JAFAR AMINI a1, AMIR NAJAFI b AND EHSAN ROSTAMI c ABSTRACT

Transcription

1 ISSN: (Print) ISSN: (Online) IDENTIFYING HAZARDS, ANALYSING AND EVALUATING RISKS BASED ON OHSAS18001 REQUIREMENTS IN EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS (CASE STUDY: ABHAR ISLAMIC AZAD UNIVERSITY) JAFAR AMINI a1, AMIR NAJAFI b AND EHSAN ROSTAMI c a Young Researcher s Club, Faculty of Engineering, Abhar Islamic Azad University, Iran b Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Zanjan Islamic Azad University, Iran c Sydney Business School, Faculty of Business, University of Wollongong, Australia ABSTRACT Nowadays scientists believe that saving the people s lives in the working environment is a major that the Bhopal disaster in India indicates the importance of this fact. As a result, the efforts have been concentrated on generating the standards to avoid such accidents and cover the safety and occupational health of the employees. This paper is aimed to review and try to implement the requirements of the clause of OHSAS 18001:2007 in Abhar Islamic Azad University. This article is sorted into a descriptive and cross-sectional field research that has been done practically. Sampling population in this survey are students, lecturers and Islamic Azad University s staff. During one year research almost 30 different process have been surveyed in place by audit team and totally 200 non-deep interviews have been done randomly with students, lectures and staff. The overall number of identified and analyzed hazards in this research are 2130, that 99.9% of them are in the range of insignificant to average risks (acceptable) and 0.1% of the hazards are in the inacceptable range. KEYWORDS: OHSAS18001:2007, Risk Assessment, Safety, Accident, Islamic Azad University University is an organization that is in a direct relationship with people (students, employees, lecturers, etc.) and it is expected that educational services in this organization are provided in a healthy, safe and happy environment which is in a high level of importance. In the last decade researchers and professionals figured out that saving the people s lives in their working environment is crucial and as a result the OHSAS in different versions have been presented to the world. It was updated to the second version in Many organizations for evaluating their performance in safety and occupational health are performing reviews and auditing. However, these reviews and auditing efforts might not be strong enough in order to help the organization to meet the policies and legal requirements not in the present nor in the future. These kind of efforts need to be performed in a structural managerial system that has been integrated with the organization (Rezaee et al., 2008). OHSASA 18001:2007 that is covering safety and occupational management has been prepared in order to provide the elements of an effective management system. This system could be integrated to the other managerial requirements and help the organizations to achieve their safety, occupational health and economical goals. The applicable requirements of OHSAS inspired us to identify the hazards and evaluating the risks in Abhar Islamic Azad University and we tried to accomplish this case study successfully. After identifying the hazards and prioritizing them and evaluating the risks we could provide the proper control or corrective action for keeping constant the level of the risks or decreasing them and trying to make it close to the acceptable level for the universities. The reason is that from the potential risks and to be turned to the actual ones the organization may incur the huge costs (include financial or human lives), that in this competent market can cause the serious damages to the organization. Thus, saving the people s lives from the environmental hazards is a must and the huge costs of these hazards in case of occurrence are inevitable, and universities because of their processes and activities are in spotlight. Moreover, according to the Iran s 20-year outlook and the planned development programs to achieve safety and occupational health of the employees, all the organizations in the near future should be required to get the quality management system certificate based on ISO9001 and then integrated management system certificates (ISO9001, ISO14001, OHSAS18001) and if it is necessary the EFQM excellence model. By this way the organizations will be able to gain the customers satisfaction and having a dynamic organization than reactive one. 1 Corresponding author

2 According to this outlook for the country, one day the universities also will follow and try to get the certificates of the mentioned standards and the excellence model in order to survive as well as sustaining their dynamic status and meeting their customers expectation (Mohammad Fam, 2005). By doing this study and analyzing the achieved information not only we can help this university preventing the occurrence of the undesirable events and their enormous costs but also the conditions for implementing OHSAS was provided. Besides, the results of this research can be utilized in the similar institutions and also in case of applying of this research in multiple universities simultaneously and analyzing the results, uniform documentation will be useful for accomplishing the plan successfully. That in this case the Abhar Islamic Azad University will be the pioneer from its experience. By looking at the Table 1, the importance of implementing OHSAS18001:2007 will be clarified in our mind (Mohammad Fam, 2005). Table 1: Causes and Consequences of The World s Major Accidents Date Place cause Consequence 1 December 1984 Bhopal, India Methyl Isocyanides leaking from the manufacturing plant 4000 people killed and injured 2 October 1989 Pasadena, Texas Ethylene leaking from the petrochemical complex 23 people killed and 132 injured and $700 million damage (the biggest onshore damage in hydrocarbon and chemical industries) 3 April 1992 Guadalajara, Mexic Hexane leaking and explosion in the sewer More than 100 people killed and injured As explained in the table above, the lack of a system for identifying and evaluating the existing hazards in the working processes, could cause irreparable financial and human losses. OHSAS for the first time introduced by BS8800 to the International Standard Organization (ISO) and ISO in 1997 published the first version of it and in 2007 with a bit of changes it was presented in the form of a standard. Examples of this changes are, emphasizing more on the field of hygiene and changing the word tolerable risks to acceptable risks (Fernandez, 2012). Performing this standard in different industries in Iran has increased significantly since 2000 (1379 in Solar Hijri calander). However, a lot of industries and organizations such as educational and research institutions in which human is the major resource, still do not take serious this kind of standards and unfortunately in the last decade there is no any record of implementing them in Iran. Reviewing the contexts and records of the utilization of William Fine method shows that many studies regarding the evaluation of health and safety risks have been carried out globally and in Iran using this method. For example, W.Baren et al. in 2001 in evaluating the health risks of Michigan steel plant, K.Smokey et al. in 2006 in health and safety risks evaluation of rail manufacturing plant in Krasnovodsk city in Russia also the French Montpellier team in 2007 for assessing the health and safety risks in pipe manufacturing plant for water transmission networks used the William Fine method (Varnere, 2007). Jozi et al. in 2009, used the same method for assessing the health, safety and environmental risks of the activities of Ahvaz Pipe Manufacturing Plant. METHODOLOGY This article is sorted into a field research, descriptive and cross-sectional applied survey that has been done practically. In this kind of research usually questionnaires and interviews are being used. Applied surveys have well-defined issues and clear objectives and the data regarding the nature,

3 circumstances and the relationship between the events and existing situation is being collected. Field research or fieldwork is more an approach to the research than a series of methods and applicable technics and covers every possible way to achieve the desired knowledge and data analysis processes (Khaki, 2008). The survey population During a year of doing this research nearly 30 different working processes that were doing by students, lecturers and the employees of Abhar Islamic Azad University were analyzed by the research team and non-deep interviews with almost 200 people (random) of the target population were done and this information was thoroughly analyzed. The measuring tools Using the William Fine method, field observation and interviewing the students, lecturers and employees, were the measurement tools of this survey. Data collection methods The foundation of the data collection generally was based on the factors below: 1. Presence of a skilled team in the place of the Abhar Azad University during the survey. 2. Interviewing the students, lecturers and the employees in terms of the way that the activities were being done and the existence of the potential hazards. 3. Using the historical records of the accidents that were happened to the students, lecturers and employees within the previous years and doing the library studies. The very first step of risk management based on OHSAS 18001:2007, is identifying the hazards. There are a number of methods for doing this such as, (Sadeghi Far et al., 2007) 1. Job Safety Analysis (JSA) 2. Hazard and Operability Analysis (HAZOP) 3. What-If method In this survey the JSA method is used. This method includes: a. Evaluating the steps of doing a job. b. Identifying the hazards of each step. c. Finding solutions for removing or reducing the hazards. Achievements of the JSA method: 1. Improvements of safety (accidents reduction) 2. Costs reduction 3. Improvements of working procedures and increase in productivity 4. Increase in employees knowledge of their job 5. Motivating and inspiring the employees Integrating the achievements of the JSA with the factors below can lead us to the better and more accurate results from the survey (Pardy, 2005): a. Analyzing the working environment layout b. Analyzing the operational charts of the processes c. Analyzing the description of the processes d. Analyzing the jobs classification e. Analyzing the reports of the events and accidents f. Analyzing the reports of the employment compensation claims g. Analyzing the check lists records h. Useful information from the people involving in each working environment who are aware of the existing hazards. The second step of the risk management is explaining the risk evaluating methods, such as: BS8800 method, William Fine method, Rolin Geronsin method or MIL-STD-882B. In this survey the William Fine Method has been used. According to this method the process of evaluating risks is as below (Nasri et al., 2007): 1- Classifying the working activities 2- Identifying the hazards 3- Specifying the risks (based on the severity and likelihood) 4- Making decision that the risks are acceptable or not 5- Making the risks reaction plan (corrective or controlling) if it is necessary 6- Reviewing the liability of the reaction plan Thus, the risk factor based on 2 parameters equals to: Risk Factor= likelihood * severity (1) According to the basic concepts and definitions of the OHSAS 18001:2007, the existing hazards in Abhar Islamic Azad University in different areas were identified, evaluated and prioritized. A number of surveyed working

4 processes in Abhar Islamic Azad University are as below: Drawing studios, areas of horticulture, agriculture and greenhouses, computer labs, science labs, lecture rooms, industrial workshops, exercising areas, enrolments, administration and Finance, examinations, entry, exit and security, inns and dormitories, urban and rural transportation, canteens, holding conferences, etc. The tables below were used for hazards risk assessment based on two different parameters (National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company 2009, Jozi et al., 2009). Table 2: Severity of The Hazards (S) Hazards Damages less than IRR/ wasting 5 working hours/ insignificant injuries such as scratches Damages up to 5 million IRR/ wasting 1 to 5 working days/ superficial injuries such as burns Damages up to 50 million IRR/ wasting 5 to 50 working days/ important injuries such as organ failures or illnesses Damages up to 500 million IRR/ wasting 50 to 1000 working days/ death and major disabilities or amputations Damages up to 500 million IRR/ wasting more than 1000 working days/ mass death Severity Table 3: Likelihood of the Hazards (L) Hazards One accident within more than 15 years One accident within 5 to 15 years One accident within 1 to 5 years One accident within 1 month to 1 year One accident within 1 week to 1 month Likelihood Table 4: Classifying the Achieved Risk Factors Risk Factor 1<<= 5 5<<= 10 10<<= 16 16<<= 20 20<<= 25 Classification Insignificant Low Average (acceptable) Serious (unacceptable) Critical (unacceptable)

5 Table 5: Risks Identification and Assessment of an Education Process (Drawing Atelier) No Activity Type Identifying and Evaluating the Risks Process: Education (Drawing Atelier) Risk Type Cause Consequences L S Date Review Page Current Controls F 7004 REVO 1 Drawing Inappropriate table Neglect in maintenance Work Ergonomics On-time equipment replacement 2 Drawing Lack of space Students swarm Stress/ Inefficiency more accurate classroom planning 3 Drawing Large number of required equipment Inaccuracy in subdividing the subjects Stress More accurate subject planning by lecturers 4 Drawing Poor lighting Inefficiency of the lights Stress/ Inefficiency Setting up the lighting according to the subjects type 5 Drawing Expensive equipment Subject nature Stress Using the proper equipment according to the subject nature 6 Drawing Theft Expensive equipment Stress Take care of the belongings 7 Drawing Long hours sessions Subject nature Stress/ Ergonomics Dividing the sessions hours Proposer: Seconder: Validity stamp: Thus, according to the equation (1) and the tables 2, 3 and 4 and the presence of the survey team and by using the information mentioned in the Materials and Methods section, the potential hazards of the working environment were identified, evaluated and prioritized. The detailed results of one of the educational processes can be seen in Table 5. CASE STUDY Due to the fact that Abhar Islamic Azad University and most of the universities in Iran are not familiar with the concepts of Integrated Management Systems and the other standards that are being used worldwide and also they did not consider them as tools for improving themselves, so, the results of this survey can be used in the other universities in Iran and by other researchers so that the way for implementing this standard in the other universities will be simplified. On the other hand, studying and implementing the standards have various aspects and by applying them at different times and by different people different results might be derived. For instance, in this research with changing the survey team and by entering new opinions and then reviewing the university s expectations of this standard, we may come up with new risk factors and increase or decrease in the number of the hazards. The number of identified and evaluated hazards in this survey are The analytical

6 results can be seen in chart 1 (Amini, 2010). Graph1: Number of The Existing Hazards in Different Risk Levels Number of the Risks to Risk Factor () R..F The presented results show that according to the Table 4, the majority of the identified hazards are in the range of insignificant to average or in other words they are acceptable. Moreover, the hazards with the of 15 and 16 in case of lack of monitoring and control will be situated in the serious and critical range or unacceptable, so they are required more attention. Two existing hazards with the of 20 were controlled with the proper reactions and they were directed to the acceptable range in order to prevent them from entering to the critical range. More information regarding the example of the hazards with the Risk Factor of 20 and 16 are provided below. Risk Factor 20 It includes the existing hazards from activities in machining and casting workshops. Abhar Islamic Azad University is offering the majority of the technical courses and technical workshops are important parts of these courses. From the reported incidents in thesee workshops (such as burns in casting workshopss or injured students who were hit by a key wrench of the lathe that was thrown while the machine was working), the existing hazards of these working environments of the university are classified into the unacceptable risks. Using the proper protections for hands, face and feet as well as continuous presence of the workshop conductor during the sessions will be effective in controlling and reducing the risk factor value. Risk Factor 16 It includes the hazards of the activities in physical education classes and the transportation of the students, lecturers and employees. Physical education classes risks: Abhar Islamic Azad University offers a wide range of facilities in this field such as football pitch, swimming pool, gym, multi-purpose sports hall and the most of the courses have at least one physical education subject. Thus the noticeable participation of the students and often times lecturers and other employees in these facilities showss the importance of this area and allocates a relatively high score for its risk factor. Continuous presencee of the trainee during the sessions, appropriate clothing for each sport, immunization of the sportss hall, football pitch and the swimming pool and also the initial selection of the students in each sport can be effective in controlling and reducing the risk factor value. Transportation: Besides, we can see the transportation issue that has the same level of the risk factor. This university is located at 100 km from Zanjan and has the similar distance from Qazvin and much more from Karaj and Tehran and because of the wide range of courses that are offered by Abhar Islamic Azad University, the students from the mentioned cities are in majority. As a result too many trips each day are done by different participant of the university that the mountain climates of the Zanjan Province increase the risks of these travels. Thus, the risk factor for transportation is also high that need to be taken

7 seriously by the authorized people in order to prevent the irreparable incidents. Developing the infrastructures for offering more internet base services such as enrolments, paying the tuition and graduation processes can reduce the number of travels. Also using the proper and selected transportation fleet for students, lecturer and employees can be effective in controlling and reducing risks. CONCLUSION In this article the requirements of the clause of OHSAS 18001:2007 (identifying the hazards, evaluating the risks and defining the controls) in Abhar Islamic Azad University were surveyed. As we know, the educational institutions are in a direct relationship with people and saving the people s lives in this environment is the responsibility of that institution and for this reason special tools are required. For this reason, 30 different working processes in Abhar Islamic Azad University were studied by the survey team and consequently 2130 different hazards in different levels of risks were identified (Graph 1). The results show that nearly 99.9% of the hazards are in the acceptable level and 0.1% of them were unacceptable. Also, activities in some areas such as transportation, canteens, workshops, physical education classes had a high level of risk that need to be considered seriously. In terms of the Risk Factor, 2 hazards were identified with the score of 20 and 200 hazards with the score of 16. These hazards according to the requirements of the clause of OHSAS 18001:2007 and based on the priorities below (Rezaee et al. 2008) were controlled in order to be prevent them of turning into the critical level: 1. Removing the hazard 2. Substitution 3. Engineering controls 4. Using the symbols, warnings and executive controls 5. Using the personal protective equipment Some of the suggested controlling actions in Abhar Islamic Azad University are as below: Defining the policy and safety targets and plans for achieving them annually Creating the Technical protection and occupational health committees for identifying the hazards and potential risk areas with a high risk level Implementing the safety training courses for the students, lectures and employees Identifying the risk points and publishing them as a guideline in the webpage of the university Eventually, for reaching to more accurate results, the number of parameters (in this article severity and likelihood) can be increased or even the Fuzzy Logic can be utilized. ACKNOWLEDGMENT This research has been funded and supported by the Young Researchers Club (YRC), Abhar Islamic Azad University branch. REFERENCES Amini, J, 2010, Identifying and analyzing risks based on the requirements of OHSAS 18001:2007 in Islamic Azad University of Abhar, Abhar Young researchers club, Abhar(NO:88879). Fernandez, B, 2012, Occupational risk management under the OHSAS standard: analysis of perceptions and attitudes of certified firms, Journal of Cleaner Production, vol.24, No.1, Jozi, SA, Kaab Zadeh, Sh & Irankhahi, M, 2009, assessment and managing safety, health and environmental risk of Ahwaz Pipe Mills by William Fine method, Ilam Medical Science University, course 18, 2-7. Khaki, M, 2008, Research methodology with dissertation writing approach, 3rd edn, Derayat, Tehran [Persian]. Mohammad Fam, I, 2005, Work safety analysis technics, 1st edn, Fan Avaran, Tehran pp350[persian]. Nasri, P, Alizadeh, SH & Ahmadlou, M, 2008, Expanding efficient safety culture, 1st edn, Islamic Azad University Science and Research, Tehran pp 280[Persian]. National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, 2009, Safety, health and environmental hazard identification and risk assessment guidelines based on two parameters.

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