Workplace Health and Safety assignment
Assignment: Green By Design
You have been hired by the owner of Green By Design, a small landscaping and lawn maintenance company, to manage two important areas: the
procurement of supplies and services, and the health and safety issues
for the company’s employees. Although you have previous experience in
procurement, it was not in the landscaping business and you need to
become familiar with the workings of this type of business.
In the course of a typical day, the employees will be working with a variety of materials: stone, concrete, soil, seed, and fertilizer. They
will be expected to cut lawns with an electric, gas or riding mower,
cut curbs and break asphalt with a jack hammer, mix concrete, lift
paving stones, trim hedges with an electric hedge trimmer, distribute
seed and fertilizer with a spreader and dig/plant flower beds. Business
starts swiftly in May with emphasis on landscaping (designing new
driveways, patios, walkways and garden beds) and is really booming
during July and August when customers are on vacation and require
maintenance of their property. It goes without saying that
all work is outside; the only conditions when work ceases are during
heavy rains and storms, or when a provincial smog alert is issued (when
temperature is over 45C with the humidity factor).
Before purchasing the supplies, material and
equipment to be used, you decide you’d better get a clearer
understanding of certain OH&S issues by considering and answering
the following questions. Use concepts and terminology in your responses.
KEY TERMS
Physical Agents
o Sources of energy that may cause injury or disease
Ambient
o All-encompassing condition associated with a given environment
o Composite of inputs from sources all around us
Early Warning Change
o Deterioration of hearing in upper frequency
o The earliest detectable sign of noise-induced hearing loss
- What potential physical agent categories could your employees encounter? List as many as you think are probable. (minimum 5)
- For each category you listed in Question 1, give two possible work-related examples.
- How will you mitigate (reduce or eliminate) each of the work-related examples you listed in Question 2?
- You decide to do some field investigation of your own. You are concerned with the ingredients in typical lawn fertilizers and what might happen if it comes in contact with your employees’ skin. You also want to know more about personal protective equipment, such as safety glasses, for any physical agents that might cause harm to your staff.
Describe one of the following stores: Canadian Tire, Home Hardware, Rona or Home Depot.
Locate a bag of fertilizer and list the brand name, the ingredients and % composition. Also list the price.
Fertilizer:
If there could be any potential physical problems if the fertilizer comes in contact with skin or eyes? Describe what they could be, if any.
Potential problems:
Locate the following personal protective items. Include brand name, price and any safety ratings:
Respirators
Ear plugs
Safety glasses
Gloves
- Think about the different supplies, materials and/or equipment you might order from your contractors. Give two examples of what you might order. What information will you require from suppliers to help you mitigate any health and safety problems with these items?
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