FACULTY OF SCIENCE

School of Safety Science

SESC9201

Safety Risk Management

Session 2, 2008

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School of Risk and Safety Sciences

Course Outline SESC9201

Safety Risk Management

S2 2008

Contents: 1. Information about the Course 4

2. Staff Involved in the Course 4

3. Course Details 5

4. Rationale and Strategies Underpinning the Course 7

5. Units 9

6. Assessment Tasks and Feedback 10

7.UNSW Academic Honesty and Plagiarism 11

Referencing Work of Others in Assignments 12

8. Additional Resources and Support 13

9. Required Equipment, Training and Enabling Skills 13

10. Course Evaluation and Development 14

11. Administration Matters 15

Academic Governance 15

12 Details of Assessment 18

Class or Web Exercise 10% 18

Job Safety Analysis measuring invert levels of sewage manholes 18

Assignment 1 30% 19

Assignment 2 60% 20

3 Tasks 35% 20

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1. Information about the Course

Year of Delivery 2008

Course Code SESC 9201

Course Name Safety Risk Management

Academic Unit School of Risk and Safety Sciences

Level of Course Core in OHS Programs Elective in Risk Management Programs

Units of Credit 6UOC

Session(s) Offered Session 1 off campus , S2 lectures and off campus

Assumed Knowledge, Prerequisites or Co-requisites

School maths and science useful

Location n/a

Number of Weeks 12

Commencement Date 29th July

Assessment

Graded Pass/Fail

NOTE: Students should be aware of the University’s policy on plagiarism (see also Section 7) and academic misconduct (see Administration matters, Section 11 and www.myunsw.edu.au).

Study Mode Off campus with web support

2. Staff Involved in the Course

Staff Role Name Contact Details Consultation Times

Teaching Staff Course Convener*

Tony Green

Jean Cross

email and email via webct

Arranged by email or phone Patricia 9385 4144 for appointment

Additional Teaching Staff

The following people have contributed to Notes for this course Dr Andrew McIntosh, Dr Amanada Hayes , Professor Chris Winder , Dr Tony Green, Professor Jean Cross Dr Warwick Williams

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3. Course Details Course Description

Description of the course from UNSW Handbook

Principles of OHS risk management and its legal context; methods of risk identification assessment and control applied to physical, chemical biological and ergonomic hazards including, chemical dusts and fumes, mechanical equipment, confined spaces, manual handling, noise, vibration, and electricity,

Student Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to

• Correctly define and use the terminology of safety risk management • Describe how the risk management process of AS/NZS4360 is applied

in the SHE context • Plan an SHE risk management program • Apply and critically evaluate risk ranking techniques • Assess risks associated with physical, chemical, biological and

ergonomic hazards • Recommend controls according to the hierarchy of controls

Major Topics

(Syllabus Outline)

OHS Risk management and the law, identifying risks and assessing risk . risk rating by level of risk, Assessing risks of Confined Spaces, Manual Handling, other musculoskeletal injury risks, Equipment, Noise, Chemicals dusts and fumes, and biological hazards

Relationship to Other Courses within the Program

This course is a core course in the Health and Safety programs. ISESC9101 contains some assumed knowledge and skills for this course. Students who will complete both courses should undertake SESC9101 first or concurrently. Students undertaking SESC 9201 as an elective will find essential assumed knowledge on the web.

IT IS ASSUMED THAT YOU HAVE COMPLETED ELISE AND THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO USE THE LIBRARY OVER THE INTERNET TO ACCESS ACADEMIC LITERATURE

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Graduate Attributes Developed in this Course

Science Graduate Attributes

Level of FOCUS

0 = NO FOCUS

1 = MINIMAL

2 = MINOR

3 = MAJOR

Activities / Assessment

Research, inquiry and analytical thinking abilities

3 Students will need to research hazards and control strategies. They will need to think analytically about the risks of activities and workplaces.

1. Critical thinking abilities

3 Students will critique risk assessments performed by other students and will apply critical thinking skills to the design of risk ranking tools

2. Capability and motivation for intellectual development

2 The course aims to demonstrate how to find out about safety issues which can be applied to future problems and to encourage critical analysis of standard techniques of risk assessment.

3. Ethical, social and professional understanding

3 Ethics and social responsibility are a key concept in safety, and are conveyed throughout the course through the nature of the safety problems to which the learning is applied

4. Communication 3

Students learn how to present reports to management and two assessment topics require reports of different types. One of the assignments requires consultation within a workplace

5. Teamwork, collaborative and management skills

1 Students are required to organise a risk assessment activity in a workplace for one of the assignments. They will need to plan an inspection and organise the activity as a whole.

6. Information literacy 3 One assignment requires information to be sought from government documents and from academic literature.

Other attributes N/A

Professional accreditation attributes

This course covers core activities that must be carried out by a safety or risk management professional in identifying risks and recommending controls according to OHS law

Level of Material Delivered

Introduction to material

Emphasised and taught in depth

Reinforced and additional expertise

Competencies applied

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4. Rationale and Strategies Underpinning the Course

Rationale for learning and teaching in this course, i.e., How this course is taught?

The school of risk and safety sciences is committed to excellence in learning and teaching and to providing both practical competencies and a theoretical underpinning to the activities that a Safety Health and Environment or risk management professional must undertake. The course therefore considers both theory and real case studies.

Safety and risk professional must be able to advise others on the nature of hazards and the ways in which they must be controlled. Therefore part of this course provides basic knowledge of physical hazards and their scientific principles to provide a basis from which students are able to gain more detailed knowledge from text books and standards when required. Assignment 2 aims to test the students competency to source detailed information about risks

Teaching Strategies and how they support learning outcomes

Several different methods are used including lectures and notes to provide basic knowledge. There are exercises to apply the knowledge to a real workplace situations.

At the end of each unit there are sample test questions. These are examples of the type of questions that will appear in the final test and are designed to help you assess whether you have learnt what is needed from the unit

Assessment Philosophy

A 6 Unit of credit subject requires 120 -150 hours work in total. This works out as 8-10 hours a week including time writing assignments and undertaking private study and research. Or 80 hours of work outside attendance at the short course

Many students will have studied similar material at certificate 1V level or use the techniques described at work. This subject is postgraduate level so you are expected to critically analyse standard practice rather than reproduce it.. Assignments require more depth of thought than for TAFE courses. Look for differences with what you have learnt before and do not assume that this course is a repeat of what you have previously been taught

Assignments and tests are designed to assess your understanding of the material and your ability to relate the theory of the notes to practical situations. Generally there are no marks in assignments of exam for copying information from the notes (or from other sources uncritically). This merely demonstrates an ability to find information. Post graduate assessment requires your critical input to the information acquired.

Assignment 1 requires you to apply risk management processes to a safety problem but rather than the more usual case of a job safety analysis the assignment asks for an overview of risks for a workplace as a whole and a report to senior management.

The role of a safety or risk professional is often to assess risk assessments performed by others. A pre workshop or class exercise mimics this.

The second assignment tests your ability to research the academic and web literature to explore a risk in detail and write a report on it

The test has a focus on the particular hazards covered in the course and requires some calculations to be performed but may test any part of the course with questions similar to those at the end of each Unit

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5. Program

Week Beginning Topic Due dates

Week 1 July 29th Introduction to Risk Management

Week 2 Aug 5th Qualitative assessment and rating risks

Participation exercise part 1 due 21st Mar

Week 3 Aug 12th Equipment risks Participation exercise week due 28th March

Week 4 Aug 19th Confined spaces

Dusts and Ventilation

Week 5 Aug 26th Biological hazards

Week 6 Sep 2nd Manual Handling Assignment 1 due 1st Sep

Week 7 Sep 9th Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders

Task 1

Week 8 Sep 16th Electrical Safety

Week 9 Sep 23rd Chemical Hazards

Mid Session break

Week 10

Oct 7th Chemical Hazards Task 2

Week11 Oct 14th Chemical Hazards

Week 12

Oct 21st Noise Individual assignment

Week 13

Oct 28th Task 3

Note: Changes may occur to theTopic dates depending on Lecturer availability.

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6. Assessment Tasks and Feedback For full details of assignments and assessment criteria see Final section of this profile

Task % of total mark

Details

Class exercise

10% Participate in a Job safety analysis for measuring invert levels

Assignment 1 30% Identify risks and recommend improved controls for risks of a work site or occupation

Assignment 2 25% Short report on a risk from the list supplied based on scientific literature max 2000 words

3 short tests 35 % Multiple choice or short answer web questions to be done as sections are completed

The School’s policy on late submission and resubmission is outlined in the academic governance document on the school’s web page. Late submission without penalty may be negotiated where there is adequate reason prior to the date of submission. Where there is no prior negotiation a penalty of 5% per week will apply for late submission down to a mark of 50% (ie the mark will be scaled by 0.95 for one weeks late submission etc but a pass level assignment will not fail as a result of late submission as long as it is submitted prior to marks being finalised.) Sample assignments are available on www.vista.elearning.unsw.edu.au PLEASE READ THE RULES ON PLAGIARISM CAREFULLY WHERE THEY ARE BROKEN YOU MAY RECEIVE ZERO MARKS FOR THE ASSIGNMENT OR FOR THE COURSE DEPENDING ON CIRCUMSTANCES

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7.UNSW Academic Honesty and Plagiarism

What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is the presentation of the thoughts or work of another as one’s own.

*Examples include:

• direct duplication of the thoughts or work of another, including by copying material, ideas or concepts from a book, article, report or other written document (whether published or unpublished), composition, artwork, design, drawing, circuitry, computer program or software, web site, Internet, other electronic resource, or another person’s assignment without appropriate acknowledgement;

• paraphrasing another person’s work with very minor changes keeping the meaning, form and/or progression of ideas of the original;

• piecing together sections of the work of others into a new whole;

• presenting an assessment item as independent work when it has been produced in whole or part in collusion with other people, for example, another student or a tutor; and

• claiming credit for a proportion a work contributed to a group assessment item that is greater than that actually contributed.†

For the purposes of this policy, submitting an assessment item that has already been submitted for academic credit elsewhere may be considered plagiarism.

Knowingly permitting your work to be copied by another student may also be considered to be plagiarism.

Note that an assessment item produced in oral, not written, form, or involving live presentation, may similarly contain plagiarised material.

The inclusion of the thoughts or work of another with attribution appropriate to the academic discipline does not amount to plagiarism.

The Learning Centre website is main repository for resources for staff and students on plagiarism and academic honesty. These resources can be located via:

www.lc.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism The Learning Centre also provides substantial educational written materials, workshops, and tutorials to aid students, for example, in:

• correct referencing practices;

• paraphrasing, summarising, essay writing, and time management;

• appropriate use of, and attribution for, a range of materials including text, images, formulae and concepts.

Individual assistance is available on request from The Learning Centre.

Students are also reminded that careful time management is an important part of study and one of the identified causes of plagiarism is poor time management. Students should allow sufficient time for research, drafting, and the proper referencing of sources in preparing all assessment items.

* Based on that proposed to the University of Newcastle by the St James Ethics Centre. Used with kind permission from the University of Newcastle

† Adapted with kind permission from the University of Melbourne.

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Referencing Work of Others in Assignments

For full details of acceptable referencing methods see Elise or www.lc.unsw.edu.au The following provides a brief guide on principles

General background reading which you have done may be listed in a bibliography. Direct statements paraphrased from other peoples work, ideas views and data taken from others must be referenced in the text. We normally use a style which places the author’s name and the publication date in the text where the reference is made, then the full reference is given in an alphabetical list of references at the back. Other styles including footnotes are permitted in the style of assignment requested in this course.. As well as being an academic issue it is important in risk management to list all sources of data and opinion in a way that enables others to follow it up and find it again. It is part of quality control of risk management and allows risk management activities to be audited.

When making direct quotes from other peoples work in your assignments the quotation must be exactly as originally written and enclosed in quotation marks. The reference to the original quotation should be given either as a footnote with the place in the text marked numerically or as a reference (SURNAME DATE) in the text. References should then be listed at the end of the assignment.

Do not take paragraphs at a time from others work except where it is appropriate to submit as an appendix to the report.

You must not use other people’s work without acknowledgment even where they express your point of view better than you could yourself. This is considered to be plagiarism - effectively stealing intellectual property. Where you quote acknowledge.

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8. Additional Resources and Support Text Books No text Book

Course Manual Course manual supplied

Required Readings

Standards Australia HB205 OHS Risk Management Handbook (can be obtained via library website)

Additional Materials

Copies of class overheads and additional links and exercises posted on webct. Exercises are designed to help your learning

Web ct support www.vista.elearning.unsw.edu.au

Recommended Internet Sites

Sites for each Unit posted on vista. Also www.austlii.unsw.,edu.au (for legal issues) www.hse.gov.uk www.nohsc.gov.au]

www.cdc.gov/niosh

Societies None

Computer Laboratories or Study Spaces

Students in the Schools Programs are able to Use computer and common room facilities in Hut B 11A Contact Stacey Weeks for arrangements for out of hours access . See http://www.safesci.unsw.edu.au/current/compusage.html for computer usage rules and application form

9. Required Equipment, Training and Enabling Skills Equipment Required Access to Internet

Enabling Skills - training which maybe required to complete this course

Students are expected to have completed ELISE and LILT prior to commencing courses in Safety Science. These programs can be found at the UNSW library website.

Students will need to use the Sirius Search system for literature in the library. An on line tutorial may be found in the on line training section of the library home page

Students may also find other resources available through UNSW library helpful (see Education and Training at http://info.library.unsw.edu.au/)

Students are encouraged to make use of the UNSW Learning Centre, for guidance with writing assignments, referencing and several other academic skills (www.lc.unsw.edu.au)

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10. Course Evaluation and Development Evaluative feedback is sought regarding this course using UNSW’s Course and Teaching Evaluation and Improvement (CATEI) process. Student feedback is taken seriously, and is used in improving courses in subsequent years. Some lecturers also seek other means of evaluation of their courses. Student involvement in this process is appreciated, and is an essential part of ensuring our courses continue to be improved. The information below conveys how feedback has helped to shape and develop this course.

Mechanisms of Review

Last Review Date

Comments or Changes Resulting from Reviews

Major Course Review

2004

Course has evolved over last few years. Significant changes planned for 2007 to incorporate different the types of hazard into one course as in a real workplace they are often difficult to separate

CATEI 2005 Some changes to lecturers following last feedback

Student Focus Group

2004 Focus group held in 2004 generally positive

Other

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11. Administration Matters

Academic Governance

In addition to reading the guidelines provided in this course profile, students should read the School of Risk and Safety Sciences’ Academic Governance document, which is available at the School’s web page www.safesci.unsw.edu.au. This document contains information regarding School assessment policy, late penalties, appeals and grievances, and staff expectations of students, and what students can expect from staff. .

Assignment Submissions Weekly exercises may be submitted by one of the following means

o Posting hardcopy to the assignments coordinator School of safety science UNSW Sydney 2052

o Electronically through the assignment drop box on vista web page

o Attached to an email in vista

Do not email the coordinator directly and do not submit multiple copies The coversheet for assignments can be found on the School website, on vista and on the cd of notes and must be attached to all assignments (www.safesci.unsw.edu.au and LINK)

Occupational Health and Safety

Information on OHS is available on the Schools Website, as well as in the Academic Governance document

Examination Procedures Examination for this course is a supervised open book exam either conducted at UNSW or supervised by a responsible person nominated by the student.

School Contact Faculty Contact University Contact

Grievance Policy

Students should first discuss problems with the course convener. If this is not possible, then the following people are available to help or pursue a complaint.

Problems may also be discussed with the Head of School

Mr Roger Hall

r.r.hall@unsw.edu.au

Tel: 9385 4200

See also Academic governance document and myunsw.edu.au

Dr Noel Whitaker

Associate Dean (Education)

n.whitaker@unsw.edu.au

Tel: 9385 7930

University Counselling Services

Tel: 9385 5418

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Equity and Diversity Those students who have a disability that requires some adjustment in their teaching or learning environment are encouraged to discuss their study needs with the course convener prior to, or at the commencement of, their course, or with the Equity Officer (Disability) in the Equity and Diversity Unit (9385 4734 or www.equity.unsw.edu.au/disabil.html).

Issues to be discussed may include access to materials, signers or note-takers, the provision of services and additional exam and assessment arrangements. Early notification is essential to enable any necessary adjustments to be made. Information on designing courses and course outlines that take into account the needs of students with disabilities can be found at:

www.secretariat.unsw.edu.au/acboardcom/minutes/coe/disabilityguidelines.pdf

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The University Of New South Wales

School of Risk and Safety Sciences

Sydney NSW 2052 AUSTRALIA

Assignment Cover Sheet Please fill in all the details requested on this form, and attach it to your assignment

Office Use Only

Date Received

Student ID Last name First name

Course code Session Year Assignment number Date submitted

Marker Comments

Declaration I declare that this assessment item is my own work, except where acknowledged, and has not been submitted for academic credit elsewhere. I acknowledge that the assessor of this item may, for the purpose of assessing this item:

o reproduce this assessment item and provide a copy to another member of the University; and/or

o communicate a copy of this assessment item to a plagiarism checking service (which may then retain a copy of the assessment on its database for the purpose of future plagiarism checking).

I certify that I have read and understood the University rules in respect of Student Academic Misconduct.

Signed (if submitting electronically, enter your full name and e-mail address in place of signing)

Date

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12 Details of Assessment

Class or Web Exercise 10%

Job Safety Analysis measuring invert levels of sewage manholes

Objectives

The aim of this assignment is to ensure everyone is familiar with the method by which a Job Safety Analysis (JSA) (or Safe Work Methods Statement SWMS) is prepared and can record and formulatre risks correctly The exercise involves identifying risks associated with a task and rating the risks according to their level of risk using a consequence/ likelihood matrix. The results of the exercise will be used to discuss strengths and weaknesses of standard methods of risk identification and rating

Internal students complete this exercise in groups in class in weeks 1 and 2 All group members receive the same mark. Internal students who miss the class may complete the exercise on the web

External students may work together or individually and may make individual or joint submissions via vista.elearning.

The Problem

Contractors are to be employed to measure the invert levels of the sewage manholes (ie to measure the depth.)The holes are in a variety of locations around the city. The depth is measured by placing a piece of wood across the hole and using either a tape or a telescopic stick with depth markings

Using the form available from vista or the cd undertake a Job Safety Analysis. List of risks for each different types of hazard

• For each subtask involved think about the risks remembering physical chemical, biological, psychological and ergonomic hazards

• Include general risks of the environment

• Add risks associated with any special equipment used

Recommend the controls you think are needed

Referring to your job tasks and recommendations columns, list all the equipment including safety equipment required and the training needs particularly any safety training you recommend

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Videos showing how manholes are removed and replaced will be shown in class and are available on the web and on your cd

In week 2 a consolidated list of risks is supplied and you are asked to rate 4 risks using a supplied consequence likelihood matrix. This should be submitted to the vista discussion board so you can see whether ratings are consistent or vary and why.

Assignment 1 30% Objective • To model the risk management process applied to OHS at a management level. Your

assignment should inform a manger about the risks for which they are responsible and demonstrate whether the risks to health and safety are controlled so far as is reasonably practicable.

To undertake this assignment Identify risks to the health and safety of people at a workplace of your choice and provide a report to senior management of health and safety issues, and actions required to improve safety and demonstrate compliance to the requirement that risks are reduced so far as is reasonably practicable.

This is intended as a report from a safety professional to management not from a contractor or tradesman to a supervisor. This is not another JSA Choose an area or activity where there is range of different risks and different types of hazard. (ie a job safety analysis of one task or an assessment of one item of equipment or one hazard type is not acceptable) Your report should be in the format that is suitable for presentation to management It will also provide a record to demonstrate that you have fulfilled OHS regulations for identifying hazards, assessing risk and controlling risks to health and safety according to the hierarchy of controls.

Your report should include the following • An executive summary which overviews what you did and your recommendations in

about 1 page • A brief context statement about the organisation its objectives and what it does (not

more than a page)

• A brief description of the workplace, the activities undertaken and plant used. This should be sufficient to refer to in subsequent years to check whether change has occurred (and for the marker to get an idea about whether your risks are reasonable)

• A statement of the scope of what is included and excluded in your assessment

• demonstration or description of the structured approach that you used to ensure you were comprehensive in your identification

• A comprehensive list of risks and existing controls

• Recommendations for where improvements can be made (or statement of why the current control is as already as good as reasonably practicable) Recommendations may include that further analysis is carried out to determine the best controls

• Discuss and justify priorities in your recommendations

Make the report as concise as you can to include the relevant information- Treat it as a report which informs management of the most pressing needs rather than a university essay assignment. The expectation is that the report will be between 5 and 20 pages so do not set the scope too large or too small.

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Students who do not have a worksite may choose an occupation where they can observe work and use the web and other literature to identify risks

Model Marking Sheet for Assignment 1

Max Mark

Comments mark

Presentation and structure of report

5

Description of workplace context and scope

10

Comprehensive list of risks showing a structured approach to identification

15

recommendations for improved controls or statement of why current controls are as good as reasonably practicable

20

Discussion and justification of priorities for control or further analysis

10

Total 60

Assignment 2 25%

The objective of this assignment is to demonstrate that you can seek information from a range of sources (including the academic literature) and can summarise it in a brief report .

A list of topics is provided below. Other topics of relevance to the student may be submitted with the agreement of the coordinator However make sure you pick a topic for which information from the literature is available

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Model Marking Sheet

Structure and presentation of report –including correct referencing 5

Evidence of research from all appropriate sources 5

Review of risks and control options 10

Total

Task Exercises: (Total 35%) Three Web Tasks will be set on different topics based on the notes. These may range from a critique of material found on the web to use of a particular method to apply to a problem. The topics will be made available 2 weeks before they are due.