A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO RISK ASSESSMENT AT REVOZ CAR PLANT

Transcription

1 A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO RISK ASSESSMENT AT REVOZ CAR PLANT 1. Case metadata Country of origin: Slovenia Year of publication by agency: 2009 Sector: C Manufacture of motor vehicles Keywords: 24401C Case studies 24361C Good practice 08801A Risk analysis and management 19641D Risk assessment 11241C Ergonomics 20641D Worker Participation 2. Organisations involved Revoz d.d. 3. Description of the case 3.1. Introduction The company Revoz was founded in 1989 as a joint stock company of IMV (Industry of Motor Vehicles) and Renault. Since 2004, Renault is the company s sole owner. Revoz is one of Renault's 38 industrial facilities, which can be found in 17 different countries. Up until now, Revoz manufactured eight different models of vehicles. By the end of 2007, the number of vehicles produced equaled 2,512,995. Currently two kinds of vehicles are being produced, Clio II and Twingo II, in three shifts. Revoz employs 3300 people. The plant's daily capacity is 900 vehicles. Work at a car plant involves a number of hazards that can put workers health and safety at risk. Accidents and ill health can ruin workers' lives and affect the business if output is lost or machinery is damaged. Insurance costs increase too. The employer is legally required to assess the risks in the workplace so that he can take action to control the risks. There are many complex methods in use to assess risks but the most effective results are achieved when the method is adjusted to each specific establishment with its special characteristics. In Revoz, health and safety staff developed a very effective method for assessing risks and therefore risk assessment has become a vital part of the constant effort to eliminate and control risks at work. 1

2 3.2. Aims The main aim behind the establishment of an upgraded risk assessment system at Revoz was to improve safety conditions and ergonomics in order to reduce other risks on workplaces and to assure a more effective control process. This main goal was divided into the following subgoals: establishment of an effective communication system; integration of good health and safety management with business decisions; engagement of the workforce in the promotion and achievement of safe and healthy conditions; monitoring, reporting and reviewing performance. Expected positive effects of improved working conditions due to the effective risk assessment process were: undisturbed production; higher productivity; improved quality of performance and process; strengthening of competitiveness What was done, and how? The company has taken a comprehensive approach to assess and manage workplace risks. At the beginning of the implementation of the risk assessment process, the highly complex method used proved to lead to several problems. Only safety and health specialists were able to collect information about the safety situation on workplaces and about the existing risks. The first challenge for the specialists was to find out, how to change the process of risk assessment to assure that all employees could participate in the process. It was necessary to ensure that all steps of the process were clear and easy to understand and complete. The starting point and basis for performing risk assessment is the company policy of safety, ergonomics and conditions at work. Risk assessment itself consists of three phases: (1) current situation analysis, (2) identification of risk reduction measures, and (3) implementation of these measures. Even though all three steps were completed, not all of the implemented measures served successful results. This was the reason for the upgrading of the method with the process of continuous control of the effectiveness of implemented measures. Monitoring the results of interventions became a constant parallel process. Workers are now involved in the whole risk assessment / management process and they also contribute to the monitoring of the results. The basis for defining risk is now the so-called FSSE (a simplified sheet for safety and ergonomics assessment) (see figure 1), which was developed to enable the collecting of information by workers themselves. 2

3 Figure 1. FSSE- a simplified sheet for safety and ergonomics assessment Simplified Sheet: Safety - Ergonomics of the Workstation N Plant: Section: Workstation N Designation of the Workstation: Department/Workshop: Section Manager (Supervisor) - Name: Date: Signature (After ensuring agreement from colleagues) Work Shop Manager - Name: Date: Signature Points which may require special measures: YES Safety NO Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Procedures or Instructions - Fall by persons Falling parts Collisions against fixed or moving obstacle - Cuts, Wounds Crushing, Shearing Dragging by mechanical elements Projection of particles Use of chemical products Considerable presence of smoke, aerosols, dust Burns Contact with live elements Procurement/Unloading of parts and packaging by fork-lift truck--- - Operations carried out by the section:. Changing of tools Maintenance Noise Other If YES, measures implemented: Other proposed improvements DDRH Production Dept.: April

4 Ergonomics - Physical and Cognitive Constraints Last assessment of the workstation (assessment carried out using the Ergonomic Analysis method) Date: Levels obtained: Posture Force Regulation Complexity Postures YES NO -Trunk: - Leaning forward for repeated or prolonged periods, and without support Considerable twisting or leaning to the side Hands: - Maintained or repeatedly above the head Maintained or repeatedly at head height with load > 2 Kg Particularly difficult clipping or fitting operations Remarks - Lower limbs: - Maintained or repetitive position crouching or kneeling down Considerable movements or climbing over obstacles > 300 mm (e.g. inside cabin) Backward movement Loads Frequency of Repetition per hour to to to to >1 to 2 Yellow zone Regulation - Difficulties keeping to cycle time due to: variations in the operating times, complex operations, incidents Complexity Opinion of the operator on the Workstation: Load or Weight (Kg) >2 to 4 >4 to 6 >6 to 9 >9 to 12 Red zone >12 to 15 >15-1 part handled or 1 force applied in Red zone Several parts handled or several forces applied in Yellow zone Difficulty in handling, collecting or positioning parts Difficulty in moving an assist device, trolley, basket, tool, welding tongs, etc Difficulties controlling the operating method due to: - a wide range of parts, or information (references, validations, etc.) which is hard to understand or incorrectly positioned considerable dexterity, difficult access, working unsighted distracting physical environments (noise, lighting, heat, smell, etc.) Ergonomic Summary of the Station Final opinion of the Section manager(s) (supervisor) Station satisfactory Station which may have one or more constraints Improvements or assessment to be carried out Station with high level of constraints Improvements or assessment to be carried out as soon as possible Green Yellow Red Observations and Actions for improvements Source: Revoz 4

5 This simplified sheet is used for the assessment of each workstation in the plant. The information provided from these forms is supported by: medical data, the data from preventive medical examinations for each worker; the analysis of the working environment, and reports on accidents, incidents and hazardous events; assessment of chemical substances which are used in the working environment. The Safety Audit is another step in the risk assessment process, which involves all relevant players, e.g. workers, and is performed when a certain change has been introduced to the working environment. Based on the above information, the assessment is formulated. The risks listed as a result of the assessment are disseminated to the basic working units so that the workers can contribute. The risks are divided into three groups ranging from Insignificant to Unacceptable act immediately! and are dealt with accordingly (see figure 2). 5

6 Figure 2. Risk estimation form RISK ESTIMATION Form Renault-Tovarna Novo mesto Service: Safety at work Author: B. Repše Date: january 9, 2007 Dept., BWU DATE: Nr.: Professions within the BWU: Head of BWU (taking part in estimatio Risk estimation was formulated by: Description of work, tasks: The scope of risk estimation (geographical borders, quantity, activities...): Means of work: Entering data: Nr. of points in estimation: 0 RISK ESTIMATION CORRECTIVE MEASURE INSIGNIFICA NT RISK ACCEPTABLE LEVEL OF RISK (no need to act) UNACCEPTABLE LEVEL OF RISK (long-term action plan) UNACCEPTABLE LEVEL OF RISK (short-term action plan) UNACCEPTABLE LEVEL OF RISK - ACT IMMEDIATELY! RISK 0-1 (0-20 points) 2-3 (21-45 points) 4-6 (46-75 points) 7-8 (76-99 points) 9-10 (100 points or above) RENAULT 2007 Form: F Page: 1/5 Document of ref.: I00004 Record keeping: PERMANENT Source: Revoz 6

7 A very important part of the whole process of risk assessment is the communication about the identified risks and introduced measures. Checks are performed once a week in basic units, once a month in departments and once a year the safety engineer performs an audit to complete and organize the data. The results of risk assessment are also presented to the general manager who has been actively involved in the process of establishing high standards of health and safety from the very beginning and has supported all the actions of the health and safety staff. In addition, an external assessment of safety and health at work is performed once every three years by health and safety specialists from other plants of the Renault group. This is important because of the independent view to the whole situation in the company. The remarks of the external assessment team contribute to improvements in the risk assessment process. Training of workers is a part of measures which is implemented continually in order to improve their knowledge and behaviour. Workers attend a series of workshops and twice a year they select ten cases of their own unsafe behaviour, which they want to improve. An observer makes daily checks on them for four or five months to evaluate their progress. If they make satisfactory progress, they are entitled to practical rewards. The motto of the workshops is I observe I progress which becomes an active project and allows operators themselves to improve the safety in their sector. If they observe any anomalities, they can suggest certain activities to eliminate them and thus improve the security at work What was achieved? The development of a company-adjusted risk assessment method brought many benefits to the company. The most important achievement is that all workers are actively involved in the whole process of risk assessment, implementation of safety measures and monitoring of the results and effectiveness of all measures. The other achievements are: The process of assessing risks is continuous and controlled. Regular internal checks of successful risk elimination are performed. Every three years an external risk assessment is performed to verify the achievements by an independent organisation. The workers are motivated to conduct safe behaviour by special animation actions launched at workshops. Among 186 identified risks, only 11 are controlled with deficiencies and 8 risks still remain uncontrolled Success factors Since 2000, when risk assessment was first introduced, the number of accidents causing shutdowns has fallen by 60% and the number of days of sick leave caused by accidents at work has decreased up to 74%. The year 2007 was an exception. In this year, the number of accidents rose due to the increased number of operators in training because the commencement of a full night shift. Already in the next year, the number of accidents fell again on the level of the year Further information Mr Ivan Kecojevič Revoz d.d. Belokranjska cesta Novo mesto 7

8 Slovenia Tel: Fax: ivan.kecojevic@renault.com Web: Transferability The described approach of risk assessment has been implemented in other Renault facilities as well. It is also applicable to other motor vehicle manufacturers and other plants. The ideas of how to motivate workers to actively search for the safety solutions are useful to all companies. 4. References, resources: Information provided by the company in the framework of the Good Practice Award Competition 2008/