Often during inspections, audits, or accident investigations, we encounter nonexistent, inadequate, or inaccurate hazard assessments.
One of the “root causes” of workplace injuries, illnesses, and incidents is the failure to identify or recognize hazards that are present, or that could have been anticipated. A critical element of any effective safety and health program is a proactive, ongoing process to identify and assess hazards.
OSHA requires that hazard assessments be performed in many standards including, but not limited to:
- Personal Protective Equipment
- Chemicals & Noise Exposures
- Process Safety Management
- Combustible Dust
- Arc Flash
- Machine Guarding
- Permit Required Confined Spaces
- Lockout Tagout
- Walking Working Surfaces
- Fall Protection
- Emergency Action & Fire Prevention
- Excavation & Trenching
- Demolition
A company’s procedures and training are only as good as the hazard assessments in which they were developed.
What factors should be considered when conducting a hazard assessment?
- What can go wrong?
- Does it occur under routine or non-routine conditions?
- What are the underlying causes?
- What are the contributing factors?
- What are the consequences of a deviation?
- What is the relative risk, frequency and severity?
- Where does the hazard occur?
- Who is exposed and how long are they exposed?
- What controls are in place?
What steps should be taken when performing a hazard assessment?
- Involve your employees
- Review your accident history
- Conduct a job task review
- List, rank, and set priorities based on risk
- Outline the steps to safely complete the work
- Ensure controls are in place
- Establish procedures and train affected workers
- Periodically review the assessment and its performance
How can KSV Group assist with propelling your hazard assessments to the next level?
- We have performed over 18,000 assessments spanning 43 states in challenging environments across a range of industries that lends an opportunity to benchmark and provide insight to proven HSE strategies.
- We maintain certifications such as CSP, CIH, and CHMM to ensure a level of integrity and expertise is brought to every project.
- We utilize proven hazard assessment methods adopted by OSHA, EPA, ANSI, ASTM, NFPA, ISO.
Our performance-based approach and objectivity provides a focused, efficient and cost-effective process for identifying hazards, assessing risk, selecting and evaluating controls.
By inserting us into your operations, you have the assurance and confidence, to implement a compliant, but more importantly, an effective and continuously improving HSE management system!