the individual during the execution of the task.
As you implement this process, do so using ‘The Standard’ to measure and prove competence in a structured manner to pave the way to clear routes of progression.
Phase 4: Maintain and develop competence
Systems often fail where ongoing assurance of competence falls short. It is therefore imperative that you clearly define how this is going to be established and monitored. With focus now firmly set on safety critical tasks, don’t overlook other aspects of performance that can have an impact on safe operations.
Monitoring and reassessment should utilise the relevant standards, ensuring that the competence of personnel is updated and substandard performance is managed appropriately through training and reassessment.
As with the whole of the system, it is key that accurate records are maintained throughout. This is not just about satisfying regulators, it is about measuring performance. Where have we come from? Where are we now? Where do we need to get to?
Phase 5: Verify, audit and review the CMS
Even the most robust systems are vulnerable to decay over time. It is imperative then that you verify and quality assure the CMS by way of internal and external reviews. Record the findings, feedback on them and take action where action is necessary. This type of cyclic approach should enable you to adapt and refresh competence across all levels of the organisation.
Set your site on safety
We should never stop questioning, Einstein pronounced. That guy was pretty smart and his sentiment lends itself perfectly to the creation of a long-lasting CMS. Simply: never stop questioning its validity.
HSE chair, Judith Hackitt, agrees: “The leader who asks to understand what the process’s greatest vulnerabilities are and how they need to be addressed will create a very different climate in their organisation.”
Here’s a few key questions you should therefore ask yourself on a habitual basis:
Do I know what my major accident hazards are?
Have I identified the safety critical tasks?
What level of training does a new employee need?
What standards am I using to measure competent performance?
How do I track and audit the process?
Do we know what could go wrong with a task and the systems needed to prevent it from happening?
How do you verify that those systems are working?
What processes are in place if competent performance is not demonstrated?
How do I review the CMS?
The culture of competency
Good workplace competency is not just about a one-off review, observation or audit. It lays the foundations on which safer performance is built and embedded in an organisation, its culture, workers and business.
The lessons of the past are a mirror reflecting back the need to plan for a safer tomorrow, today.
That’s why we have to get it right. By developing strong competence management systems we can better position ourselves to prevent and mitigate major accident hazards.
To competently carry out one’s job is important in all sectors. Now imagine you’re an operator on a high hazard site, tonnes of petroleum surging through a network of pipes. Competency is absolutely crucial.
The Oil and Pipelines Agency agrees. OPA provides a marine fuel receipt, storage, delivery and jetty service to six naval oil fuel depots around the UK.
As such, the organisation recently commissioned Reynolds Training Services Ltd to design a new competency standard. The aim? To secure operator safety and regulatory compliance.
With a wide-range of onsite requirements and processes though, the solution would need to be customised around their actual operational needs.
We’ve broken down the course design in this free to download case study.
The Health and Safety Executive regularly produces and updates guidance designed to inform business owners of their duties and how to enforce them.
What are your responsibilities in the workplace? How to protect staff, public and the surrounding environment? What steps do you need to take in your own respective industry to ensure compliance?
Watch the CSB Safety Video on the April 17, 2013, fire and explosion at the West Fertilizer Company in West, Texas, which resulted in 15 fatalities, 260 injuries, and widespread community damage.
The deadly fire and explosion occurred when about thirty tons of fertilizer grade ammonium nitrate exploded after being heated by a fire at the storage and distribution facility.
Control measures are key to maintaining the safe storage of flammable liquids in tanks. To help businesses achieve this, safety requirements are made under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations where flammable liquids are intentionally present in the workplace.
The Health and Safety Executive has produced guidance which outline the control measures required for the safe storage of flammable liquids. HSG176 includes detailed breakdowns on the key issues of:
The US Chemical Safety Board’s final report into a chemical leak that tainted the drinking water of 300,000 West Virginians in 2014 has concluded that the State must put a greater focus on storage-tank safety.
The incident happened on the morning of January 9th, 2014, when an estimated 10,000 gallons of Crude Methylcyclohexane Methanol (MCHM) mixed with propylene glycol phenyl ethers (PPH Stripped) were released into the Elk River.
A subsequent investigation found a 46,000-gallon storage tank located at the Freedom Industries site in Charleston, failed. As the chemical entered the river it flowed towards West Virginia American Water’s intake, which was located approximately 1.5 miles downstream from the Freedom site.
Speaking on the release of the CSB’s final report, chairperson Vanessa Allen Sutherland said future incidents could be prevented with “proper communication and coordination”.
“Business owners, state regulators and other government officials and public utilities must work together in order to ensure the safety of their residents,” she added. “The CSB’s investigation found fundamental flaws in the maintenance of the tanks involved, and deficiencies in how the nearby population was told about the risks associated with the chemical release.”
CSB report highlights lessons learned
The CBS’s investigation found that Freedom’s inability to immediately. As such, it calls for public health agencies to coordinate with water utilities, emergency response organisations and facilities storing chemicals near drinking water sources
Key lessons include:
Above ground storage tank owners should establish regular inspection and monitoring and coordinate with nearby water utilities and emergency response organisations to ensure that they provide adequate information about their stored chemicals for effective planning in the event of a leak
State governments should act immediately to protect source waters and the public from unknown and potentially hazardous chemicals
Water utilities should engage with their Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) and/or State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) to obtain Tier II information. The information obtained should be used to identify water intakes that could potentially be at risk of contamination from those chemicals in the event of a spill or release
Water utilities should assess the capabilities of their water treatment systems to contain potential leaks for all potential sources of significant contamination within the zone of critical concern
Where feasible, water utilities should ensure laboratory testing methods are available to detect the presence or measure the concentration of potential contaminants or classes of contaminants
Public health agencies should coordinate with water utilities, emergency response organizations and facilities storing chemicals near drinking water sources
The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating serious chemical accidents. The agency’s board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in regulations, industry standards, and safety management systems.
At RTS, we love talking to you as much as you hopefully love talking to us. Right now though, our main business line 01469 552 846 could be down for the day.
So, to be on the safe side, here’s some contact points to ensure the lines of communication stay open:
This year’s Tank Storage Conference and Exhibition is underway at the Ricoh Arena, Thursday 29th September, 2016. It is the must-attend event of the year for all those who work in the fuels, chemicals, edible oils and fats storage industries.
Reynolds Training Services is on hand to give delegates a first hand demonstration of its e-Learning health and safety system, iLearn.
Take the pain out the way you safety train. Put operators through their paces with a range of petroleum, occupational and fire safety courses. Track their competency and simplify your management in the process.
The online system is easy to use. This walkthrough video guide introduces you to your new safety training platform.
Download your free guide to online training with iLearn for more information
Pop by the stand for a demonstration
Reynolds Training Services is standing by to give you a demonstration of how iLearn will make your health and safety training management easy.
Another year has passed. The Tank Storage Conference and Exhibition is once again upon us. At the show, Reynolds Training Services is on hand to help delegates and site managers top up their safety tanks.
Reynolds Training Services is showcasing it’s blended learning approach to safety training. Gain essential knowledge in the areas of oil and gas, occupational safety and competency assessment. Do so at your site, Reynolds Training Services’ world-class training site and the iLearn e-Learning site.
Come say hi!
This year’s TSA event is currently underway at the Ricoh Arena, Thursday 29th September, 2016.
The venue, which is located less than a mile from junction 3 of the M6, is just a 70 minute journey by train from London and is close to Birmingham International Airport. It is the must-attend event of the year for all those who work in the fuels, chemicals, edible oils and fats storage industries.
To take the pain out of the way you safety train, stop by the Reynolds Training Services stand.
