Reflective Statement on Professional Development †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Reflective Statement on Professional Development. Answer: Introduction: Hazard analysis refers to the process of identifying hazards, which arise from a particular environment or system and also encompasses documentation of unwanted consequences. One major aspect of hazard analysis is related to conducting an analysis of the potential causes that might create adverse effects (Wallace et al. 2014). On the other hand, safety training refers to the programs that are essential for making a workplace safer for most people. This often encompasses a range of training options that assist in bringing about improvements in safety practices, ensures compliance and reduces risks (Sacks, Perlman and Barak 2013). According to the data of Dub (2017) workplace is the place where an individual spent half of his life besides his home. There are several organizations that involve job roles, equipment and environment that has the capability to hamper ones health. Therefore the organizations should focus on workplace health and safety training so that the health, safety and wellbeing of the employees can be ensured. From the data of OSHA (2018), it is determined that construction site possess greatest amount of risk as maximum of the workplace accidents around the world are caused in construction sites. Hence, in this safety training procedure I decided to provide safety training to the management and supervisor staffs regarding construction safety course, Building construction safety supervisors course, framework safety course for supervisors, confined space safety assessors course and industrial first aid course. While including these safety training courses in the organizational setting, my primary professional objective was to provide the employees or staff of the construction site with proper training so that the employees can identify and respond to identified risks present within their workplace. Further, they become aware of the safety related rules and legislation so that in case of health risks they can protect their rights. Hence, the aim of this training was to provide complete knowledge regarding the workplace health and safety and factorial safety training courses to the construction site workers so that they can complete their tasks without any severe health risk and hazard. In the construction site, where I decided to provide safety training, more than 250 workers were involved with 10 on-site supervisors and 5 construction site managers. Prior to training I was clear with approach with the help of which I will be providing training to the supervisors and on site managers and for the purpose, I chose computer based training and interactive training. These two techniques were decided so that with the help of available data and pictorial demonstrations, an interactive session can be formed. Further, while providing the training, all the supervisors and managers were provided with a small questionnaire and were interviewed after the completion of the training so that data interpretation can be carried out (Robson et al. 2012). I prepared a presentation for the safety training management including topics such as safety and health policy, statutory requirements on safety, rules and responsibilities while creating a safe organization and management system. As this part comprised of several legislation and regulations, I contacted the workplace safety and health committee so that a constructive and effective session can be conducted. After the session with site managers, supervisors were also provided with interactive session by WHS committee and I provided them questionnaire so that their understanding can be assessed (Ismail, Doostdar and Harun 2012). Further, the supervisors were provided with techniques through which they can provide such information to the construction workers as disclosing adverse effects can affect their mental stability as well. They were asked to utilize the theory of hands on training technique to make the workers aware of the safety and health related issues they can face or facing at the construction site. All the activities that I included in the training purpose for safety related issue had specific implications. The training for supervisors and safety managers was inclusive of rules and regulations related data, demonstration of possible health risk and means to overcome those, whereas, the workers were provided with training by their supervisors so that the actions of the workers within the construction site can be controlled which can breach health and safety protocol of the construction site (Robson et al. 2012). I was surprised from the response of the safety training as maximum of the workers were responsive and interactive in the session and took active part in the training session. Further, while providing training to the managers and supervisors, they accepted the data and were curious regarding the techniques and interventions through which such incidents can be minimized. While discussing the strength and weaknesses of the approach, I should include the fact that maximum of the workers and supervisors at the construction site was able to answer the health and safety related questionnaire. The strength of the approach was proper distribution and medium of training (Phillips 2016). Inclusion of workplace safety and health committee in the process was beneficial as they approach the site managers with their data and were able to answer all the possible questions so that clarity and understanding of the process can be maintained. However, there were few weaknesses of the approach, supervisors were asked to provide training to the onsite workers right after their own training session, hence, they forgot to include several aspects of safety such as penalty and fine system and safe work procedure, hence, in the process the training to workers lacked completion. However, despite being several flaws, I was satisfied with the approach as it was able to provide an idea regarding workplace health and safety in workplace (McCaughey et al. 2013). On the other hand, my thinking, my working pattern and planning of the training process also had several strengths and weaknesses. I was able to differentiate the roles and subjects upon which training will be provided to supervisors, managers and workers as they dominate in those sections. Therefore, the scope of the training enhanced. Further, my training division lacked connection and unity as training was provided with different means to workers, site managers and supervisors. Hence, it could have affected the mental state of the workers as they were not provided with the data and statistics of workplace health and safety related accidents (McCaughey et al. 2013). According to several research studies, hazard analysis is an essential procedure that needs to be implemented at all workplaces owing to high prevalence of workplace incidents that are undesired or unplanned and often create barriers in the completion of a particular task (Dokas, Feehan and Imran 2013). Hence, I decided to conduct a hazard analysis at the construction site, in order to assess the potential risks. Therefore, I recognized the need to identifying the underlying risk factors in the operating environment that could result in major malfunctions or failures. The major activities that I conducted for risk assessment at the workplace included recording and monitoring the rates of known hazard, identification of the hazards that were related to use of different chemicals or use of electrical equipments, followed by introduction of new works or processes. Furthermore, my activities also included conducting an inspection of the technical competencies that were displayed by the m anagement and workers. The primary objective of my risk assessment activity was related to creating provisions at the construction site, for providing appropriate means that would facilitate in identification of potential hazards. In addition, I also wanted to manage the workplace hazards in a feasible way that would eliminate chances of accidents or injuries at the workplace and make all the workers adhere to the safety policies. The primary approach that I had implemented at the construction site was to convince the authorities to assign a risk assessment committee, which was comprised of supervisors, managers, personnel, and technicians. This approach was taken owing to the fact that it would provide assistance to fulfill the major oversight responsibilities required for risk management and strategic planning of the company (Potts et al. 2014). Furthermore, the committee would also help in recommending necessary risk assessment procedures that would help the company in the long run. I also focused on identifying the major kinds of hazards that were prevalent in the company and had taken a toll on the safety of the workers. Hence, identification of major hazards that might arise, before a construction work commenced was imperative (Bahn 2013). I also emphasised on recognizing new hazards at the workplace that were related to use of particular chemicals, or other equipments. Moreover, I also emphasized on eva luating the technical competency and training levels of the workers in order to gain a deeper understanding of their skills that might be required, if they encounter any hazardous events. I realized that while eight supervisors were well aware of the skills they need to display in order to reduce chances of workplace hazards, the workers were most often exposed to environment that increased their likelihood of getting affected. While recording known hazards that were already present in the workplace, I received help from the members of the risk assessment committee. They helped me to conduct a thorough investigation of the hazards that the workers were frequently exposed to such as, use of asbestos, handling solvents and flammable gases, working in confined places, and operating heavy mechanical instruments. The committee members also provided adequate assistance in recording new hazards that the workers might be exposed to. Furthermore, the supervisors also helped me record the aforementioned risk factors. Additional help was received from three site managers and two supervisors regarding inspecting or investigating skills of the people responsible for risk analysis. Moreover, two project managers also helped me in the conduction of risk analysis, before a work commenced at the site. My activities helped me determine that the likelihood of occurrence of workplace hazards was frequent at the construction site. This indicated that the working conditions were unsafe and the workers were exposed to use of asbestos, flammable objects and heavy mechanical instruments quite frequently. I identified that there was moderate severity of the hazards, which most commonly resulted in burns (57), sprains (43), lacerations (31) and minor fractures (44), among 175 workers in past five years. Thus, the observations helped me use the risk assessment matrix that gave a score of high risk, based on the likelihood and severity. Hence, the objective of identifying risks of hazards at the workplace was adequately met. Major strengths of the approaches lie in the facts that they were successful in gaining a deeper understanding of the undesirable accidents or incidents that frequently deteriorate the health condition of the workers, and also helped in determining the true magnitude of the extent to which the hazards could affect health (Zhang et al. 2015). Failure to determine whether the company provided appropriate health coverage for the employees was a weakness (Siqueira et al. 2014). In future, there is a need to recommend alternatives for high risk operations in order to reduce the severity and likelihood of occurrence of occupational health hazards (Rankin et al. 2014). My strength was related to the fact that I could convince the board members of the risk assessment committee to conduct an evaluation of the hazards that the workers were exposed to on a regular basis. This helped me in conducting the risk analysis in a suitable manner and also assisted me to gain a deeper understanding of the risk factors that lead to occupational health hazards. However, the fact that I evaluated the technical skills and competencies of only the people responsible for risk analysis was my weakness, as all workers should demonstrate adequate skills to combat such incidents. I can improve this by conducting an interview of individual workers to determine their skills that are imperative in reducing chances of workplace hazards. I should also increase awareness of the workers regarding the basic amenities that they are entitled to, if any such incident occurs in future. While concluding the assignment, it should be mentioned that construction site was chosen for the risk assessment and safety training procedure as in this particular construction site, more than 175 workers were having injuring and the risk at the site was very high. Further, they were unaware of the health and safety issues, their rights and regulations regarding it. Therefore, with the help of Workplace health and safety committee, such training related to health and safety and risk assessment of identified hazards were conducted. This ensures that safe work culture can be established and after studying the possible incidences, a dynamic organization free from hazardous risk and safety issues can be created. References Bahn, S., 2013. Workplace hazard identification and management: The case of an underground mining operation.Safety science,57, pp.129-137. Dokas, I.M., Feehan, J. and Imran, S., 2013. 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