Frozen food packing plant

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• Lost production while the line is stopped after an incident, which could cost more than the 20 minutes the cleaners try to save (the bonus and late order penalties show output matters to the plant).
• Cost of the agency cleaner's injury: medical treatment and possible sick pay or compensation for crushed fingers.
• Cost of replacing and training another cleaner when an injured worker is off work.
• Cost of investigating the incident, including management time away from production.
• Possible fine or legal costs, because the guard was bypassed and an enforcement inspector has already visited.
• Possible further enforcement action if the plant cannot show improvements when the inspector returns.
• Increase in insurance premiums after a claim.
• Loss of customers or contracts if the plant gets a poor reputation or fails customer audits, and food customers can check suppliers.
• Extra costs of absence and staff turnover, because workers who fear being blamed may leave.
• Uninsured costs such as damaged morale, overtime to cover absent workers and delayed orders leading to the customer penalties the production manager worries about.
• A safer plant keeps workers, supports the output bonus and reduces the likelihood of more costly incidents, so spending on prevention is cheaper than the cost of incidents.

Marks counted: 0 of 10

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• Positive: the contractor completed the work and left a service report showing the refrigeration plant works properly.
• Positive: a method statement was produced, although late.
• Negative: they were chosen on the cheapest quote and a personal recommendation, so competence was not checked.
• Negative: nobody asked about insurance.
• Negative: nobody asked about previous work or safety record.
• Negative: no induction or briefing from a competent person, only a short tour from a night cleaner.
• Negative: they arrived before any supervisor was in, so nobody at the plant was in charge of their work.
• Negative: they worked alone with no supervision or monitoring.
• Negative: the method statement was received a week after the work, so it could not be checked beforehand.
• Negative: they wedged the door open with a pallet, which led to ice forming and a packer slipping, showing that their effect on other workers was not controlled.
• Negative: there was no coordination between the contractor's work and the packing line, so workers were exposed to the hazard they created.

Marks counted: 0 of 10

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• Production is put ahead of safety: the line is cleaned while running because the bonus depends on output.
• A guard is held closed with a cable tie, showing that rules are not followed and nobody checks them.
• Workers do not report near misses because they fear blame, so hazards and causes are never found.
• Management is not visible: supervisors rarely visit the night cleaning shift.
• Complaints are ignored: wet floors and broken lights are never dealt with, showing management does not listen.
• No consultation: the health and safety meetings stopped about 14 months ago.
• The production manager treats safety as someone else's job and shows poor commitment.
• Poor training and induction: an agency worker was shown the job for ten minutes.
• A group bonus can make peers pressure each other not to stop or report problems.
• An injury was recorded two days late because the early shift supervisor judged it minor, showing that incidents are played down.
• The policy is not displayed and supervisors have not seen it, showing that safety is not communicated or valued.

Marks counted: 0 of 10

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• Involve the cleaners, supervisors and maintenance workers in developing it, because they know how the job is really done.
• Analyse the task, identify the hazards (moving conveyors, wet floors, chemicals) and assess the risks.
• Stop and isolate the conveyors before cleaning, and lock them off so that nobody can restart the line.
• Remove the cable tie and make sure guards are in place and working before the line restarts.
• Warn other workers (for example with signs and a handover) so that a packer arriving early cannot restart the line while cleaning is in progress.
• A written procedure with clear steps that all cleaners can follow, including agency workers.
• Instruction and training for cleaners before they start, not ten minutes of shadowing.
• Supervision of the night cleaning team, which has no plant supervisor after 22:30.
• Emergency arrangements for a trapped hand, including how to stop the machine and call for help.
• First aid cover when cleaners work, including the hospital being 25 km away.
• Monitor the system, check it is followed and review it after any incident.
• Allow enough time in the production schedule so that stopping the line is not penalised by the bonus.

Marks counted: 0 of 10

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• Supervisors told cleaners to clean while the line was running, so management allowed an unsafe system of work.
• The bonus system put pressure on workers and supervisors not to stop the line.
• A guard was defeated with a cable tie and management did not find or remove it.
• There was no check of the guards by supervisors or maintenance.
• The agency cleaner was not trained or inducted properly and was shown the job for only ten minutes.
• No supervisor was present during the overnight cleaning, and supervisors rarely visit the cleaning shift.
• There was no system to stop the packer restarting the line while cleaning was in progress.
• First aid arrangements were inadequate because the only first aider on shift could not be found.
• Near misses were not reported or acted on, so the earlier warnings were missed.
• The production manager did not show leadership and said safety was someone else's job.
• The incident was recorded late because it was wrongly judged minor, which shows weak reporting and investigation arrangements.

Marks counted: 0 of 10