Health and Safety - From Paperwork to Practice

Safety professionals have a range of tools available to them to carry out safety studies. Many of these tools are aimed at the design phase, where safety is a key consideration, and mitigation can most readily implemented at minimum cost. Safety studies during the design phase typically consider the whole life cycle of the asset from construction through to operation, maintenance, and decommissioning / deconstruction of the asset.

This paper describes the challenges of translating the health and safety outcomes of paper-based studies into practical actions that must be carried out during construction, operation and maintenance. The paper draws on a case study from the Christchurch Wastewater Treatment Plant (CWTP), the trickling filters, which shows the value and necessity of undertaking hazard analysis and risk assessment studies throughout the life of a project.

There are various paper based studies that can be used at different stages throughout a project lifecycle to provide information on health and safety. During the design phase HAZOP and Safety in Design are effective methodologies. During construction Permit to Work paperwork combined with Job Safety Task Analysis methodology provides a platform for identifying and managing health and safety risk.