Conducting Health & Safety Risk Assessments

Introduction

Following the introduction of employee health and safety legislation at the workplace, every organisation is legally obliged under Maltese legislation to carry out periodical risk assessments. Such risk assessments are necessary to identify and minimise occupational hazards, as well as the business impact that each has not only on employees but on the organisation as a whole.

Course Objectives

• Becoming acquainted with the main provisions of the health and safety legislation and its’ applicability to the business environment
• Understanding the business importance of identifying occupational hazards
• To appreciate both employers’ as well as employees’ responsibilities in line with local health and safety legislation
• Being able to carry out the risk assessment process, recognising and quantifying hazards and their potential effects at the workplace
• Critically analysing the findings of a risk assessment, proposing courses of remedial action to deal with the identified hazards

Who Should Attend?

This course is designed for all managers, team leaders, supervisors and professionals who deal with human resources and/or health and safety matters within their organization, as well as anyone interested in obtaining further knowledge on the duties and obligations of both employers and employees in respect of health and safety matters.

Key Learning Competencies Emphasized

• Understanding the main relevant aspects of employment health and safety legislation
• How to determine and understand the severity and likelihood of identified hazards
• How to assess the business impact of such potential hazards
• Being able to put forward a report outlining not only identified hazards but also course(s) of action to minimize or eliminate such hazards
• Understanding the impact that such risk assessments has on the organizational culture
• Obtaining an insight into the potential costs that an organization may be liable to if proven negligent

Benefits from course: Personal Impact

Participants will be exposed to the main aspects of health and safety legislation, and will develop a better understanding of the nature and complexity of understanding and managing health and safety risks within an organisational context.

Benefits from course: Organisational Impact

Team leaders, managers and other professionals dealing with people issues and problems on a regular basis will surely be able to adopt a proactive approach to dealing with such issues, especially if these are linked to occupational health and safety. Proper people management solves operational issues that would have arisen, including health and safety issues, thus enabling management to focus on its’ performance in meeting key performance indicators. When managerial staff and other professionals adopt an awareness of office health and safety, they also benefit from increased self-confidence and respect from employees, underlining their responsibility and authority within the organisation.

Training Methodology

The course uses a range of approaches to learning, including presentations, experiential group activities, individual exercises and mini-case studies.

Course Outline

Session 1 – Health and Safety Legislation

• Occupational Health and Safety Authority: legal rights and obligations
• Examples of real life health and safety issues at work
• Outline of the main employment health and safety legislation
• Understanding the employer’s rights and obligations
• Protecting employees’ rights and respecting their obligations
• Proper usage of appropriate signs at the workplace
• Case study: occupational health hazard in practice
• The psychological effects of assessing and identifying risks

Session 2 – Identifying Risks and Conducting Risk Assessments

• Identifying occupational hazards
• Understanding the severity and likelihood of hazards
• When do hazards become organisational risks?
• The theory of the “near miss”

• The nature and outcome of Risk Assessments
• Assessing hazards and determining their risk factor
• Devising action plans to deal with identified risks
• Drawing up the Risk Assessment
• The financial analysis of health and safety risk assessments
• Close of course

Conclusion

The objective of this course is to introduce the legal aspects and importance of carrying out occupational health and safety risk assessments at the workplace, identifying the business impact of such risk assessments, and the importance of changing the organisational mindset to being more aware of health and safety issues and near misses. Health and Safety at work is every employee’s responsibility, and the most successful organisations are those that are able to work consciously with accepted risks and make conscientious efforts to protect their employees from harm.

The Speaker

Robert Delia is an experienced international trainer with considerable experience in lecturing and training, and who has also developed a significant competence as a coach and facilitator.

Robert is an MBA graduate with a Certificate in Managing People, both obtained from the Henley Business School – University of Reading. Moreover, he has a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Business Management.

Robert is well experienced in the area of training and development, having been involved in adult learning for over 20 years, which includes coaching at all organisational levels. Since 2008 he has also been travelling abroad for teaching purposes and has facilitated cross-cultural groups in places like Italy, UAE and Libya. He is used to working within multi-national environments and currently delivers Human Resources Management and Finance courses at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) to EU students with different nationalities.

His insight into the public sector is indeed one of his biggest strengths. He has held various management roles with TeleMalta Corporation (later on Maltacom) for over 11 years, Head of Human Resources of Malta Enterprise Corporation (national agency in support of businesses) in 2008-09, Human Resources Manager of the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) for over 2 years and Manager with Enemalta Corporation (national energy supplier) for 2 more years. His coaching repertoire in the public sector is impressive, with some of the clients served being the ETC’s Chief Executive Officer, MITA’s Executive Chairman, MITA’s Head of EU Programmes and MCAST’s Director of the Institute of Business and Commerce. Robert also has extensive experience in Human Resources Management and Strategic Management, has also been responsible for the development and leadership of Vacancy Centre, one of Malta’s leading recruitment agencies. Moreover, Robert is currently the HR Manager of EY Malta – one of the big 4 Accountancy Firms.

His most practised coaching is directed towards executive management and career development. Robert is a brilliant team player, perfectly able to manage, develop and empower people. He is exceptionally skilled in building organisational strategies and setting management budgets. Some of his complex organisational initiatives facilitated include the establishment of a Microsoft Academy and the review of all Human Resources policies within MITA (2014), the introduction of a Career Progression Framework and a Talent Management Framework within MITA (2013), the implementation of an EU funded project upgrading the IT skills of the MITA employees (2012), the implementation of a Session Planning Programme within Enemalta Corporation (2011) and the introduction of a teleworking framework and an equal opportunities programme within Enemalta Corporation (2010).

Some of his related services include developmental coaching, teambuilding exercises, career guidance and training needs analyses.

His preferred working language is English, yet is multilingual, speaking also fluently Maltese and Italian as well as basic French and Arabic.