Post 10 of the "My Health TODAY! on Mondays" series: How Will The New Workplace Safety Laws Affect Me and My Business Operations?Risk Assessment or, what should be a more correct approach, Risk Management.
Risk management is the ongoing pro-active management of risk in the workplace. The important thing to note here is the term "pro-active". Risk management is not about waiting for an incident to occur. It is about taking action in advance of any potential incident happening.
Risk assessment is just one aspect of risk management. Risk assessment is about the identification of hazards and the risks they present in a variety of situations and taking action to eliminate or minimise that risk to an acceptable level.
Risk management goes well-and-truly beyond assessment. According to the Standard AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009, it is the systematic application of management policies, procedures and practices to the activities of communicating, consulting, establishing the context, and identifying, analysing, evaluating, treating, monitoring and reviewing risk.
It also covers the complete processes and systems of work and the leadership applied to the overall health and safety of all concerned in regards to the operations conducted by an organisation and as required under the Act, the Regulations, Codes of Practice etc..
However, in this post we will just focus on Risk Assessment.
It is a requirement that all hazards in a workplace be identified and acted on. As already stressed, this applies to all workers and BCBUs.
Step 1 is to identify hazards. A hazard is something that has the potential to cause harm or damage. There are various classes of hazard types. These include:
? Physical: Walls, floors, stairs, light, air quality, heat/cold, ventilation, amenities etc.;
? Mechanical: Plant, equipment, electrical, lifts, manual handling;
? Ergonomic: Workstations, sitting, standing, light quality, computer equipment etc.;
? Biological: Cleanliness, vermin, insects, disease, pathogens, needle-stick, body fluids etc.;
? Chemical: Gases, vapours, dusts, cleaning chemicals, acids, petro-chemical products etc.;
? Psychosocial: Stress, bullying, harassment, abusive language, exclusion from activities etc.;
? Fatigue: Mental, physical, emotional, work schedules, excessive work hours etc..
Step 2 is to assess the level of risk. Risk is based on the likely outcome in a given situation based on the likelihood of the outcome occurring.
So how do you assess a hazard? This is an example of the questions that could be asked to assess a hazard. Will the impact be:
? Insignificant: minor injury requiring first aid treatment, negligible financial loss etc.;
? Minor: Injury requiring medical treatment, notable financial loss, minor environmental damage etc.;
? Moderate: Series or permanent injury, significant production, reputation and financial loss or environmental damage etc.;
? Major: Individual loss of life, major financial, reputation and production loss or environmental damage etc.;
? Catastrophic: Multiple fatalities. Excessive financial, reputation and production loss or environmental damage etc..
What is the likelihood of that event happening:
? Very low: Is potentially possible but no known history;
? Unlikely: Unlikely but it has been known to occur;
? Possible: Might occur at some stage;
? Likely: Greater than 50/50 chance it will occur;
? Definitely: Almost certain to happen at any time.
Of course, a catastrophic impact with a definite occurrence leads to a far higher rating than an insignificant impact and very low to occur rating.
The third step is to take action. You can do this by:
? Elimination: Removing the risk altogether;
? Supplement or change: Equipment, safer chemicals, systems/methods of work, workstations etc.;
? Isolate: Fencing, locks and tags, barriers, screens, storage rooms etc.;
? Engineering/ design for safety: Sound hoods, guards, extractors, buildings etc.;
? Administration: Policies, procedures, training, supervision, signage, work schedules etc.;
? Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Masks, goggles, hearing, clothing, gloves, shields etc..
The higher the rating the greater the urgency and, generally, the greater the action needed to eliminate or reduce the risk. Elimination is the highest form of protection and PPE the lowest.
But a single hazard may require the application of one, several or all of the steps. For example you may need to isolate a situation, put up signage, provide training, develop procedures and use PPE just to reduce the risk down to an acceptable level.
Of course you would be advised to attend training on risk management so as to gather a more in-depth understanding. But for starters, this gives you something to go on with.
Good health and keep safe out there.
Colin Emerson
TODAY! Seminars
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Source: http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=175053
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