OHSAS 18001 and Accident-Involving Contract Worker in Chemical Plant
Last month a contract worker was died in a chemical plant accident in Japan. He died when he was welding a pipe line. Similar accident was also occurred in Indonesia, when a contract worker was welding inside a tank.
The two accidents involved contract workers or non-permanent employees, who are not familiar with the condition of the plant. They may know about their welding job deeply, but they do not know the potential hazards exist in the area where they work.
OHSAS 18001 is a safety management system that requires chemical plant which is certified with the OHSAS 18001 to ensure safety of all parties including contract workers who work inside the chemical plant. We should ensure their safety before working, during working and upon completing their jobs.
Performing safety talk in which the safety supervisor explains about potential hazards associated with the area they are working at, what kind of personal protective equipment they should use, what they should not do and what they should do if an emergency situation occurs, is the first step to ensure their safety.
Then, work permit or safety permit has to be issued before the contract worker or third party start working. The safety permit requires initial safety conditions before work that have to be fulfilled. For instance, it states minimum required oxygen content.
During working, a supervisor has to monitor the jobs and make sure that there are no unsafe conditions appear. The safety supervisor should stop the work if they find unsafe act or conditions. Finally, after they finish their jobs, they have to make sure the condition is already safe before they leave.
So…always bear in mind that contract workers who work in your plant site are the persons with high safety risk. And remember work permit or safety permit is not enough to ensure their safety.
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