Hazard Identification and Control Courtesy of the Public Education and Conferences Section Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division (OR-OSHA)

IDENTIFYING HAZARDS It takes a hazard and someone exposed to the hazard to produce an accident. Hazard + Exposure  Accident

What is “Exposure?” How close are you to the "danger zone"? Physical exposure - generally arm’s length Environmental exposure - could be everyone in facility.

They are specific: if you can point to a person or a thing, it's a surface symptom They may exist or be performed by anyone, anytime, anywhere They may directly cause or contribute to an incident or accident They likely represent the outputs of a flawed safety management system They are important clues revealing root causes Conditions and behaviors are just the symptoms

Conditions account for _____ % of all workplace accidents. Behaviors account for _____ % of all workplace accidents. Uncontrollable acts account for ____ % of all workplace accidents Conclusion: Management has some degree of control over 98% of the causes for all accidents in the workplace!

The underlying root causes must be diagnosed and treated! System Design Defects - Missing or inadequate program development One or more inadequate policies, plans, programs, processes, procedures, practices Inadequate resources - money, time, people, materials, etc. Assures inadequate implementation of the safety management system Have the greatest positive or negative impact on the safety management system

System Performance Defects - Failure to accomplish action plans Managers, supervisors, or employees fail to effectively carry out safety policies, plans, processes, procedures or management practices They produce common hazardous conditions and/or unsafe behaviors, or They produce repeated unique hazardous conditions and/or unsafe behaviors

How to develop an effective safety and health checklist. Determine applicable state safety & health rules for the workplace. Review rules and use those you feel apply to your workplace. Develop applicable checklist questions that are not addressed in the rules. Inspections 1 Four Important Processes to Identify and Analyze Hazards

Who's involved in the inspection process? What is a major weakness inherent in the inspection process? What process(es) can we use to overcome this weakness?

Observations, informal and formal, are quite important in daily workplace safety. Employees and managers can spot hazardous conditions and unsafe or inappropriate behaviors while they conduct their other tasks. Observation 2

The Job Hazard Analysis The process... Break a job or task into specific steps. Analyze each step for specific hazardous conditions and unsafe practices. Develop preventive measures in each step to eliminate or reduce the hazards. Integrate preventive measures into training and standard operating procedures (SOP’s). 3

Why is it important to involve the employee in the JHA process?

What is the purpose of the incident/accident analysis?

Inspect to identify potential accidents Struck-by Struck-against Contact-by Contact-with Caught-on Caught-in Caught-between Fall-To-surface Fall-To-below Over-exertion Bodily reaction Over-exposure

Direct Cause of Injury Surface Causes Root Causes Weed out the causes of injuries and accidents

Direct Cause of injury- A harmful transfer of energy that produces injury or illness. Surface Causes of accident - Specific hazardous conditions or unsafe behaviors that result in an accident. Root Causes of the accident - Common behaviors and conditions that ultimately result in an accident.

Probability Unlikely to Certain Severity Other than serious - Serious physical harm - Death - Analyze to Determine Risk

Factors that increase risk The number of employees exposed; The frequency and duration of exposure; The proximity of employees to the point of danger; Potential severity of the injury or illness Factors that require work under stress; Factors that increase severity; Lack of proper training and supervision or improper workplace design; or Other factors which may significantly affect the degree of probability of an accident occurring.

What’s the Bottom Line on Accident costs? Total Claims: 25,662 Average Cost: $11,678 Fatalities Average Cost: $300,000

1. Engineering Controls - design tools, equipment, machinery, materials, facilities Hazard + Exposure  Accident CONTROLLING HAZARDS

2. Management Controls - Attempt to limit exposure to hazards. Hazard + Exposure  Accident

Why are engineering control considered to be superior to work practice or administrative controls?

Control hazards with effective education and training

DOCUMENT TRAINING! Sample training certification for specific tasks Trainee certification Trainer certification Supervisor validation If it isn’t in writing…it didn’t get done…

Personal Protective Equipment What might be some of the drawbacks of reliance solely on PPE to protect workers? Interim measures

Effective Maintenance Processes Two equipment maintenance programs 1. Preventive Maintenance to make sure equipment and machinery runs safely and smoothly. 2. Corrective Maintenance to make sure equipment gets back into safe service quickly. How can we make sure corrective maintenance is completed quickly?

What’s the Bottom Line on Accident costs? Total Claims: 25,662 Average Cost: $11,678 Fatalities Average Cost: $300,000 Total Claims: 25,662 Average Cost: $11,678 Fatalities Average Cost: $300,000

Discussion!