Monitoring control measures
The monitoring process is just as important as the initial risk assessment, because this is the only way you can judge whether the controls you've put in place are doing the job they're meant to do.
Once you've decided on the most appropriate measures to control the risks, you need to put them in place and monitor them to see how effective they are. In some cases, you might find that particular controls are having unforeseen side-effects, or aren't as easy to implement as it first appeared. Or you may find that employees are not sure why particular controls are so important, and as a result aren't taking them seriously.
The monitoring process lets you check that the controls are being applied properly and allows you to evaluate their continuing effectiveness over time.
Let's look at the main factors you need to consider during the implementation and monitoring phases of risk management.
Implementation
Depending on the measures you've decided on, there can be a wide range of issues to keep track of during the implementation phase, including:
- costs of new machinery or modifications to existing machinery or infrastructure
- impact of the control measures on productivity and work flow
- changes to documentation, such as SOPs and work method statements
- re-training of operators or staff members affected by the control measures
- whether any hazards remain that need to be addressed with additional controls.
Monitoring
Monitoring the effectiveness of control measures is an on-going process, because things can change over time. Employees come and go, machines malfunction, industry standards change, work processes vary – there are lots of factors that can have an impact on the adequacy of control measures after they've been implemented.
The monitoring process could involve some or all of the following elements:
- periodic risk assessments to identify new hazards that may have emerged or control measures that are no working efficiently
- analysis of operational data, such as production outputs, maintenance logs and running costs, to identify any flow-on effects that the control measures may be having on productivity or profitability
- analysis of OHS records, such as incident reports, injury registers and pre-start checklists, to look for changes in incidents, accidents or machine serviceability
- analysis of meeting minutes, such as from toolbox and safety committee meetings, to examine issues raised by employees or safety committee members
- consultation with employees affected by the control measures, to get their views about the risk levels and effectiveness of the controls
- consultation with supervisors and managers, particularly section supervisors, production managers and safety officers, to get feedback from the broader perspective of management staff.
Learning Activity
Think about a risk assessment you've conducted which required new control measures to be implemented.
- What were you assessing? Briefly describe the machine, work process or system involved.
- What were the new control measures that needed to be introduced?
- How did you monitor the controls? List the different elements of your monitoring program, such as the documents you examined, the people you spoke to and the follow-up checks you made.
Write down your answers to these questions and share them with your trainer and other learners in your group. You may wish to use group emails or a social networking site.
Compare your answers with those provided by your fellow learners. Do you use similar monitoring methods? Which methods work the best? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the different methods used? Provide feedback on the other participants' answers.
This exercise will help you to prepare for the assignment for this section.