Pharma Plant Serious Accident Investigation Case Study – HSA
Pharma Plant Serious Accident Investigation Case Study – HSA
ORIGINATING EVENT:
A large multinational pharmaceutical company (name confidential) had a serious accident. An employee fell through a false ceiling and suffered a very serious injury. The site had a HSA visit (HSA = Health and Safety Authority) and action was pending.
PROBLEM STATEMENT:
The plant management had been formally warned by the HSA of possible court action and prosecution. In addition, the international management of the multi-national had warned the local Irish management of very serious commercial consequences for the site if the company was prosecuted OR if there was a repeat of such serious accidents. There was also a lot of pressure on the local management and the local General Manager personally.
.
CHRIS MEE GROUP ENGAGED BY THE CLIENT:
The company asked the Chris Mee Group to assist them in resolving the problem. The brief was two-fold.
1. to make every effort to keep the prosecution from happening and
2. to set up a safety management system that would reduce the likelihood of a recurrence of such a serious accident.
THE SOLUTION FROM CHRIS MEE GROUP:
Our consultants firstly advised the management of the Pharmaceutical plant on how best to minimise the risk of being prosecuted. By engaging in a pro-active way with the HSA and with help from our consultants the company was successful in keeping out of a prosecution situation.
We then assisted and advised the client on setting up a robust safety management system. A detailed gap analysis of the existing systems was carried out. This included numerous site visits, documentation reviews, interviews of key managers and staff, etc. Once the gap analysis was carried out, our consultants produced an improvement plan. This plan indicated the hazards identified and the controls that had to be implemented.
This implementation phase took place over a lengthy period and was designed to minimise the risk of accidents and also to demonstrate that the client now had the sufficient controls in place. We then supported the client in quickly implementing the plan in a pragmatic and commercially viable way. At the same time we represented the client in dealing with the HSA, the client’s Insurance companies and in preparing the client for potential civil claims.
The Benefits that this client gained from Working with Chris Mee Group
.
We worked closely with the HSA to assure them of the fact that the company was seriously committed to setting up a robust and substantially improved safety system.- The personal commitment by the GM to improving the safety management system helped in convincing the HSA that there was no gain in issuing court proceedings against the Client
- The plant remained in operation
- The local General Manager and local management did not suffer any sanction from the multinational management after our project was complete.
- The client received substantial financial savings by way of reduced insurance premiums, reduced losses because of less damaged equipment, less damaged raw material and less damaged product.
- The commercials in the organisation actually improved after implementing the safety management system with the assistance of our consultants.
- There was a multi-million investment announced for the plant within 3 years.
.
Safety Management System Services Provided By Chris Mee Group
- gap analysis on current safety management system
- internal auditor training and mentoring
- implementation of an effective hazard identification / risk assessment programme
- developing of appropriate risk controls
- developing business specific objectives, targets and management programmes
- providing training on complete systems implementation or on individual sections of a specific safety management standard.
- developing internal and external inspection / audit schedules to ensure continuing progress and improvement.
- conduct routine or random audits on your behalf
- supporting you from start to finish to achieve accreditation to the BS OHSAS 18001:2007 standard
To enquire please email Darren O’Keeffe on [email protected]. or for more information on our services please visit CMSE Consultancy or CMSE Training or CMSE Recruitment
