Interviews

Today has been a very frustrating day relating to the interviews. We thought we were on the right track with the interviews only to be told by the mentors that our question were too wide and too general and that threw us off course. We had go back to the drawing board and redo and compile questions that were specific. This exercise took time and effort.
We are almost done with the policy of our health and safety system. I believe once we have this the plan of action is going to be a simple task.

Marketing the RISKMAQ product

The week started with us returning to Strydom Park to do HIRA that is (Hazard Identification and Risk Assessments). I think that all of us understood the concepts and what needed to be done. Even though it is a small site in comparison to the ones that we have visited before but the non-conformities are all the same. We found that the workers were not wearing hard hats and not wearing safety harnesses when working on heights. Some dangerous sections on site were not barricaded.
Analysing worker's behaviour and their attitudes was the most interesting. It seemed to me that the workers were indifferent about their own safety and their colleagues.
Yesterday we went to an expo relating to safety and if I must say it was interesting. We basically had to market the Riskmaq course.
We had to explain the PDP program and how it is connected to the Riskmaq to the people at the expo.
Most of the people were interested on how you get to part 4 of the Riskmaq where you get your degree with the University if Free State.
IRCA has a lot of work to do in marketing this program.

Working on a construction site

Well, for the past two weeks we have been working for a construction company as labourers and if I must say it is interesting in a way. The experience that one has gained is very helpful in that it gives us the insight of how a labourer thinks and how they do their jobs when their boss is not around. we spent the first week at Melrose Arch and we learnt a lot. We noticed the weakness in some of their safety systems and we where they could be improved. Personally I think Murray and Robert could improve their induction procedure because I do not think it is effective. I think it does not drive the safety point strong enough to be taken seriously by the new workers. Being around a big construction site like Melrose Arch one is not surprised when there is a fatality. the reason why I say this is because of the substandard acts being committed by the workers on site. Even though we do not have a lot of experience in the Health and Safety field but we did notice these substandard acts.
On a personal level I think paving is a hard job to do, not only do you need to be strong but you also need the stamina to keep going.
The people from Earth Civils have been very accommodating and helpful. They even allowed os to interview them for our Riskmaq assignment.
It has not been easy but we are managing.