ILO-TOKYO INTERNET FORUM 2004

ON

SAFETY AND HEALTH CULTURE AT WORK

COLLECTION OF INFORMATION: IDEAS

• Posting No. 4 : The way to simultaneously implement the introduction of occupational safety and health management systems and the participatory improvement of workplace environment [Japanese] (Received on 7 May)
  • Posting No. 26 (Dialogue to postings Nos. 1-25) : State of Japanese safety and health culture at work [Japanese] (Received on 18 June)
  • Posting No. 29 (Dialogue to postings Nos. 1-27) : Our common initiatives for expansion of "good practices" [Japanese] (Received on 30 June)
• Posting No. 5 : Effective use of nap break [Japanese] (Received on 12 May)
  • Posting No. 13 (Dialogue to posting No. 5) : Nap break [Japanese] (Received on 26 May)
    • Posting No. 16 (Dialogue to posting No. 13) : Nap break and its costs [Japanese] (Received on 2 June)
  • Posting No. 26 (Dialogue to postings Nos. 1-25) : State of Japanese safety and health culture at work [Japanese] (Received on 18 June)
  • Posting No. 29 (Dialogue to postings Nos. 1-27) : Our common initiatives for expansion of "good practices" [Japanese] (Received on 30 June)

• Occupational safety and health management systems are voluntarily introduced aiming at preventing work-related accidents and health disorders, creating comfortable workplaces and building a safety culture in a systematic manner. In introducing workable management systems while taking advantage of existing safety and health activities, it is indispensable for us to undertake in parallel the establishment of lines of responsibilities and the continual improvement of workplace conditions. In so doing, participatory steps can be used so as to achieve these parallel targets.
• In introducing new management systems, there are many questions raised about which aspects of the existing safety and health activities are to be complemented and how to spread methods that can be used in dispersed worksites or small and medium-sized enterprises. Participatory steps for improving workplace environment can be used as a straightforward management method in order to build on existing activities and facilitate the introduction of such systems into difficult workplaces.
• It is proposed to simultaneously introduce management systems and improve the workplace through developing and applying action checklists effective for conducting participatory workplace improvements. This method is conducive to furthering continual workplace improvement through learning from local achievements. Using such a method can promote autonomous safety and health activities and nurture a positive safety and health culture.

1. Plan participatory improvement of workplace environment that builds on local good practice
The starting point of introducing safety and health management systems is, in any workplace, to write down policies and making effective plans. Generally, however, it is not easy to define lines of responsibilities for each workplace, document procedures and select adequate risk control measures. This represents a barrier to introducing management systems. The barrier can be removed by planning the opportunities for confirming existing good points and for making participatory improvement of the workplace. We can proceed by requesting the management to set the priority safety and health policies of the enterprise, and agreeing subsequently on the schedule and deadline of participatory improvement activities. This should be combined with determining the date for a follow-up meeting. If core members are designated, this process can readily work since the progress to be made is relatively foreseeable. In each workplace, there are surely good points in the existing safety and health measures. Therefore, we can make a good start by agreeing on making workplace improvements that build on such good points and by achieving certain new improvements within the deadline.

2. Identify priority risks and improve controlling measures by means of an action checklist listing low-cost measures
The next step is to identify and write up priority risks in each workplace through group discussion and make a list of corresponding low-cost improvement measures by applying an available checklist. Based on this list of applicable measures, a new action checklist comprising 30 to 40 items fitting the workplace is made. Group walk-through of selected worksites will be conducted using this new checklist, Then, priority measures to be taken can be identified by examining different technical areas, such as (A) materials handling and storage, (B) workstations, (C) machinery safety, (D) workplace environment, (E) welfare facilities and (F) work organization and teamwork. The advantage of using an action checklist lies in facilitating group discussion about priority measures that are practicable at low cost. Based on the group discussion results, improvement can be immediately implemented within the decided deadline. By accomplishing the improvements thus planned, the procedures for the risk assessment and those for the selection and implementation of priority measures, both required by the management systems, can be followed as a matter of course.

3. Hold a briefing workshop of improvements done, organize group discussion of review points and record them
When a workshop meeting for reporting concrete improvements achieved is held on a decided date, it becomes a good incentive for workplace people. The meeting is thus useful not only for reviewing workplace environment but also for reexamining work efficiency and amenities as well as for building a candid and positive workplace culture. Such a meeting and the record keeping process provide for appropriate opportunities for confirming and reviewing safety and health performance.

The above three steps actually correspond to the principal processes of safety and health management systems, i.e., (a) planning, (b) risk assessment and reduction and (c) recording and reviewing performance, as mentioned above. Such a briefing meeting and the recording of activities done correspond to audit and review within the management systems. Therefore, we can regard the participatory steps for implementing and documenting improvements as representing the processes of introducing a management system. This can hence lead to the management processes of the next year. Many cases of establishing safety and health management systems through participatory steps for workplace improvement have been reported during the last several years. There is a widely spreading interest in the fact that the simultaneous steps for participatory improvement can facilitate the introduction of a safety and health management system. It is expected that the exchange of experiences in introducing a management

1. Implementing participatory steps for workplace improvements is relatively easy to undertake and makes it easier to overcome constraints and associated psychological barriers. Such constraints exist in any workplace in establishing lines of responsibilities, organizing documentation and conducting risk analysis and control. As far as participatory steps are concerned, they are relatively easy to follow, e.g., by setting deadlines for group discussion, walk-through inspection and group work for making improvements. In addition, cooperation of people concerned will be easily obtained by setting low-cost improvements as the first goal.
2. The use of action checklists can facilitates the process of proposing multifaceted improvement actions for reducing existing risks. Workers can confirm the achievements that resulted from using the checklist. Therefore, the merits of introducing a management system are also more easily understood when we use such checklists in the group work processes.
3. Active proposals from workplace people can be obtained through participatory group discussion. These voluntary proposals are easy to be implemented due to the voluntary nature of the proposals. Going through participatory steps obviously makes it easy to build on local good practice and thus facilitate the establishment of a safety culture in the workplace.
4. The effectiveness of this method and the process of using action checklists have already been reported in scientific conferences or references. There is a growing interest in safety and health management systems. Therefore, it is easy to make plans for using this proposed method in various enterprisers including dispersed worksites and small and medium-sized enterprises.

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-25 -

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-27 -

We examined whether a post lunch nap was effective for factory workers. They took a nap in reclining seats for 15 minutes from 12:30 pm. We set a week with a nap break, a week without a nap break and a week with an option for taking a nap break, and compared workers' subjective state of sleepiness, reaction time as well as the quality and amount of night sleep, measured with a mobile measuring instrument for physical motions.

It was found that when they took a nap during lunch break, sleepiness in the afternoon was less than otherwise.

Such effect became stronger in the latter half of a week. In a week with an option for nap break, about a half of the workforce took a nap. This type of week resulted in the same effects as the week with a nap break. There was no difference in the reaction time and the night sleep between the three different types of week.

The following are the comments of the workers studied regarding the effects of a nap break, which were provided during their interviews:

• Felt alert
• Felt their body lighter
• Decreased the times of yawing in the afternoon when engaged in a monotonous work

According to this data, taking a nap is a good way to rest. Of course, we need not recommend this to people who are not fit for it. Tailoring the measures taken to the individual is necessary.

- Dialogue to Posting No. 5 -

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-25 -

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-27 -