5.5 Emergency planning as an organisational management function If emergency services' EPOs plan to respond to other people's emergencies, people managing a business activity with major incident potential have a different perspective. They have to respond to emergencies within their own organisation. In effect, if an incident occurs, the organisation is itself in a crisis, with functionality impaired. All of this comes into the corporate governance area and the implications of internal control. This requires companies to ensure that they have a sound syst
5.4 Emergency planning as a public protection activity Uniformed emergency services – police, fire authorities and ambulance services – and organisations such as NHS hospitals, have an obvious role in the response to civil emergencies. Local authorities have an important, although less clearly defined, role. This is based on a mixture of specific legal duties coupled to a general ‘duty of care’ to maintain essential services even in an emergency. Much of this section describes the work of local authority emergency planning officers (EPOs)
5.3 Emergency planning as a formal requirement Several pieces of legislation make the preparation of emergency plans a statutory requirement. The European Directive on the control of major accident hazards (Council of the European Union, 1996a), the ‘Seveso II Directive’, outlines the planning requirements for industrial sites with large inventories of hazardous substances. In the UK, the requirements of this directive have been incorporated into the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (Health and Safety Executive, 1999a). I
5.1 Introduction Much of this unit is about risk, but as we have seen, it is a word with different interpretations – the risk of harm, the chance of gain or simple uncertainty, for example. So it may be seen as a balance between conformance and performance in an organisation. Although functional emphasis and management boundaries are inherently flexible, risk linked to harm typically represents the perspective of managers responsible for conformance activities – particularly, the financial controller, int
4.2.1 Comparing the management systems One approach to BS 8800 follows the ISO 14001 model, and the ISO 14001 system itself was closely modelled on the previous ISO 9000, with the 2000 revision of ISO 9000 following ISO 14001 principles. As a result, you may imagine that there are similarities between the standards. Many of the elements are similar, and some are nearly identical. Management systems share common elements, including developing and documenting procedures, training, record keeping, auditing, and corrective action. Fig
4.2 Why integrate management systems? Integrating any management system with the business is essential if progress is to be made, but here we are concerned with integrating management systems with each other. Managing a business continues to set new challenges and demands especially when viewed against: significant competition; high customer and community expectations; returns on capital employed; regulatory compliance;
4.1 Introduction Annual costs to employers from accidental injury and occupational illness are on the order of 5–10 per cent of the gross profits of UK industry. The total social cost, including the cost of benefits and National Health hospitalisation and treatment, make this a truly staggering drain on the nation's coffers! 3.2 Multiple causes Now we will explore multiple causes using an example familiar to us all – road accidents. The deaths of about 10 people each day on the UK's roads are less dramatic than, for example, the capsize of the Herald of Free Enterprise, but one feature that links them both is the element of risk associated with everything we do – and even with inaction. We have just seen that many factors contribute to the risks which result from the inherent hazards associated with something we do. 3.1.1 The cause A small digression will be made here to question the use of the word ‘cause’ and to reflect on the view expressed by Kletz (1988, p. 2). He argues that the word has an air of finality about it, and is concerned that finding the cause discourages further investigation. He cites an example that the cause of a pipe failure was corrosion – which suggests that we know why the failure occurred. He draws the analogy of the cause of a fall being gravity – suggesting that nothing more can be d 3.1 Types of incident Now we can progress to an examination of some incidents by studying selected reports and publications. Returning to the word ‘accident’, we can cite another definition: An accident is an undesired event which results in physical harm and/or property damage. It usually results from a contact with a source of energy above the threshold limit of the body or structure. (Kuhlman, 1977, p. 5) 2 Setting priorities Consider whether the relative economic aspects should determine the degree of priority given to different aspects of the risk scenarios in Author(s): Learning outcomes After studying this unit you should be able to: define risk in the most appropriate way, and appreciate the need to prioritise risks; appreciate the costs of illness associated with workplace activities; describe in outline the development of models used to explain the cause of incidents and to promote prevention; recognise the multiple causes contributing to many incidents, and be able to represent them diagrammatically; 9 Unit questions Foxes eat rabbits and rabbits eat dandelions. Predict what will happen if rabbit numbers are severely reduced (e.g. by disease). How confident are you about your predictions? 8 Summary We are biologically predisposed to provide for our offspring and may try to ensure that this provision continues after our death. However, our interactions with other members of society are wide-ranging and many people leave legacies to benefit the wider community. All species alter their environment to some extent because they do not live in isolation from one another. The study of the interactions between plants, animals and their environ 7 Some philosophical issues In this unit we have considered global issues that have implications for our health and the health of future generations. This places our own lives in a different context and also indicates the uncertainties that surround the future. Whilst some environmental changes have very direct health consequences, we should not forget the indirect benefits that accrue from a healthy planet. The principle that ‘we should hand on to the next generation an environment no less rich than the one we 6 Population growth Earlier it was stated that three factors check population growth. These are predation, disease and insufficient food supply. For much of our history, our ancestors’ numbers were indeed limited by wars, disease and famine. The world population remained relatively stable until around 300 years ago. Then at the beginning of the 19th century (100 years after population growth started its geometric increase), the demographer Thomas Malthus predicted that population growth would outstrip food pro 5.5 Indoor pollutants Before leaving air pollution you might reflect that many of us spend most of our time indoors where the air quality can differ from that outside the building. In what ways will the air be different inside a building? 5.3 Global warming Media attention has been such that it would be hard to have missed the fact that global warming is considered to be a ‘bad thing’. Why should this be so? What is so wrong with being a bit warmer? Anyway, is global warming really occurring and, if it is, what are the causal factors responsible for it? Let us deal with this last question first. As we sit on a beach in summer, or in a sunny window seat in winter, we are aware of the Earth being warmed by the Sun. In fact the Earth is w 6 6 Energy in a sustainable future How can we improve the sustainability of human energy use in the future? In the past 50 years the changes in patterns of energy production and consumption have been radical. If we are to improve the sustainability of our energy systems, equally profound changes might well be necessary over the next 50 to 100 years. New, ‘clean’ technologies could help to mitigate some of the adverse consequences of fossil and nuclear fuels by improving the efficiency of systems and reducing po References
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