Processes operated in workplaces include manufacturing processes, treatment processes, the conversion of raw materials to finished products, the use of machinery and plant, operation of display screen equipment, processes involving the use of hazardous substances and the use of internal transport equipment, such as lift trucks.
A safe workplace involves consideration of design, layout and structural features, such as floors and windows, structural stability, control of environmental factors, such as lighting, fire protection arrangements and measures for ensuring safe means of escape in the event of fire. Work equipment includes machinery, plant, mobile equipment, such as lift trucks, and hand tools. Maintenance of this equipment is an essential requirement for ensuring safe working, together with information, instruction, training and supervision in the correct operation and use of equipment.
Consideration must be given to the health and safety requirements for a wide range of substances, such as acids, alkalis, flammable substances, poisons, carcinogenic substances and mutagenic substances, in terms of handling, storage and disposal of waste products. Access to and egress from the workplace and specific parts of the workplace, such as those at heights above floor and ground level, or confined spaces, must be safe.
Access must also be considered in the case of approach roads and the segregation of pedestrians from vehicular traffic leading to and around a workplace.
More specific access, in terms of the use of ladders by people working at heights, must be safe. There is an urgent need to ensure that people are competent for the tasks they are required to perform, such as the operation of machinery and plant, mobile access equipment and the use of hazardous substances.
Systems for the provision of information, instruction and training should feature in the health and safety management system, with particular reference to induction training, on-the-job training and refresher training. In certain cases, the employees of contractors may need information and training in the hazards and precautions necessary whilst working on site prior to commencing contract work. Supervision should extend through senior management to line management.
Supervision requirements, including those for ensuring appropriate levels of health and safety performance by employees and others, should be incorporated in job descriptions. Procedures in the event of unsafe behaviour should be written down, including the taking of disciplinary action against offenders.
Others may have a total disregard for safety procedures. Some people, such as young persons, have a greater potential for accidents, as a result of their immaturity and lack of knowledge and experience of workplace hazards. These strategies include: l The provision and use of personal protective equipment.
There is a duty on employers, in certain cases, to provide various forms of personal protective equipment PPE under the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations. Employees are required to use and wear PPE in defined work situations. PPE must be carefully selected and appropriate to the risks it is designed to provide protection against see Chapter 9. Certain groups of employees, such as young persons, older workers, pregnant workers, disabled workers, those exposed to specific hazards, such as radiation workers and those involved with lead processes, are more vulnerable to accidents and occupational ill health.
In certain cases, there may be a need for medical or health surveillance of these groups. Personal hygiene is very much a matter of individual training and upbringing. However, certain processes and operations may expose workers to health risks, such as those resulting in occupational dermatitis or metal poisoning through contamination of the hands and other parts of the body.
Hand- to-mouth contamination arising from consumption of food contaminated by dirty hands, or the use of contaminated drinking vessels, is a serious risk in some workplaces. There may be a need, therefore, to ban all forms of eating and drinking in workplaces, restricting food and drink consumption to a canteen or dining area.
Good standards of personal hygiene should be promoted through induction and refresher training, the use of safety propaganda, such as safety posters, and high levels of supervision where hazardous substances are used. This should be supported by the provision and maintenance of adequate welfare facilities, namely washing and showering facilities, separate clothing storage for work clothing and personal clothing not worn at work, and frequent replacement of contamin- ated overalls and other forms of work clothing.
Some people are more careful than others. However, there is a need to promote a general caution towards danger and the use of safe systems of work. Horseplay and unsafe behaviour is a contributory factor in many accidents. This may include the removal of machinery guards, failure to use PPE, use of lift trucks by unauthorized persons, such as the employees of contractors, smoking in no-smoking areas, and abuse of equipment, compressed gases and flammable substances.
Employees should be regularly reminded of their duties under the HSWA with respect to safe working, and this should be supported by disciplinary action wherever unsafe conduct is identified.
Post-accident strategies While the emphasis must always be on the prevention of accidents, employers should have a number of systems in place in the event of accidents of varying severity. Feedback from the investigation of accidents is an essential feature of the safety management system. This is how organizations learn by their mistakes, incorporating the recommendations arising from investigation into future pre-accident strategies. The correct use and interpretation of accident statistics are vital here, bearing in mind that, while this form of information may identify trends in accident experience, it is not a true measure of safety performance.
Employers have a duty under the MHSWR to install procedures for serious and imminent danger and for danger areas.
Safety monitoring may take the form of: l Safety inspections. A safety inspection is generally taken to mean a scheduled inspection of a workplace or part of a workplace by a health and safety specialist, a group of safety representatives or a designated manager.
A safety inspection has a number of objectives, such as: — to identify hazards; — to examine compliance with safe systems of work, the use of personal protect- ive equipment, safe use of substances, etc; — to examine the workplace as part of an accident investigation; — to examine maintenance and housekeeping standards; — in the case of trade union safety representatives, to ensure their members are adequately protected against risks to their health and safety.
Safety audits place great strength on the examination of management systems for safety, commencing with the statement of health and safety policy and reviewing procedures for risk assessment, the training and appointment of competent persons, documentation arrangements, eg for permit-to-work systems, planned preventive maintenance procedures, environmental monitoring, accident and incident reporting procedures and methods for ensuring legal compliance.
As with safety inspections, there is no standard format for a safety audit, but many organizations have developed there own in-house format, which is used to measure management performance. A safety survey can comprise: — a detailed examination of a number of critical areas of operation; or — an in-depth study of the whole health and safety operations of a workplace.
The outcome of a safety survey is a safety survey report outlining short-term, medium-term and long-term recommendations for health and safety improve- ment over, for example, a five-year period. The person undertaking the safety survey generally revisits at specified intervals to assess progress in implementa- tion of the recommendations and prepares a progress report for the attention of local management.
Safety tours take the form of an unscheduled examination of a workplace by a group of people, such as a safety committee, with the objective of ensuring, for example, previous committee recommendations for safe working are in place, to hear the views of employees on health and safety, to check current arrangements with respect to fire protection, machinery safety, etc are being maintained and to examine housekeeping levels.
The purpose of a safety tour should be specified and, to be effective, recom- mendations made by tour members should be implemented quickly. Safety tours also help to raise interest in the subject among employees if they can see their observations are being noted and acted upon by management. Safety sampling is a technique designed to measure, by random sampling, the accident potential in specific parts of a workplace, or premises of a similar nature, such as offices, shops, workshops and kitchens, by identifying specific safety defects or omissions.
Many multi-site organizations use safety sampling exercises as a means of comparing safety performance across their various locations, with a view to rewarding good or improved performance by managers and taking remedial action in the event of poor performance. Safety specialists check individual location performance against these performance indicators during an inspection of each workplace, awarding scores appropriately see Figure 2.
Safety sampling exercises commonly form the basis for a safety award scheme directed at raising the profile of health and safety within an organization.
Housekeeping Max 20 2. Fire protection Max 20 3. Machinery safety Max 20 4. Electrical safety Max 15 5. Internal storage arrangements Max 10 6. Use of hazardous substances Max 10 7. Manual handling operations Max 10 8. Personal protection Max 10 9. Welfare amenities Max 10 Lift truck operations Max 15 Lighting Max 10 Access and egress Max 10 Dust and fume control Max 10 Hand tools Max 10 The extent of the risk will depend upon: l the likelihood of that harm occurring; l the potential severity of that harm, ie of any resultant injury or adverse health effects; and l the population which might be affected by the hazard, ie the number of people who might be exposed ACOP to the MHSWR.
Hazard identification The identification of hazards is the starting point of the health and safety management process. It can take place in a number of ways: l Routine observation. This is the process of observing working practices, such as manual handling operations, fork-lift truck movements, the correct use of hazardous substances and contractors working on a roof. One of the principal functions of a safety inspection is to identify hazards. Other forms of safety monitoring, such as audits, surveys and sampling exercises will, in turn, identify hazards.
Investigation of an accident will, in many cases, identify hazards that actually contributed to the accident and other hazards which could be the cause of further accidents. There should be a formal procedure for this reporting process, including certification by the safety adviser when a hazard has been eliminated or controlled.
Risk assessment Once hazards have been identified, the risks arising from these hazards should be assessed. Regulation 3 of the MHSWR requires all employers and self-employed people to assess the risks to workers and any others who may be affected by their work or business.
This will enable them to identify the measures they need to take to comply with health and safety law. Note: In order to undertake risk assessment satisfactorily, it is essential that persons undertaking risk assessments are fully familiar with the relevant statutory provisions, such as the Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations WHSWR , which apply in the circumstances.
All employers should carry out a systematic general examination of the effects of their undertaking, their work activities and the condition of the premises. Those who employ five or more employees should record the significant findings of the risk assessment. A risk assessment is carried out to identify the risks to health and safety to any person arising out of, or in connection with work, or the conduct of their undertaking.
This information is needed to make decisions on how to manage those risks so that the decisions are made in an informed, rational and structured manner, and the action taken is proportionate.
A risk assessment should usually involve identifying the hazards present in any working environment or arising out of commercial activities and work activities, and evaluating the extent of the risks involved, taking into account existing precautions and their effectiveness. Once the measures have been determined in this way, the duty to put them into effect will be defined in the statutory provisions.
A risk assessment carried out by a self-employed person in circumstances where he or she does not employ others does not have to take into account duties arising under Part II of the Fire Regulations. A suitable and sufficient risk assessment should be made. In practice it means the risk assessment should do the following: a The risk assessment should identify the risks arising from or in connection with work.
The level of detail in a risk assessment should be proportionate to the risk. Once the risks are assessed and taken into account, insignificant risks can usually be ignored, as can risks arising from routine activities associated with life in general, unless the work activity compounds or significantly alters those risks. The level of risk arising from the work activity should determine the degree of sophistication of the risk assessment.
The principal elements of this leaflet are outlined in the box. Hazard means anything that can cause harm eg chemicals, electricity, working from ladders, etc.
Look only for hazards which you could reasonably expect to result in significant harm under the conditions in your workplace. Pay particular attention to: — staff with disabilities; — visitors; — inexperienced workers; — lone workers.
They may be more vulnerable. Risk is the chance, high or low, that somebody will be harmed by the hazard. For the hazards listed, do the precautions already taken: — meet the standard set by a legal requirement? Have you provided: — adequate information, instruction or training?
If so, then the risks are adequately controlled, but you need to indicate the precautions you have in place. You may refer to procedures, company rules, etc. Set a date for review of the assessment. On review check that the precautions for each hazard still adequately control the risk. Note the outcome. If necessary, complete a new page for your risk assessment.
Making changes in your workplace, eg when bringing in new: — machines, — substances, — procedures, may introduce significant new hazards. Look for them and follow the five steps. List risks which are not adequately controlled and the action needed.
Figure 2. What is a safe system of work? A safe system of work can be defined as: l the integration of men, machinery and materials in a correct environment to provide the safest possible working conditions in a work area; l the integration of personnel, articles and substances in a suitable environment and workplace to produce and maintain an acceptable standard of safety; due consideration must also be given to foreseeable emergencies and the provision of adequate rescue facilities.
Information, instruction and training must be provided in these aspects of safe systems. Where there may be a high degree of foreseeable risk, it may be necessary to operate a permit-to-work system. Fundamentally, safe systems of work incorporate five basic elements: 1.
The workplace. Workplaces should be safe in terms of, for example, structural safety, fire protection arrangements, access and egress, layout and arrangement of working areas. Work equipment. Many forms of work equipment are used in workplaces — machinery, mobile work equipment and hand tools.
Work equipment should be appropriate for the task, with sound design and safety specification. People may need to be informed and trained in the correct use of work equipment. People at work. The design of safe systems of work needs to consider the need for safe behaviour, the potential for human error, sound knowledge and skills, willingness to conform on the part of employees, job experience and the training needs of employees.
Materials must be safe, must not create risks to health during processing and should meet recommended quality assurance standards, which may incorporate safety specifications. Waste products should be safe for disposal.
Environmental factors. The control of the working environment, in terms of temperature, lighting, ventilation, noise control and the prevention of airborne pollution, is an essential feature of safe systems of work. Permit-to-work systems A permit-to-work system is a form of safe system of work operated where there may be a high degree of foreseeable risk. It incorporates a series of defined stages, each of which must be successfully completed before the next stage can commence, and is dependent on a high level of supervision at all stages of the operation.
The decision to operate a permit-to-work system may be one of the outcomes of a work activity risk assessment. The fundamental stages of the operation of a permit-to-work system are: l Assessment.
The principal objective is to determine the steps to be taken to make the operation safe and the precautions necessary at each stage of the work. Much will depend upon the nature of the work to be carried out, but this stage entails the withdrawal of any plant, or area of the workplace, from service and entry by unauthorized personnel.
This may entail the use of physical barriers, displaying specific notices and the use of personnel to prevent people entering a particular area where, for instance, fumigation is to be undertaken. A declaration that the plant or area has been withdrawn from service should be made on the permit-to-work document. Plant and machinery may need to be mechanically and electrically isolated. Where a complicated isolation procedure is necessary for plant and machinery, it is common to attach an instruction indicating the stages of isolation to the permit to work.
A declaration that all sources of energy have been isolated should be made on the document. After satisfactory completion of the work, a declaration to this effect should be made on the permit by the senior manager overseeing the operation. The manager responsible for the plant or area should check that the work has been completed satisfactorily and that the permit has been cancelled before accepting same back into service.
He should then sign to that effect on the form. At completion of the exercise, the permit to work should be filed for subsequent review of permits issued over a period, such as six months.
Competent persons are appointed by an employer for certain examination, inspection and testing tasks with respect to work equipment, for undertaking a range of activities where there may be a high degree of foreseeable risk, and for various physical inspection activities involving scaffolds, excavations and lifting operations in construction work.
Fundamentally, a competent person should be appointed by an employer. He should have the appropriate skill, knowledge and experience to, for example, identify defects in equipment, ensure safe working, plan operations involving risk, inspect, examine and test equipment and draw up certain documentation. A well-organized emergency procedure takes account of four stages: 1. Preliminary action. This is, perhaps, the most important part of an emergency procedure and refers to: a the preparation of a plan tailored to meet the specific requirements of the site, products and surroundings; b briefing of employees on details of the plan, including the position of essential equipment; c the training of personnel involved and appointment of competent persons for certain actions; d the implementation of a programme of inspections of potentially hazardous areas, testing of warning systems and specification of evacuation procedures; and e specifying the date at which the plan will be re-examined and updated.
Action when emergency is imminent. When there is evidence that an emergency is imminent, this stage will feature procedures for assembly of key personnel, advance warning to external authorities and testing of systems connected with the emergency scheme. Action during the emergency. Subject to satisfactory implementation of phases 1 and 2, phase 3 should proceed according to plan. There may however, be unexpected variations in a predicted emergency.
Decision-making personnel, selected beforehand for this purpose, will need to make precise and rapid judgements to ensure that appropriate action follows the decisions made. Ending the emergency. There must be a procedure for declaring plant, systems and specific areas safe, together with the reoccupation of premises where possible. Implementing the emergency procedure The following points must be considered in the implementation of an emergency procedure: l liaison with external authorities and other organizations; l the appointment of an emergency controller; l the designation of an emergency control centre; l authority for initiating the emergency procedure; l notification to local authorities; l call-out of competent persons; l the taking of immediate action on site; l evacuation of premises; l access to records; l alternative means of communication; l public relations; l catering and temporary shelter arrangements; l contingency arrangements; and l training of everyone on site in the procedure.
These groups include new and expectant mothers, young persons, and elderly and disabled workers. Special provisions may need to be made for such persons in addition to those providing protection to a workforce generally. Young persons The MHSWR make specific provisions for the protection of young persons based on their lack of experience, or absence of awareness of existing or potential risks, or the fact that such persons have not yet fully matured see Chapter 1.
As with new and expectant mothers, the needs and limitations of young persons must be taken into account in any risk assessment undertaken. Similarly, their capabilities as regards health and safety must be taken into account by an employer when entrusting tasks.
Fundamentally, young persons need a higher degree of supervision than adult employees, and employers must bear this fact in mind when considering work systems and practices. Elderly and disabled workers These groups of workers may be limited in their ability to move swiftly in the event of an emergency and may suffer a range of disabilities which prevent them from undertaking certain tasks, such as manual handling, work at heights and even the operation of machinery.
Their capability for work should be assessed by an occupa- tional physician or occupational health nurse on a regular basis.
The limitations of this group of workers should be taken into account in the risk assessment process. Under these regulations: l The responsible person, ie the employer or a person in control of premises, must notify the relevant enforcing authority, ie by telephone or fax, and subsequently make a report within 10 days on the approved form, ie Form see Figure 2.
The above requirement applies only if: a in the case of an employee, the responsible person has received a written statement prepared by a registered medical practitioner diagnosing the disease as one of those specified in Schedule 3; or b in the case of a self-employed person, that person has been informed by a registered medical practitioner that he is suffering from a disease so specified. This may take the form of a register or, commonly, photocopies of Forms and A.
Dangerous occurrences A dangerous occurrence is an event which has significant potential for death, major injury and, in some cases, an adverse effect on the surrounding community.
Included in this wide list of events or occurrences are major fires, failure of lifting machinery, explosions, accidents and incidents at level crossings, sinking of craft, insecure tips and the loss of stability or buoyancy of an offshore platform.
Dangerous occurrences are classified in Schedule 2 in five groups, namely: 1. Accidents may result in injury, lost time and damage to premises, plant and equipment. Incidents, that is those events which do not result in injury but result in interruption or stoppage of the work process, also need investigation as they could be the forerunners of future accidents.
The purpose of investigation of all these events is to identify their causes, both direct and indirect, not to apportion blame. Most importantly, the investigation of these events produces feedback for incorporation in future safety strategies, the process of an organization learning by its mistakes. Where it is necessary for witnesses to produce statements, such persons should be cautioned in accordance with the procedures under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act. In some cases, it may be appropriate to form an investigating committee to ascertain the causes of the accident.
The above factors should also be considered in the investigation of the causes of occupational diseases and conditions, in particular the need to identify the physical, chemical, biological or work-related agent that caused the disease or condition.
See further Chapter 8. Feedback from accident investigation Feedback from accident investigation is important. Costs can be classified as direct or indirect costs. Such premiums are effected, to some extent, on the previous claims history of the organization. Other direct costs can include fines in the criminal courts for breaches of health and safety law. Indirect costs These costs are commonly disregarded or not even considered by some employers. In addition to the indirect costs outlined above, there are further indirect costs which could conceivably add 25 per cent to the calculated indirect costs of accidents and ill health.
Information and instructions Information and instructions are commonly incorporated in employee handbooks which are issued to employees at the induction training stage.
Written in a straight- forward manner, these handbooks incorporate rules for safe working, procedures for reporting accidents and hazards that may arise in the workplace, instructions on the correct use of personal protective equipment, sickness absence procedures, details of the role of the health and safety adviser and trade union safety representatives, safe manual handling procedures and many other topics relevant to the workplace and working practices.
It is essential that organizations have a formal health and safety training programme directed at all levels of management, including directors, and employees. Induction training All employees should receive induction training. Orientation training Orientation training is required, for example, where people: l change jobs; l are given new responsibilities, eg promotion to supervisor; l are required to operate machinery with which they are unfamiliar; l are required to use hazardous substances for the first time; l are required to operate a specific safe system of work; and l move their job to another part of the workplace.
Functions of safety representatives Safety representatives have certain functions, namely: l to make representations to the employer on matters arising from the investigation of hazards, causes of accidents and ill health, and complaints from his members; l to undertake workplace inspections; l to investigate hazards and the causes of accidents, incidents and ill health involving the members of his trade union; l to receive information from inspectors; l to represent his members in consultation with inspectors; and l to attend meetings of a safety committee.
Safety committees Where requested in writing by at least two safety representatives, an employer must form a safety committee. Health and Safety Consultation with Employees Regulations These regulations brought into operation changes in the law with respect to consulta- tion on health and safety in workplaces where there is no trade union involvement.
Under these regulations employers must consult with employees who are not covered by the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations. This may be by direct consultation with employees or through representatives of employee safety ROES. HSE guidance accompanying the regulations details: l which employees must be involved; l the information they must be provided with; l procedures for the election of ROES; l the training, time off and facilities they must be provided with; and l their function in office.
Much will depend upon the method of communication. The working environment covers a broad range of issues, including the design of the workplace, structural aspects, control over environmental stressors, such as extremes of temperature, poor lighting and inadequate ventilation, the maintenance of a range of welfare amenity provisions, such as sanitation and washing facilities, and the prevention of overcrowding.
This chapter examines the various aspects of the working environment, in particular duties under the WHSWR and the ACOP to the regulations, and the management systems necessary to ensure a safe and healthy working environment. Regulation 2 — interpretation: l Disabled person has the meaning given by section 1 of the Disability Discrimina- tion Act Under the WHSWR, employers must: l ensure that where a workplace is in a building, the building has a stability and solidity appropriate to the nature of the use of the workplace; l ensure that the workplace and the equipment, devices and systems to which this regulation applies are maintained including cleaned as appropriate in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair; l ensure the equipment, devices and systems are subject to a suitable system of maintenance; Note: The equipment, devices and systems to which this regulation applies are: a equipment and devices a fault in which is liable to result in a failure to comply with any of these regulations; b mechanical ventilation systems provided pursuant to Regulation 6; and c equipment and devices intended to prevent or reduce hazards.
Health and Safety Safety Signs and Signals Regulations These regulations apply to all workplaces, including offshore installations, and work activities where people are employed, but exclude signs and labels used in connection with the supply of substances, products and equipment or the transport of dangerous substances.
The regulations cover the various means of communicating health and safety information, including the use of illuminated signs, hand and acoustic signals, for example fire alarms, spoken communication and the marking of pipework containing dangerous substances.
These requirements are in addition to traditional signboards, such as prohibition and warning signs, and include fire safety signs. Principal requirements l Safety signs must be provided where the risk assessment made under the MHSWR indicates that the risk cannot be avoided or adequately controlled in other ways.
Where a safety sign would not help to reduce that risk, or where the risk is not significant, a sign is not required. The same symbols or pictograms need to be shown as those commonly seen on containers of dangerous substances, but using the triangular-shaped warning sign. This is because the majority of sites on which 25 tonnes or more of dangerous substances are stored can be expected to be marked in accordance with the Dangerous Substances Notification and Marking of Sites Regulations These have similar marking requirements for storage of most dangerous substances.
Stores need not be marked if they hold very small quantities and the labels on containers can be seen clearly from outside the store. In some cases, the management systems outlined below may well feature as part of the preventive and protective measures arising from a work- place risk assessment.
Workplace safety inspections In many organizations, managers are expected to inspect their working areas on a daily basis with a view to taking instant remedial action where necessary. The principal objective of a safety inspection is the identification of hazards and subsequent specification of measures to eliminate or control same. However, a safety inspection may also identify areas of good safety practice and compliance with safe systems of work, and examine maintenance standards, working practices and environmental conditions, along with compliance or otherwise with legal requirements.
To ensure this process works effectively, employees should be regularly reminded of their duties in this respect. The report should also incorporate the following information see Figure 3. Report to be completed by the person identifying a hazard Date Time Location Reported to: Verbal Written Description of hazard including location, plant machinery, etc Signature Position 2.
Completion The remedial action described above is complete Actual cost Date Signatures Persons completing work Departmental manager 5. Safety Advisor Check I have checked completion of the above and confirm the hazard has been eliminated or controlled Signature Safety advisor Date Priority ratings 1 — Immediate 2 — 48 hours 3 — 1 week 4 — 1 month 5 — 3 months Figure 3.
Address teamwork in performance standards. Discuss with your team: What do we really care about in performing our job? What does the word success mean to this team? What actions can we take to live up to our stated values? Make sure that you have a clear idea of what you need to accomplish ; that you know what your standards for success are going to be; that you have established clear time frames; and that team members understand their responsibilities.
Use consensus. Set objectives, solve problems, and plan for action. While it takes much longer to establish consensus, this method ultimately provides better decisions and greater productivity because it secures every employee's commitment to all phases of the work.
Set ground rules for the team. These are the norms that you and the team establish to ensure efficiency and success. They can be simple directives Team members are to be punctual for meetings or general guidelines Every team member has the right to offer ideas and suggestions , but you should make sure that the team creates these ground rules by consensus and commits to them, both as a group and as individuals.
Establish a method for arriving at a consensus. You may want to conduct open debate about the pros and cons of proposals, or establish research committees to investigate issues and deliver reports.
Encourage listening and brainstorming. As supervisor, your first priority in creating consensus is to stimulate debate. The topic sheets are formatted in such a way that a supervisor can also use them to track participation. Bookmark this page and return here often as we continue to add new OSHA toolbox talks each month. Check back frequently for new safety meeting topics.
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