Hazard Assessment & Control


rohde

 

  1. General

Rohde & Liesenfeld Canada has a program in place to help identify, rank and control hazards within our operations. A hazard assessment is the basis for prevention of injury or damage in the workplace. Through hazard assessment, we examine both potential hazards that may be encountered in the workplace as well as those immediately visible. Documented hazard assessments are completed prior to work, and at reasonable practicable intervals thereafter. These must be completed upon and change in scope of work, site conditions, supervision or workers.

  1. Definitions

Hazard: Any circumstance or condition which poses the risk of an incident or injury.
Hazard Assessment: A formal process used to identify hazards that have the potential to result in incident, injury, equipment damage, loss of materials or property or harm to the environment.
Risk:  The probability that during a period of activity a hazard will result in an incident with definable consequences.
Risk Management:  A reduction in the probability of risk or risks to an acceptable level to ensure hazards do not result in an incident with definable consequences.

Recognition and control of hazards is necessary to ensure that appropriate action is taken within a timely manner. It is through the control of hazards that the following may be accomplished:

  • Reduced frequency and severity of incidents
  • Reduced human suffering
  • Reduced financial costs
  1. Responsibilities

Administration
It is the responsibility of Rohde & Liesenfeld Canada to develop and maintain the Hazard Assessment Program and provide workers with training on this program.

Workers
If reasonably practicable, the Company must involve affected workers in hazard assessment and control or elimination of hazards identified. Rohde & Liesenfeld Canada will ensure that workers affected by hazards identified in a hazard assessment report, are informed of hazards and the methods used to control or eliminate these hazards.

Supervisors
Rohde & Liesenfeld Canada supervisory personnel will assess a work site to identify existing and potential hazards prior to work beginning at a work site. Supervisors will prepare a report of the results of the hazard assessment and the methods used to control or eliminate the hazards identified with the current date recorded on the form. They must also ensure that the hazard assessment is repeated:

  • at reasonably practicable intervals to prevent the development of unsafe and unhealthy working conditions
  • when a new task is introduced
  • when a work process or operation changes
  • prior to construction of a new worksite or significant additions or alterations to an existing work site
  1. Conducting a Hazard Assessment 

The following steps can be taken to ensure a complete and thorough hazard assessment is conducted:

  1. Assemble all personnel involved.
  2. Discuss possible hazards with employees.
  3. Tour the entire operation.
  4. Look for possible hazards originating from environment, material, equipment and people.
  5. Keep asking “What If?”
  6. Mark on the checklist all items that need attention.
  7. Review the findings with workers and solicit their input for control measures.

The first ranking estimates the severity or consequence of the problem if the potential incident were to occur:

  1. Minor (i.e. non-serious injury, illness, or damage)
  2. Moderate (i.e. severe injury, serious illness, and property and/or equipment damage)
  3. Major (i.e. causing deaths, widespread occupational illness, extensive property damage)

The second ranking estimates the probability of the incident occurring:

  1. Rare - not likely, improbable, but possible
  2. Possible – likely to occur eventually
  3. Almost Certain – likely to occur or occur repeatedly during activity/operation.

riskmatrix

Each hazard is assigned both rankings, and the result determines priority in terms of corrective action. A hazard ranked high (in red, 6 and up to 9) is more important and serious than one ranked low (in green, 1 to 2).

  1. Pre-Job Hazard Assessment

Pre-job hazard assessments are essential to ensure that hazards and risk are identified and the appropriate controls are implemented prior to mobilization of equipment and personnel to the site.

Pre-job hazard assessment begins at the estimating stage of the project or job. All hazards identified will be prioritized using the Risk matrix tool. The information collected during this pre-job hazard assessment can also be used to develop a site specific safety plan.

  1. Identifying Hazards

Before the start of any work or when there is a significant change in the work conditions, a hazard assessment must take place of the task being performed. This assessment will be done by the workers on site as well as the supervisors involved.

Task Hazard Analysis (THA) is a method that can be used to identify, analyze and record:

  • the steps involved in performing a specific job;
  • the existing or potential safety and health hazards associated with each step; and
  • the recommended action(s)/procedure(s) that will eliminate or reduce these hazards and the risk of a workplace injury or illness.

Field Level Hazard Assessment (FLHA) is a method that can be used at the worker level on site to identify and record:

  • site specific hazards of a work site
  • considerations of existing and/or potential hazards associated with work steps
  • recommended action(s)/procedures that will eliminate or reduce these hazards and the risk of incident
  1. Hazard Control Strategies

Whenever possible, hazards should be eliminated or controlled at their source, as close as possible to where the problem is created– using engineering solutions. If this is not possible, controls should be placed between the source and the workers. The closer a control is to the source of the hazard the better. If this is not possible, hazards must be controlled at the level of the worker.

Administrative controls and personal protective equipment (PPE) control hazards at the level of the worker. These control methods reduce the likelihood and severity of worker injury but do not eliminate the hazard. A combination of several hazard control approaches may be necessary in some situations.

Engineering Controls
Engineering controls deal with the elimination or isolation of the hazard from the worker, and physically limits the workers exposure to the hazard.  This would be the preferred method of hazard control.

Administration Controls
An administrative control involves activities such as worker education, training, safe work practices and procedures. Administrative controls limit or reduce the exposure time the worker has to the hazards.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
PPE is the final line of defense against the risks identified from the hazard assessment.  Other than the basic PPE, additional PPE is only implemented after all reasonably practicable means of risk mitigation have been attempted.

  1. Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment

Processes are in place to identify potential hazards by the use of JSA's, facility wide or  area specific analysis/inspections.

Involve employees by:

  • discussing what you are going to do and why;
  • explaining that you are studying the task, not employee performance; and
  • involving the employees in the entire process.

Rohde & Liesenfeld Canada will review our company's accident/injury/illness/near miss history to determine which jobs pose the highest risk to workers. We identify the safety standards that apply to jobs and incorporate their requirements into our Task Hazard Analysis.

Setting Priorities
The hazard identification process is used for routine and non-routine activities as well as new processes, changes in operation, products or services as applicable. Hazards are classified/prioritized and addressed based on the risk associated with the task / (Risk analysis  matrix outlining severity and probability).

Rohde & Liesenfeld Canada gives priority to:

  • Jobs with the highest injury or illness rates
  • Jobs with "close calls", where an incident occurred but no one got hurt
  • Jobs identified as being in violation of safety standards
  • Jobs with the potential to cause serious injuries or illness
  • Jobs in which one simple human error could result in severe injury
  • Jobs new or unfamiliar to our operation; and
  • Jobs that due to their complexity require written instruction.
  1. Meetings

Pre-job meeting
For jobs that have specific or high risk tasks or where owner/client dictates, Rohde & Liesenfeld Canada will conduct a pre-job safety start up meeting and review the procedure and processes with contractors, job foremen, Superintendents and workers.

Tailgate/Toolbox meeting
At the beginning of each work-day thereafter for field operations, all foremen will hold a tailgate / toolbox meeting for all work being done with their crew. These are informal meetings, which allow on-site personnel to review Safe Work Practices/Safe Operating Procedures for a specific hazard. All workers on site are required to attend. Any relevant safety topics may be discussed at this time.

Weekly safety meeting
Rhode & Liesenfeld Safety Meeting form is to be used to conduct weekly safety meeting that involves ALL workers on the job site for field operations. These meetings will provide workers with a broad understanding of the hazards of the job site. These meetings will also focus on recent incidents and recommendations for prevention. Office workers will also conduct and participate in weekly safety meetings to discuss relevant safety topics.

  1. Critical Task Analysis

A task is considered a critical task if the consequences of performing the task incorrectly and without necessary controls has a significant potential for loss to people, product, process or profit. A Critical Task Analysis is the process of conducting an inventory of a task and breaking down the Severity, Frequency, and Probability of hazards to occur. Rohde & Liesenfeld Canada will ensure those tasks have specific job procedures and a code of Practice in place for each of these  critical hazard tasks as legislation dictates.

Reference:
AB OHS Code;
Part 2 Hazard Assessment, Elimination and Control
Part 29 Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System

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Document name: Hazard Assessment & Control
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2016-05-26 20:33:26 MDTHazard Assessment & Control Uploaded by Michelle Bryan - [email protected] IP 172.219.154.217