Risk Assessment Refresher - BHSEA · Engineering solutions to isolate, separate, reduce or control exposure to hazards System solutions e.g. ‘safe procedures’ so that circumstances

Birmingham Health, Safety & Environment Association BHSEA www.bhsea.org.uk

George Allcock

December 2017

Risk Assessment Refresher

http://www.bhsea.org.uk/

Birmingham Health, Safety & Environment Association BHSEA

Hazard

Risk

Risk

Assessment

Risk

Management

The potential to cause harm i.e. injury, ill health, damage or loss to

people, the business or the environment

Something that could cause harm *

The severity / consequences and liklihood of what could happen or go

wrong (under reasonable foreseeable circumstances which could

arise). Effect of uncertainty on objectives* (What, how severe & how likely)

A structured approach to understanding and analysing risk so that

decisions can be made to accept the risk or take action

The whole risk process, in particular whereby decisions are made to

accept a known or assessed risk & / or implement actions to:

reduce the likelihood of occurrence

reduce the consequences incl. emergency preparedness

increase reliability

transfer the risk to other(s)

Definitions

* From ISO 31000 ‘Risk Management Standard’


Risk assessment aims to anticipate and thus prevent accidents & harm

To prevent accidents and have effective risk

assessments we need to understanding:

- What sort of accidents (can) happen

- How accidents happen

- Why they happen i.e. causes

- What can be done to fix the causes

The terms 'safety' & ‘accident’ are taken to include occupational ill health


Serious Accident Analysis (126 serious accidents)


Exposure to hazards / foreseeable causes of injury

or harm

How accidents happen

in

circumstances which may be reasonably expected

to occur

by

people acting / behaving in a way they may be

reasonably expected to

!

Many risk assessments particularly generic ones are poor at identifying reasonably expected circumstances and the actions

and behaviours of people that follows.


Why accidents happen – Specific Causes


Accidents: How to Prevent Them

A strong safety culture - leadership

Suitable risk assessment tools / techniques

Practical risk assessment training

Learning to foresee accidents – training

Sharing & learning from accident experience – what happened, why etc

Equipping people to make risk decisions & deal with circumstances which could arise

Risk assessment training for all?

Recognising the key role of behaviour


Engineering solutions to isolate, separate, reduce or control exposure to hazards

System solutions e.g. ‘safe procedures’ so that circumstances which arise can be dealt with in a correct & safe way i.e. people know what to do.

People / behavioural solutions so that hazards & risks are known & correct / safe behaviour is the norm - “the way we do things round here”

X

V

Elimination to avoid the hazard completely e.g. stopping the activity

Substitution i.e. replacing with something less hazardous or easier to control or transfer risk

Accidents: How to Prevent Them

Risk Assessment to help decide which solution(s)


Complacency – we have a good record.

Documenting what is already well known – often many minor

risks (a paper exercise?!)

Generic risk assessment which does not address the particular

activity / task.

Limited experience of serious accidents and their causes - the

organisation & individuals.

Not anticipating or taking proper account of circumstances

which could arise.

No practical input – worker involvement.

Done mainly to comply with the law (let’s complete the form)

rather than manage risk.

Risk Assessment: Some common pitfalls


A risk assessment is simply:

- a careful examination of

- what, in your work, could cause harm to people,

- so that you decide whether you have done enough or should

- do more to prevent harm.

The main steps are:

Step 1: Identify the hazards

Step 2: Decide who might be harmed and how

Step 3: Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions

Step 4: Record your findings and implement them

Step 5: Review your assessment and update if necessary

Risk Assessment common themes - various tools / techniques / forms used

Partly based on HSE ‘Five Steps to Risk Assessment’


Risk Assessment: Tools, Techniques, Forms etc

A wide range e.g. • FMEA (Failure Modes & Effects Analysis)

• Check-lists with tick boxes • Matrices of activity v hazard / risks & controls

Quantitative or qualitative e.g. High; Medium; Low risk

Sources include: • EU & National websites including HSE • Industry advisory organisations • Own / in-house, training courses, consultants • Safety software including Apps suppliers

Storage and access e.g. paper, computer, cloud Who used by, accessed by, reviewed by

No single technique is effective for all situations

It is very useful to have a simple technique / form that

can be readily used by employees ‘at point of work’.


Googling ‘Risk Assessment – 133,000,000 hits


Risk Assessment

Asst No.

For use by non-specialists or where other risk assessment forms are not available or not suitable Site: Initiated by: Date: Agreed by: Date:

Dept./location: Review by: Date: Review by: Date:

1. Basic Information – insert photo(s) in shaded box or attach. Use additional sheets if more space needed for any part of this form

Activity or task to be carried out

................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ................. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ................ ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ................

Workplace /

location of activity

................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ................ ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ................

Machine /

equipment / tools

involved

................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ................ ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ................

Hazardous

substances used

or likely to arise

................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ................

..........................................................................................................................................Data sheet(s) available? Yes No

2. Hazards & Risks - if necessary do detailed risk assessment(s) & attach

What significant hazards exist of could arise?

Moving machinery or material Lifting equipment Vehicles/fork lift trucks Hazardous substances

Stored energy incl. gravity fall Pressure systems Work at height Flammable materials Operation without warning Electricity Slipping/tripping hazards Confined space Moving, flying or falling object Noise / vibration Handling, lifting or carrying Radiation

Other / further explanation: …………………………………................................................................................................

Who / what could suffer serious harm?

Operator or setter Other employee / staff Young or inexperienced person Contractor or public

Maintenance Person working alone Person with limited capability Environment or property

Other / further explanation: …………………………………...............................................................................................

How serious is the risk?

High Medium Low Don’t know / not sure – need to seek advice

Further explanation: …………………………………..........................................................................................................

3. Actions / Improvement Opportunities (If elimination or substitution is possible describe below) Action by Date

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4. Before proceeding!

During the activity / task could problems arise or could anything fail or go wrong*? Yes No Don’t know?

If ‘Yes’ or ‘Don’t know’ would you know what to do? Yes No If ‘No’ don’t proceed – seek advice

Does a written safe system of work and / or SOP need producing or changing? Yes No If ‘Yes’ that is the next step

* See ‘4. Causes’ on Accident etc Report form Risk Assessment form - Draft 01.02.2012

Who or what could be harmed?

Risk – High, Medium or Low?

1. Activity, workplace, machine / equipment, hazardous substances

2. Hazards & risks – check-list

4. Before proceeding - Key questions

3. Actions – improvement opportunities

Significant hazards / risks – exist or could arise

Risk Assessment for non-specialists

before work / at point of work


Risk Assessment form – part 1of 4


2. Hazards & Risks - if necessary do detailed risk assessment(s) & attach

What significant hazards exist of could arise?

Moving machinery or material Lifting equipment Vehicles/fork lift trucks Hazardous substances

Stored energy incl. gravity fall Pressure systems Work at height Flammable materials Operation without warning Electricity Slipping/tripping hazards Confined space Moving, flying or falling object Noise / vibration Handling, lifting or carrying Radiation

Other / further explanation: …………………………………................................................................................................

Who / what could suffer serious harm?

Operator or setter Other employee / staff Young or inexperienced person Contractor or public

Maintenance Person working alone Person with limited capability Environment or property

Other / further explanation: …………………………………...............................................................................................

How serious is the risk?

High Medium Low Don’t know / not sure – need to seek advice

Further explanation: …………………………………..........................................................................................................

Risk Assessment form – part 2 of 4


3. Actions / Improvement Opportunities (If elimination or substitution is possible describe below) Action by Date

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4. Before proceeding!

During the activity / task could problems arise or could anything fail or go wrong*? Yes No Don’t know?

If ‘Yes’ or ‘Don’t know’ would you know what to do? Yes No If ‘No’ don’t proceed – seek advice

Does a written safe system of work and / or SOP need producing or changing? Yes No If ‘Yes’ that is the next step

* See ‘4. Causes’ on Accident etc Report form Risk Assessment form - Draft 01.02.2012

Risk Assessment form – parts 3 & 4 of 4


Hazard Identification What could (or did) happen or go wrong?

Hazard? Possible consequences?

missing guard

small fire

handling chemicals

bow doors open on ship

container in gangway Near miss, damage,

minor injury, serious injury,

death or disaster?

Depends on the hazard & what people

do or fail to do Item on top of high cupboard

working under press platen

Often hazards are not obvious. We need to consider

what could happen & ask ‘what if?’


Hazard Identification

Risk Assessment - First Step

What could cause injury or harm?


Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment – Second Step

What could the consequences be - how serious - & what is the likelihood of it happening?


Risk Management

Risk Assessment – Third Step

Deciding what action to take – and doing it


All three steps are important


What could be done to reduce the risk


Most

preferred

Least preferred

Control / precaution Examples

Elimination • Move the rock

Substitution • Go a different way

Engineering control

• Restrain the rock • Barrier the at-risk area • Make a tunnel

System of work

• Written procedure incl. ‘Wear hard hat’ • Display notice • Instruct people incl. “Wear hard hat”

Person / behaviour

• Follow procedure, notices, PPE etc e.g. Actually wear hard hat

Hierarchy of Controls usually more than one - in combination


Risk: Severity x Probability


Making judgements about risk

Level of

Risk Guide to action

High Actions required as a matter of priority.

Medium Actions required but less urgent.

Low Actions should be taken if cost effective.

If the costs are clearly very high and the reduction in risk only small, then it is likely that the

risk is already ‘as low as is reasonably practicable’ and further improvements are not required. In

other circumstances the improvements may be relatively simple or cheap to implement and the

risk reduction significant; here the risk is unlikely to be ‘as low as is reasonably practicable’ and

improvement is required.

Recognised good practice (identified in industry codes, by benchmarking, etc) is invariably

based on ‘as low as is reasonably practicable’ and often provides a sound basis for actions to be

decided. Where the situation is complex, it may be difficult to reach a decision on the basis of

good practice alone and the principles of ‘as low as is reasonably practicable’ will need to

carefully considered and applied.

The concept ‘As low as is

reasonably practical’ helps to

make sensible and economic

decisions about risk and how

far risk reduction actions

should be taken.


Increase reliability

- reduce likelihood

Mitigate consequences

- reduce severity

By design

/ engineering

By systems

/ procedures

‘Fail-safe’ principle Protective systems

• Reduce likelihood / probability or reduce severity

Risk Management - Reducing Risk

By people

/ behaviours

Examples of risk reduction measures from road / driving risks: anti-lock braking, speed limits, seat belts, air bags, signs, training, traffic lights, fines, crumple zones on vehicles, horns, soft interiors, speed cameras etc, etc.

Nearly all risk reduction strategies involve a combination of engineering solutions, systems / procedural solutions and people / behavioural solutions


3. Take

Action

Most preferred

Least preferred

• Elimination

• Substitution

• Engineering Controls

• Systems / Procedures

• Behaviour incl. PPE

e.g. Don’t do the job / task

e.g. Use another process, machine etc

e.g. Guard, foolproof or protect

e.g. Specify the safe way (use photos)

e.g. Use protective equipment

4.

Monitor,

Review

& Act

2.

Assess

Risks

• Identifying hazards - what could happen or go wrong?

• Who (or what) could be harmed & how seriously?

• How likely is it to happen?

• Is the risk High, Medium or Low? (Seriousness x likelihood)

• How can risks be eliminated or reduced?

1.

Identify

Hazards

Accidents /

Incidents

Employee

concerns

Workplace

Inspections

External

audits

Other Acct

Reports

Accident information, good

practice etc from others

Observation /

Intervention

Two way

dialogue

Other(s)?

Surveys &

self audits

Quick Hits

/ Obvious

Actions

Often actions are a combination of two or more

Assess Risk – Take Action


Risk Assessment Process Flow Chart

Have you considered: - Accidents & near misses - your plant, elsewhere? - Legislation / law, standards etc - Good practice (Own organisation, Industry etc) Have you obtained necessary input / advice?

Critical step - sometimes not carried out well


Publicising Identified Safe & Unsafe Behaviour

• Operators etc need to know in order to follow the safe behaviour.

• Supervisors etc need to know in order to positively reinforce safe behaviour & correct unsafe behaviour.


Risk Assessments etc of limited value without visible & active Leadership


• How do you do this work?

• How do you know you are doing it correctly / safely?

• How do you know that the outcome is free of defects / is safe?

• What sort of problems sometimes occur?

• What do you do if you have a problem?

Testing the system / Driving Improvement: Questions by Leaders, managers etc

Documents

Risk Assessment Refresher - BHSEA · Engineering solutions to isolate, separate, reduce or control exposure to hazards System solutions e.g. ‘safe procedures’ so that circumstances