Reflective Statement on Professional Development

This reflective statement discusses the importance of hazard analysis and safety training in workplace health and safety. It includes a case study of a construction site and the approach taken to provide safety training and conduct risk assessment. Strengths and weaknesses of the approach are also discussed.

Running head: REFLECTIVE STATEMENT
Reflective statement on professional development
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1REFLECTIVE STATEMENT
Hazard analysis refers to the process of identifying hazards, which arise from a particular
environment or system and also encompasses documentation of unwanted consequences. One
major aspect of hazard analysis is related to conducting an analysis of the potential causes that
might create adverse effects (Wallace et al. 2014). On the other hand, safety training refers to the
programs that are essential for making a workplace safer for most people. This often
encompasses a range of training options that assist in bringing about improvements in safety
practices, ensures compliance and reduces risks (Sacks, Perlman and Barak 2013).
According to the data of Dubé (2017) workplace is the place where an individual spent
half of his life besides his home. There are several organizations that involve job roles,
equipment and environment that has the capability to hamper one’s health. Therefore the
organizations should focus on workplace health and safety training so that the health, safety and
wellbeing of the employees can be ensured. From the data of OSHA (2018), it is determined that
construction site possess greatest amount of risk as maximum of the workplace accidents around
the world are caused in construction sites. Hence, in this safety training procedure I decided to
provide safety training to the management and supervisor staffs regarding construction safety
course, Building construction safety supervisors course, framework safety course for supervisors,
confined space safety assessors course and industrial first aid course.
While including these safety training courses in the organizational setting, my primary
professional objective was to provide the employees or staff of the construction site with proper
training so that the employees can identify and respond to identified risks present within their
workplace. Further, they become aware of the safety related rules and legislation so that in case
of health risks they can protect their rights. Hence, the aim of this training was to provide
complete knowledge regarding the workplace health and safety and factorial safety training

2REFLECTIVE STATEMENT
courses to the construction site workers so that they can complete their tasks without any severe
health risk and hazard.
In the construction site, where I decided to provide safety training, more than 250
workers were involved with 10 on-site supervisors and 5 construction site managers. Prior to
training I was clear with approach with the help of which I will be providing training to the
supervisors and on site managers and for the purpose, I chose computer based training and
interactive training. These two techniques were decided so that with the help of available data
and pictorial demonstrations, an interactive session can be formed. Further, while providing the
training, all the supervisors and managers were provided with a small questionnaire and were
interviewed after the completion of the training so that data interpretation can be carried out
(Robson et al. 2012). I prepared a presentation for the safety training management including
topics such as safety and health policy, statutory requirements on safety, rules and
responsibilities while creating a safe organization and management system. As this part
comprised of several legislation and regulations, I contacted the workplace safety and health
committee so that a constructive and effective session can be conducted. After the session with
site managers, supervisors were also provided with interactive session by WHS committee and I
provided them questionnaire so that their understanding can be assessed (Ismail, Doostdar and
Harun 2012). Further, the supervisors were provided with techniques through which they can
provide such information to the construction workers as disclosing adverse effects can affect
their mental stability as well. They were asked to utilize the theory of hands on training
technique to make the workers aware of the safety and health related issues they can face or
facing at the construction site.

3REFLECTIVE STATEMENT
All the activities that I included in the training purpose for safety related issue had
specific implications. The training for supervisors and safety managers was inclusive of rules and
regulations related data, demonstration of possible health risk and means to overcome those,
whereas, the workers were provided with training by their supervisors so that the actions of the
workers within the construction site can be controlled which can breach health and safety
protocol of the construction site (Robson et al. 2012). I was surprised from the response of the
safety training as maximum of the workers were responsive and interactive in the session and
took active part in the training session. Further, while providing training to the managers and
supervisors, they accepted the data and were curious regarding the techniques and interventions
through which such incidents can be minimized.
While discussing the strength and weaknesses of the approach, I should include the fact
that maximum of the workers and supervisors at the construction site was able to answer the
health and safety related questionnaire. The strength of the approach was proper distribution and
medium of training (Phillips 2016). Inclusion of workplace safety and health committee in the
process was beneficial as they approach the site managers with their data and were able to
answer all the possible questions so that clarity and understanding of the process can be
maintained. However, there were few weaknesses of the approach, supervisors were asked to
provide training to the onsite workers right after their own training session, hence, they forgot to
include several aspects of safety such as penalty and fine system and safe work procedure, hence,
in the process the training to workers lacked completion. However, despite being several flaws, I
was satisfied with the approach as it was able to provide an idea regarding workplace health and
safety in workplace (McCaughey et al. 2013).

4REFLECTIVE STATEMENT
On the other hand, my thinking, my working pattern and planning of the training process
also had several strengths and weaknesses. I was able to differentiate the roles and subjects upon
which training will be provided to supervisors, managers and workers as they dominate in those
sections. Therefore, the scope of the training enhanced. Further, my training division lacked
connection and unity as training was provided with different means to workers, site managers
and supervisors. Hence, it could have affected the mental state of the workers as they were not
provided with the data and statistics of workplace health and safety related accidents
(McCaughey et al. 2013).
According to several research studies, hazard analysis is an essential procedure that needs
to be implemented at all workplaces owing to high prevalence of workplace incidents that are
undesired or unplanned and often create barriers in the completion of a particular task (Dokas,
Feehan and Imran 2013). Hence, I decided to conduct a hazard analysis at the construction site,
in order to assess the potential risks. Therefore, I recognized the need to identifying the
underlying risk factors in the operating environment that could result in major malfunctions or
failures. The major activities that I conducted for risk assessment at the workplace included
recording and monitoring the rates of known hazard, identification of the hazards that were
related to use of different chemicals or use of electrical equipments, followed by introduction of
new works or processes. Furthermore, my activities also included conducting an inspection of
the technical competencies that were displayed by the management and workers.
The primary objective of my risk assessment activity was related to creating provisions at
the construction site, for providing appropriate means that would facilitate in identification of
potential hazards. In addition, I also wanted to manage the workplace hazards in a feasible way

5REFLECTIVE STATEMENT
that would eliminate chances of accidents or injuries at the workplace and make all the workers
adhere to the safety policies.
The primary approach that I had implemented at the construction site was to convince the
authorities to assign a risk assessment committee, which was comprised of supervisors,
managers, personnel, and technicians. This approach was taken owing to the fact that it would
provide assistance to fulfill the major oversight responsibilities required for risk management and
strategic planning of the company (Potts et al. 2014). Furthermore, the committee would also
help in recommending necessary risk assessment procedures that would help the company in the
long run. I also focused on identifying the major kinds of hazards that were prevalent in the
company and had taken a toll on the safety of the workers. Hence, identification of major hazards
that might arise, before a construction work commenced was imperative (Bahn 2013). I also
emphasised on recognizing new hazards at the workplace that were related to use of particular
chemicals, or other equipments. Moreover, I also emphasized on evaluating the technical
competency and training levels of the workers in order to gain a deeper understanding of their
skills that might be required, if they encounter any hazardous events. I realized that while eight
supervisors were well aware of the skills they need to display in order to reduce chances of
workplace hazards, the workers were most often exposed to environment that increased their
likelihood of getting affected.
While recording known hazards that were already present in the workplace, I received
help from the members of the risk assessment committee. They helped me to conduct a thorough
investigation of the hazards that the workers were frequently exposed to such as, use of asbestos,
handling solvents and flammable gases, working in confined places, and operating heavy
mechanical instruments. The committee members also provided adequate assistance in recording

6REFLECTIVE STATEMENT
new hazards that the workers might be exposed to. Furthermore, the supervisors also helped me
record the aforementioned risk factors. Additional help was received from three site managers
and two supervisors regarding inspecting or investigating skills of the people responsible for risk
analysis. Moreover, two project managers also helped me in the conduction of risk analysis,
before a work commenced at the site.
My activities helped me determine that the likelihood of occurrence of workplace hazards
was frequent at the construction site. This indicated that the working conditions were unsafe and
the workers were exposed to use of asbestos, flammable objects and heavy mechanical
instruments quite frequently. I identified that there was moderate severity of the hazards, which
most commonly resulted in burns (57), sprains (43), lacerations (31) and minor fractures (44),
among 175 workers in past five years. Thus, the observations helped me use the risk assessment
matrix that gave a score of high risk, based on the likelihood and severity. Hence, the objective
of identifying risks of hazards at the workplace was adequately met.
Major strengths of the approaches lie in the facts that they were successful in gaining a
deeper understanding of the undesirable accidents or incidents that frequently deteriorate the
health condition of the workers, and also helped in determining the true magnitude of the extent
to which the hazards could affect health (Zhang et al. 2015). Failure to determine whether the
company provided appropriate health coverage for the employees was a weakness (Siqueira et al.
2014). In future, there is a need to recommend alternatives for high risk operations in order to
reduce the severity and likelihood of occurrence of occupational health hazards (Rankin et al.
2014).

7REFLECTIVE STATEMENT
My strength was related to the fact that I could convince the board members of the risk
assessment committee to conduct an evaluation of the hazards that the workers were exposed to
on a regular basis. This helped me in conducting the risk analysis in a suitable manner and also
assisted me to gain a deeper understanding of the risk factors that lead to occupational health
hazards. However, the fact that I evaluated the technical skills and competencies of only the
people responsible for risk analysis was my weakness, as all workers should demonstrate
adequate skills to combat such incidents. I can improve this by conducting an interview of
individual workers to determine their skills that are imperative in reducing chances of workplace
hazards. I should also increase awareness of the workers regarding the basic amenities that they
are entitled to, if any such incident occurs in future.
While concluding the assignment, it should be mentioned that construction site was
chosen for the risk assessment and safety training procedure as in this particular construction
site, more than 175 workers were having injuring and the risk at the site was very high. Further,
they were unaware of the health and safety issues, their rights and regulations regarding it.
Therefore, with the help of Workplace health and safety committee, such training related to
health and safety and risk assessment of identified hazards were conducted. This ensures that
safe work culture can be established and after studying the possible incidences, a dynamic
organization free from hazardous risk and safety issues can be created.

8REFLECTIVE STATEMENT
References
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9REFLECTIVE STATEMENT
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