OSH law mandates that employers take steps to ensure that their employees’ working environments are as risk-free as feasible. The four-step Hazard Management approach is an effective tool for accomplishing this.
Step 1: Identify the hazard.
A hazard is something with the potential to harm the health and safety of people at work. Hazards can be identified in several ways, for example:
- a review of illness and injuries occurring in the workplace identifies a problem
- a workplace inspection or safety audit identifies a problem
- someone at the workplace reports a hazard.
It may be difficult to identify a hazard for various reasons. Workers with little or no safety training could overlook a potential threat because they’ve become accustomed to it and see it as an expected part of the job. It is also possible that the harm caused by a hazard may not be obvious because it occurs over a long period.
Hazard Inspection Checklist for Training workshop
Contact Information | |
OSH coordinator | |
Date of Inspection | |
People Responsible for inspection | |
Checked by: Manager |
Floors | |
Even surface – no holes | |
Loose boards nailed down | |
Dropped objects picked up | |
Dust, dint etc. swept up | |
Stock material out of the way | |
Special attention to areas around machines | |
Floor openings are covered when not in use, where required. |
Machines | |
Adequate work space | |
Provision to store waste materials | |
Adequately guarded | |
Starting and stopping devices within reach of the operator | |
Interlocks functioning correctly | |
Clean | |
Noise level satisfactory | |
Lighting satisfactory |
Fire | |
Extinguishers in place, recently serviced and clearly marked for type of fire | |
Adequate direction notices for fire exits | |
Exit doors easily opened from onside | |
Exit clear of obstructions | |
Fire alarm system is functioning correctly | |
Fire instructions are available and displayed | |
Ladders/staircases are clear |
Windows | |
Safety or reinforced glass where appropriate | |
Clean, admitting plenty of daylight | |
No broken panes | |
Ledge free of dust, tins or rubbish |
Ladders and steps | |
Stored in the proper place | |
No broken or missing rungs or other deflects |
Storage | |
Storage designed to minimize lifting problems | |
Materials are stored in racks and bins wherever possible | |
Shelves free of dust and rubbish |
Electrical | |
No broken plugs, sockets or switches | |
No frayed or deflective leads | |
Portable power tools in good condition | |
No temporary leads on floors | |
Isolating transformers | |
No strained leads |
Staff amenities | |
Washrooms clean | |
Toilets clean; Lockers clean | |
Newspapers, lunch papers etc. in rubbish tins | |
Meal rooms clean and tidy |
First aid | |
Cabinets and contents clean and orderly | |
No replacement materials needed | |
Stretchers in position | |
Emergency numbers displayed |
Rubbish | |
Bins located at suitable points around the plant | |
Bins emptied regularly | |
Oily rags and combustible refuse in covered metal containers |
Step 2: Assess the hazard
A risk assessment should be carried out after a hazard has been recognized. An injury or sickness can occur in a risky setting if the possibility of it happening is high.
You can use a risk rating to determine which dangers should be addressed first. Use this tool to find out if your efforts to fix a safety issue were successful.
A simple way of rating a risk from a hazard is to consider two questions:
- how likely is it the hazard could cause an injury or illness? (likelihood)
- how serious would the consequences be if an accident or illness occurred? (consequence).
It’s common for people to do risk assessments without even realizing it. An example of risk assessment is two pedestrians crossing a street.
Step 3: Fix the hazard
Controls must be put in place when a health and safety concern has been recognized.
Controlling hazards can be done in a variety of ways. There are those who are better than the rest.
The following is an example of hazard control:
Traffic signals and crossings have been installed in this case to reduce the risk of pedestrian injury. In order for these measures to be effective, pedestrians and automobiles must follow the rules.
Using a Level 1 control and turning the road into a pedestrian mall would be the most effective approach. Level 2 controls like pedestrian underpasses can be utilized in situations where this isn’t possible.
In this situation, people can avoid the level 2 control by using the underpass instead.
A good example of a level 2 and 3 control working together is putting up a notice to warn oncoming pedestrians of the dangers.
Step 4: Evaluate the results
Hazard control measures aren’t complete unless they’ve been chosen and implemented. It’s critical to double-check the control to make sure it’s working properly and hasn’t caused any new issues.
It is possible to protect an individual’s eyes by wearing safety glasses in a steamy or foggy environment, but the glasses will soon fog up and a new risk is created because the person cannot see.
After some time, the chosen control measure may no longer be as effective or there may be a better method of preventing or controlling the hazard that was previously unavailable.