INTERNATIONAL GENERAL

CERTIFICATE

Candidates observation
sheet

IGC3 THE HEALTH AND

SAFETY PRACTICAL APPLICATION
Sheet number 1 0f 5
Student name:
Place inspected:

MILAN SHRESTHA
ABU DHABI EDUCATION COUNCIL

Student number: 00310413

Date of inspection:11/12/2015

Observation
Hazards and Consequences

Control measures
Immediate and longer term actions

1. Risk of vehicles speeding and

causing road traffic accidents
due to poor signage on access
roads to school and main
buildings.

2. Risk of traffic accident due to

narrow sharp bend on access
road to rear car park.

3. Risk of traffic accident due to

undesignated car parking in
several areas that prevent vision
of road and cause driving over
footpaths to reach these areas.

Inform school workers and parents

of speed limits on access roads. Fix
temporary speed limit signs.
Monitor the wear and damage to
painted signs during site inspection

Timescale
Immediately

Yearly

Email all school workers to increase Immediately

awareness. Get t he school managers
to contact parents.
Monitor effects of measures. Look
into feasibility of installing traffic
light system.

Every 6 months

Inform school workers by email not to Immediately

park in undesignated areas.

Site maintenance team to monitor

and issue warning letter to offenders.
Discuss with Human Resources
On going
manager.

4. Risk of trip due to potholes in I

surface of footpath
L

Barrier off around affected area.

Erect warning sign.

Immediately

Monitor the surface condition of all

footpaths on site during site
inspection

Yearly

Key: Risk: Actions: I= Immediate,Medium=M, L=Long term. N/a= Not applicable.

Observation
Hazards and Consequences

Control measures
Immediate and longer term actions

Timescale

5. Risk of electric shock from

active communication mast due
to missing padlock from gates
and electrical hazard warning
signs at the access gates.

Lock gates, fit temporary electrical Immediately

hazard sign.

Arrange on going inspection of

mast security and that warning signs
stay in good condition

6 months

6. Risk of tripping due to

damaged concrete step leading
to reception and school
pathway.

Apply hazard tape to worn parts of

step.

Immediately

Monitor all access steps for damage

during site inspection

Yearly

7. Risk to personal safety of

receptionist due to lone
working.

Review security in reception area.

Immediately

Review work patterns causing lone

working. Initiate test protocols for
security

Every 6 months

8. Risk of Electrocution or fire

controlled by main fuse board in
small hall corridor being located
in secure cupboard and having 5
yearly inspections and testing.

N/a

N/a

Ensure fuse board is closed and

locked. Accessed by competent
workers only.

On-going

L
9. Risk of trip due to worn tape
around access hatch in floor in
main corridor

10. Risk to health by exposure to

asbestos by report showing
location of asbestos in stair
nosing and floor tiles plus
regular inspection.

Maintenance team to monitor 5

yearly inspections and testing.

5 Years

Barrier off with warning sign.

Immediately

Replace tape.

Same day

Administration manager to monitor On-going

tape for wear.

Ensure locations of asbestos are also Immediately

recorded in asbestos risk register.
Inspection of area for damage.

M
L

Keep asbestos report for reference

and

Monthly

provide details in asbestos risk

On-going
register to contractors.

11. Risk of upper limb injury /

eye strain due to unsuitable,
non-adjustable chair for display
screen equipment (DSE) user in
general office.

12. Risk of trip due to trailing

cables of many portable
appliances in general office i.e.
fans, electric heaters and paper
shredders.

Ensure workers are complying with

your display screen equipment use
policy.

On-going

Carry out regular reassessments of

display screen equipment
workstations and workers.

Yearly

Tape down cables

Immediately

Provide portable rubber covers for

cables. Consider relocating sockets
to avoid need to trail cable.

1 month

L
14. Risk of falling due to working
on an insecure short ladder
during lone working in store
cupboard.

3 weeks

13. Risk to fire due to many

document folders stored under
desks in education workers
office, next to electrical sockets
and cables.

Ensure workstations are assessed

for suitability for all new workers
and carry out online risk awareness
training.

Relocate sockets where possible.

Continue to monitor where cables
are situated and monitor for
damage. Ensure training is carried
out with workers.
Email workers to warn of the fire
risk, look for temporary storage for
document folders.
Erect suitable shelving to store files
on. Ensure workers undertake fire
awareness training.
Monitor on-going for correct
storage and fire risks. Ensure
workers have annual updates
Email workers to warn them of the
potential hazards. Carry out risk
assessment for working on ladders.

3 6 months
Every 6 months.

Immediately

1 months

Yearly
Immediately

Use of ladders training to be carried

out.
1 month

Continue to monitor work practices

with ladders.
On-going

Observation
Hazards and Consequences

Control measures
Immediate and longer term actions

15. Risk of back injury due to

place heavy files under desks
(with poor access) in education
workers office.

17. Risk of electric shock due to

several electrical items having
out of date portable appliance
testing (PAT) test.

Erect suitable shelving to store files

on. Ensure workers undertake
manual
handling
awareness
training.

Immediately

1 month

Monitor correct storage of folders

and manual handling awareness
training.

On-going

N/a

N/a

Regular lighting unit maintenance by On-going

competent person.

Light level checks carried out and

2 years
recorded by competent person.

Isolate all electrical items that have Immediately

out of date PAT test.

PAT tests to be carried out on items

2 weeks
by competent person.

Regular checks for all portable

electrical equipment.

16. Risk of eye strain and trips

controlled by good lighting in
main corridor.

Email staff to warn of the manual

handling hazard, look for temporary
storage for document folders.

Timescale

Yearly
18. Risk of hot water burns due
to no warning sign on hot water
boiler in kitchen.

Put up temporary sign to warn staff of Immediately

very hot water.

Ensure permanent warning sign is

1 week
fixed to boiler.

Monitor that sign remains in place

and is legible.
On-going

19. Risk of boxes falling from

shelves on to people due to
them overhanging shelves in
kitchen.

Remove overhanging boxes

Immediately

Re-organise boxes on shelves to

ensure all boxes fit onto shelves
correctly and are not overhanging.

2 weeks

Observation
Hazards and Consequences
20. Risk of legionella controlled
by regular inspection of water
supplied from taps and
temperature of boiler in kitchen

Monitor that boxes continue to be

correctly storage on shelves.

On-going

Control measures
Timescale
Immediate and longer term actions
I

N/a

Ensure relevant senior managers

undergo legionella training.

Ensure inspection and recording

Yearly
continues by competent person.

21. Risk of slips on ice on

walkways between buildings
due to a lack of equipment for
dealing with possible adverse
weather conditions as winter
approaches.

Allocate responsibilities

Monitor weather forecasts as winter Next 3 months

approaches.

Provide grit / salt in suitable

container.

2 months

22. Risk of burns due to workers

carrying several cups of coffee in
corridor

Remind staff of risk of scalding

Immediately

Provide trays to carry cups.

1 week

Ensure trays are used. Provide

reminders at worker involvement
meetings

Monthly

Replace eye wash

1 day

Implement system of weekly checks

of eye wash and other first aid
equipment.

1 week

23. Risk of delayed first aid

treatment due to eye wash in
corridor being out of date and
unusable.

Team meetings to discuss and

prepare procedure for replacing
first aid equipment when out of
date for use.

N/a
3 month

1 month

1 month

24. Risk of ankle sprains due to

poor storage of materials in
general office area, uneven floor
and poor lighting in corridor.

Move all excess materials to store or 1 week

waste bin

Install more lights and review floor

condition

Inspect light levels and materials

storage regularly.

1 month

3 months

INTERNATIONAL GENERAL
CERTIFICATE

Candidate report template

UNIT IGC3 THE HEALTH AND

SAFETY PRACTICAL APPLICATION

Student number 00310413

Location: ABU DHABI EDUCATION COUNCIL

Date of review11/12/2015

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------MANAGEMENT REPORT
1. Introduction
This report follows a workplace inspection of the Abu Dhabi Education Council on 11/12/2015 and
identifies good and poor practices. The centre has a large education council building, one primary
school, one short stay pupil referral unit and a day nursery. The property is owned and maintained by

the local council. There is an access road from the main road, which runs around the school, between
buildings and then through to the rear car parks.
The Abu Dhabi Education Council is occupied by 370 workers whose roles revolve around education
attainment, improvement and inclusion. Many workers are outreach workers and visit schools,
children centres, and homes. As a result, access and egress to the building is heavily used. Potential
hazards include slips, trips, and falls, musculoskeletal injury and access and egress arrangements.
2. Executive summary
It was pleasing to observe a high standard of housekeeping. There was an appropriate amount of
lighting inside and outside the buildings. The welfare facilities were of good standard, i.e. clean and
plenty of toilets and washrooms for the amount of workers.
However, during the inspection it was identified that some areas posed a risk of serious injury or ill
health and were in need of improvement. Areas of concern were vehicle movement through the
school site and risks of electric shock, due to uncontrolled access to the communications mast and
several items of portable electrical equipment being out of date with their portable appliance testing
(PAT) test. Also, there was an increased risk of fire and manual handling injury due to many document
files stored under workers desks, next to electrical cables and sockets. These and other important
observations are discussed in the findings part of the report.
Most of the problems that were observed were related to a lack of maintenance and a general lack of
understanding of the need for good health and safety practice. Recommendations include refresher
training and maintenance of signs and electrical equipment, all of relatively low cost, particularly when
related to the risks observed. Two areas observed that were under good control were the testing and
recording for legionella and asbestos.
Details of all observations made during the inspection are attached at the end of this report.
3. Main Findings
3.1 Observation 1 Risk of road traffic accidents speed limit, hazards and parking
The access road that runs through the school site is heavily used, as many workers do outreach work.
In addition, visitors to the site, parents and children use the road to come into school and the day
nursery. It was noted that many of the painted road sins were worn away, so users would not be aware
of speed restrictions. This presented a significant risk of vehicles speeding and causing road traffic
accidents. Also, there were many sharp bends in the road, which would increase the potential risk
from speeding. The additional problem of vehicles being parked in undesignated areas prevented
drivers having proper vision of the road and obstructed footpaths. In view of the vulnerability of the
many pedestrians in the area, this could easily result in a major injury or fatality. Any claim for damages
would be very high and this type of accident could have very high consequences to the schools
reputation.
Speeding vehicles and vehicles inappropriately parked make access and egress unsafe, not only for
school workers, but other car users and pedestrians. These risks may be seen to contravene the ILO
Occupational Safety and Health Convention C155, Article 16 (1), which requires employers to provide
workplaces that are safe.

School workers, parents, children and visitors should be alerted immediately of the speed limit, sharp
bend hazard and parking problem, for example by email and letters handed out. This will incur very
little cost, mainly time and paper. Temporary signs should be made and located on the route into the
school and where parked vehicles cause an obstruction. This can be done by downloading signs from
the internet, printing and laminating them using school facilities, costs for this should be limited to
300 dhs. Maintenance work should be carried out during the next four weeks to repaint speed limit
signs and erect a sing warning of the sharp bends, at a cost of 5000 dhs approximately. Signs and
bollards should be erected to prevent the unauthorised parking; this is likely to cost approximately
10,000dhs. All limit signs and restriction parking should be monitored yearly during the site inspection.
The sum of money necessary to make improvements is small relative to the risk of serious injury that
may be caused by the hazards.
3.2 Observation 5 Risk of electric shock access to communications mast
It was observed that the gates restricting access to the communications mast were not secured by a
padlock and there were no signs warning of the electrical hazard within the restricted area. This meant
that anyone could enter the restricted area and be at risk of electric shock. The school has a large
number of children on site who may be attracted by the electrical equipment and could have entered
the area without difficulty. The absence of warning signs indicating an electrical hazard could someone
to believe they were entering a safe area.
Failing to restrict access to the electrical equipment may be considered a breach of the ILO
Occupational Safety and Health Convention c155, Article 16(1), which requires workplaces machinery,
equipment and processes to be safe and without risk to health. Though the risk of immediate danger
from electricity due to someone entering the restricted area is not high it is significantly increased by
the failure to prevent entry.
With the co-operation of maintenance worker for the site a padlock was added to the fates to secure
them. The padlock was available for their purpose, but had not been fitted to the gate following a visit
from a maintenance contractor, therefore there was no new cost related to this control measure.
Temporary electrical hazard warning signs should be fitted until permanent signs can be obtained. The
cost of these temporary and permanent signs is likely to be about 2500 dhs. In the medium term, the
supervisor of school maintenance work should ensure the padlock is only removed to allow authorised
entry and refitted immediately on completion of this work. The security of access to the
communication mast should be monitored as part of the site security arrangements, this may require
a small amendment to the contract of the security company that does this work, but it is expected
that is could be added with little or no cost.
3.3 Observation 13 and 15 Risk of manual injury and fire document files stored under desks
It was identified that many of the workers stored document files under their desks, occupying a large
amount of space. These files were situated next to trailing electrical cables, which were plugged into
extension leads. The three elements of the fire triangle were present oxygen, fuel (paper files) and
heat (electrical cables and sockets). This combination presented a risk of fire occurring and although
the fire would start in the office area there is a risk that it could spread and affect the whole centre.
This would be a serious risk to all workers and children. No fire risk assessment had been carried out
and fire risk controls were inadequate, contravening the ILO Guidelines on Occupational Safety and

Health Management Systems (ILO OSH) 2001, which require risk assessment and the application of
control measures.
These poor storage arrangements not only increase the chances of a fire starting and spreading
rapidly, but also pose a risk of back injury when office workers have to bend and assume a very poor
posture when retrieving the files. This poor manual handling arrangement could quickly lead to serious
injury of an office worker and long term absence from work. The office workers are all experienced
and specialise in their education field, therefore finding temporary replacement workers would not
be easy and this would be very damaging to the educational service provided. The storage
arrangements do not comply with the ILO Occupational Safety and Health Convention C155, Article
16 (1) and (2), in that manual handling risks should be avoided where reasonably practicable and
where risk remain they are minimised by appropriate protection measures.
Workers should be reminded of the fire and manual handling risk as soon as possible, those workers
not immediately available should be emailed. The files should be promptly removed into temporary
storage, at a cost of workers time and storage boxes, which are currently available as stock was
purchased for a recent educational project. Suitable shelving should be erected at the cost of 5000
dhs approximately. It is recommended that all office workers have fire awareness and manual handling
refresher training , incurring internal cost of worker and health and safety advisor time. The training
should be short and can be done at their monthly meeting. It is recommended that awareness training
is done as part of the annual departmental meeting, this will ensure costs are limited.
3.4 Observation 17 Risk of electric shock and fire out of date portable electrical equipment
testing
Several items of electrical equipment around the site were not displaying up to date portable
appliance testing (PAT) sticker. The absence of the sticker could mean that the equipment is defective.
The PAT sticker confirms that electrical equipment has been suitably tested as part of the maintenance
programme. The use of equipment that has not been maintained breaches ILO Occupational Safety
and Health Convention C155, Article 16 (1) requirements that equipment should be safe, since
equipment that is not maintained can lead to the risk of fire or workers experiencing an electric shock,
which may prove fatal. An injury or fatality would not only be a cost to the centre, but also to the
worker and their family. Employers have a legal duty under EWR to ensure all portable electrical
equipment is maintained. This should be clearly marked on the equipment and recorded.
Immediate action is required to identify and isolate all items that are out of date, this would be at a
small cost taking a couple of hours of time and labels to mark them out of use. Following this , a
competent person (trained electrician) should carry our PAT test on this equipment, typically at a cost
of 20 dhs per item. In the future, all equipment should be tested regularly and care should be given to
ensure equipment stored in cupboards is included in all tests.
4. Conclusion
Routine maintenance is identified as an area where attention is needed. The poor maintenance of
road speed limit signs and lack of portable appliance testing on electrical items were particular areas
requiring immediate management attention. Under the ILO Occupational Safety and Health
Convention C155, Article 16 (1), employers have a responsibility to ensure equipment is safe, including

the carrying out of maintenance to protect workers and others who may be in the workplace or come
into contact with their equipment.
Storing document files under desks next to electrical cables and sockets is a fire hazard. The poor
storage of files also creates a risk of manual handling injuries when workers have to retrieve the files.
This suggests a lack of appreciation of the need for good health and safety practice. Fire and manual
handling risk assessment of the storage of files in the education workers office need to be carried out
immediately in order to ensure the safety of workers. Education workers should have refresher
training to remind them of the importance of fire and manual handling issues. This may indicate a
wider problem, this should be evaluated as other workers may also need similar training.
All the areas identified in the findings of this report could result in injury or a fatality, which would
cause suffering to the victims and their families. Employers have a legal and moral duty of care to take
action and reduce the risk identified.
The inspection identified a number of good practices where strong management of hazards was in
place, including two important health hazards, legionella and asbestos. The good practices identified
are commended and should be continued.
Health and safety needs to be of a high priority as failure to manage risk can lead to prosecution or
compensation claims, which can only have an adverse effect on the centres reputation and financial
position as well as the health and safety of the people involved.
I suggest that my recommendations are implemented at the earliest opportunity according to the
priority allocated to them in the next section of this report. By doing this, the centre will openly
demonstrate to all workers that their health and safety is being taken seriously at all levels of
management. Also, it will show that, in the long term, a positive health and safety culture is being
developed, which will reduce the sizeable cost attributed to accidents and enhance the reputation of
the organisation in a very competitive market place.

5. Recommendations
Ref. No.

Recommendation

Likely resource implications

Priority

3.1 (item 1, Inform

workers, Admin time, cost of paper.500 High
2 and 3)
parents, children and dhs for materials.
visitors of speed limit,
road hazards and
parking restrictions by
email and handling out
letters.

Target date
Immediate

3.1 (item 1, Fix temporary speed

2 and 3)
limit, hazardous bends
warning
and
no
parking signs.

Download from internet,

print and laminate using
school facilities.

High

Immediate

3.2
(item 5)

Put padlock on gates of Padlock is available but was High

communication tower not being used.

Immediate

3.2
(item 5)

Fix temporary
electrical hazard
warning signs.

3.3 (items
13 and 15)

Remove
files
temporary storage

3.4
(Item 17)

Isolate equipment that

does not have up to
date PAT sticker.

Download from internet,

print and laminate using
school facilities.

High

Immediate

to All education workers to pack

into storage boxes. Boxes are
in stock

High

Immediate

High

Immediate

Medium

One month

Maintenance worker time, 2

hours.

3.1
(item Repaint
speed
5000 dhs, using local
1,2 and 3)
limit signs on the contractor
road.
3.1 (item Change
observation
1,2 and 3) mirror to large one.
Erect permanent signs
warning of sharp
bends.

Estimated to be 5000 dhs.

Medium

1-2 months

3.1 (item Erect bollards where

1,2 and 3) possible.
Erect
permanent no parking
signs.

Estimated to be 10,000 dhs.

Medium

1-2 months

3.2
(item 5)

Supervisor to check that

padlock is removed to only
allow authorised access and
is re-fitted immediately after
completion of work.

Medium

As

Medium

One Month

Monitor to ensure
gates are padlocked,
particularly
after
maintenance worker
visits.

3.3
Erect suitable shelving 5000 dhs
(item 13 to store files on
and 15)

entry
is
required

3.3
Ensure
employees
(item
13 undertake fire and
manual
handling
and 15)
refresher training.

3.4 (item
17)

3 hours of workers time,

provided by health and
safety advisor at the time of
monthly meeting.

Medium

One month

Competent person to Approx 20 dhs per item, using Medium

PAT test the out of date current contractor.
equipment.

Two weeks.

3.1 (item Monitor effects of Management time to monitor Low

1,2 and 3) measures. Look into and evaluate feasibility.
feasibility of installing
traffic light system.
3.2
(item 5)

On-going inspection of Amendment of

mast security and that
current duties of
warning signs stay in contracted security staff.
good condition.

Six months

Low

Six months

3.3 (items Monitor work practices Manager to monitor as part of Low

13
and related to use of weekly routines following
15)
storage and provide installation of shelving.
annual
awareness
training.

After one
month,
ongoing

3.3 (item Provide

annual 3 hours of workers time, Low
13 and 15) awareness training.
provided by health and safety
advisor at the time of monthly
meeting.

One year

3.4
(item 17)

Annually

Ensure annual PAT tests Maintain worker time, to Low

for
all
portable ensure all equipment located
appliances.
and available 2 hours. Approx
20 dhs per item, using current
contractor.

Candidate and course provider declarations:

For completion by the candidate:
I declare that the work submitted for this practical application assessment is my own work. I recognise
that contravention of this statement constitutes malpractice and may result in my being subject to the
penalties set out in the NEBOSH malpractice policy.
Name (Print)
Signature
Date

MILAN SHRESTHA
Milan Shrestha
11/12/2015

For completion by the course providers representative (e.g. internal practical assessor):
I declare that the work marked is identical to that received from the candidate. I recognise that
contravention of this statement constitutes malpractice and may result in my being subject to the
penalties set out in the NEBOSH malpractice policy.
Name (Print)
Signature
Date

For completion by the course providers internal practical assessor:

I declare that the work marked is identical to that received from the candidate. I recognise that
contravention of this statement constitutes malpractice and may result in my being subject to the
penalties set out in the NEBOSH malpractice policy.
Name (Print)
Signature
Date