Posted By Dexter Hi there! I'm working as EHS Officer in a newly opened company and i just want to know if it's my responsibility to request, outsource (thru email, telephone & walk-in), purchase, distribute, and make an order again for replenishment. Needs some advise..... Many thanks...

Posted By MT If you're asking if it is set out in a Regulation somewhere that the competent person for health and safety within an organisation must carry out those tasks, then no. I think you need to approach your line manager and ask whose responsibility those tasks are within the company, and then ensure that all employees are aware of who is responsible for ensuring that they have all the PPE required for their particular role.

Posted By Chris Packham Given the need to ensure that the right PPE is provided and used correctly it will almost certainly be your responsibility to determine which PPE for which task and to identify the relevant supplier, product specification/catalogue number, etc. Keep in mind that incorrectly specified PPE or the correct PPE used incorrectly can actually increase the risk of damage to health. Whether you actually issue the order will depend upon your company's internal systems, e.g. who is generally responsible for purchasing, who holds the budget for this type of product etc. Chris

Posted By Dexter MT, thanks for the reply. Actually, I already approached not just the line manager, plant manager, but even the Technical Affairs Gen. Mgr. and they just nod their heads and to tell the story short they are giving to me all the responsibilities inwhich I know that it's not anymore under my authority. The main reason I saw in these kind of situation is that they don't know about Environment Health and Safety. They ignoring the big role of safety and they are focusing only on the production output. Even the management is not backing me up with these matter. I'm directly reporting to our CEO but even him I think is lacking of knowledge about EHS eventhough I already inform him the importance and also gave him all the notes, plans, manuals, information, ideas and other stuff that will help and put a system for the growth of the company. It's giving me a terrible headache.

Posted By Dexter Bob, to tell you frankly, even the contents of my description is very wrong. Why? before I was hired as an Asst. EHS Officer then less than a week they promoted me as EHS Officer and I ask the Job Description for the said position you know what our Admin. & Finance said to me "can you make your own because I don't know anything baout EHS". Crazy.....but true... So now I gave them a copy from the EHS under Ports, Customs and Freezone Corporation under Dubai Regulations and also a copy of EHS duties & responsibilities from Phil. Gov't. for him to go through. But then again, nothing happens, they dlegate all other works to me in which not part anymore of EHS... Can I do anything about it?

Posted By Dexter Julian, thanks again for the reply. The big problem here is I'm appointed as EHS Officer and then they gave to me also another department which is Security Department where i'm the only one knows the system for the SACS (Security Access Control System) and CCTV. I cannot manage all the work at the same time and to think that they are focusing mainly on the security side and ignoring the Health & Safety in which really my job. Hardest thing here is that I make a Safety Manual putting up system but nobody's cooperating. i'm a one man team here handling two different departments. One more thing to spice up..... they duly appointed a man as my Asst. EHS Officer..... you know what his qualification... nothing at all... but a high jump for him (office boy to Asst. EHS Officer) imagine.!!! hehehe.....sorry for the words.....need help here... I already make a request but the answer is they cannot afford...funny though.

Posted By Chris Packham Dexter To some extent I think I can understand why your organisation is acting as it is. The selection of the appropriate PPE can be tricky. Perhaps they feel that the person best suited to evaluate the quality and performance of different PPE from different suppliers is the person who first specified what type of PPE should be used, i.e. you. I have encountered situations, for example with gloves for protection against chemicals, where, as the company's advisor I have specified a specific glove from a particular manufacturer, only to find that purchasing has ordered an "equivalent" from a different manufacturer. In practice the "equivalent" glove had different performance characteristics and although to the untrained person might have appeared suitable, was not actually providing the protection needed. So as the health and safety advisor in any company, I think I would want to be involved in the identification and selection of the most suitable PPE, even if ultimately was not the person who actually issued the order. Chris

Posted By Dexter Wayne, Thanks for the concern, i admit that I'm new in this career but I'm very eager to learn and adopt. Before i decided to put myself into this, i consulted all of my friends that also on the same career as H&S advisors, officers, inspector, and manager. I'm involving myself now to join organizations, societies, seminars, and trainings. The problem i'm facing right now is that i'm lacking support from the management maybe due to financial problems we're facing. I'm establishing things, suggesting, studying, etc.

Posted By Dexter Thanks for all the suggestions and advise guys. This will help me and push through my objectives. Highly regrads, Dex™

Posted By Dexter I've just sent an email. Thanks! Regards, Dex™