As the International Labour Organization (ILO) notes, nearly 395 million people experience non-fatal workplace injuries every year globally. Some of these incidents could be avoided through hazard and risk assessment.
Major workplace accidents often result from failures in the safety management system. These failures may stem from negligence of hazards or inappropriate risk assessment. Many work teams still use a reactive approach, putting controls in place after incidents occur and allowing similar problems to recur.
In order to stop the chain of accidents, employers employ the Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment approach. The best way of employing that approach is through a HIRA workshop.
The structured workshop training becomes the main perspective to help employees foresee accidents and prepare to avoid them.
The Need for Investing in HIRA Training
Failure in appropriately conducting hazard identification may result in injury in the workplace, stoppage of operations, financial losses, delays in projects, and failure to comply with regulatory requirements.
Lack of proper identification of the hazard and lack of proper recording of the hazards might create vulnerabilities during audits and safety checks. Training in HIRA will help employees recognize the hazards prior to their occurrence, analyse them systematically, and take corrective actions in advance.
Key Benefits of HIRA Training:
- Early Detection of Hazards: Allows workers to detect hazards and handle them before incidents occur.
- Greater Compliance with Laws: Adheres to the requirements of ISO 45001:2018, Factories Act, 1948, and other OHS laws.
- Reduced Cost and Downtime: Saves from on-site incidents, downtime, and costs associated with them through effective risk management.
- Improved Safety Culture: Encourages the participation of employees in ensuring workplace safety.
- Better Audit Preparedness: Enhances documentation and risk management procedures to prepare organisations for safety audits.
The Fundamental Concepts: Hazard VS Risk
Before undertaking a HIRA, it is important that employees are aware of the distinction between a hazard and a risk, as these two terms are often confused and have different meanings.
What is a Hazard?
Anything that can result in injuries, diseases, property damage, and/or environmental damage is a hazard, including:
- High voltage power lines
- Oil spills in walkways
- Poorly ventilated confined spaces
- Noise pollution from large machines
What is a Risk?
Risk refers to the probability that a hazard may lead to harm, in addition to the seriousness of such an outcome.
Illustration:
High-voltage electric wires constitute a hazard. With proper insulation and containment, there is little risk of electric shock. But if the insulation is compromised in a crowded work environment, there is a high risk involved.
Steps Involved in HIRA Workshop
Phase 1: Interactive Hazard Identification
- Hazard identification is done by images, videos, or site visits at the workplace.
- Hazard identification can be classified under physical hazards, chemical hazards, mechanical hazards, ergonomic hazards, and psychosocial hazards.
- Training employees in hazard identification skills.
Phase 2: Risk Assessment and Risk Prioritization
- Risk assessment and risk prioritization are based on the probability and significance of the identified hazard.
- Identification of high-risk activities.
Phase 3: Selection of Suitable Control Measures
Once the risks are identified, the selection of control measures should be done based on the hierarchy of controls, where priority is given to better control measures rather than PPE.
- Elimination: Completely eliminate the risk.
- Substitution: Substitute the risk with something else that is less risky.
- Engineering Controls: Separate the worker from the risk by means of physical controls.
- Administrative Controls: Establish safe working practices, training, and supervision.
- PPE: Resort to PPE as the last control measure.
Phase 4: Documentation of the HIRA Register
- Document the identified risks, risk ratings, and control measures chosen.
- Document any remaining risks after application of control measures.
- Maintain the HIRA Register for future reference.
Common Mistakes During HIRA
A soundly developed HIRA can still be ineffectual if certain crucial steps are not taken. Some of the most frequently made errors are:
- Failing to assess the risk related to hazard identification.
- Assigning improper ratings for the likelihood and severity of risks.
- Choosing PPE as the main measure instead of using the Hierarchy of Controls.
- Failing to periodically review and revise the HIRA due to any changes to processes, machinery, or the working environment.
- Poor documentation of hazards, risks, and control measures.
- Failing to involve workers on the ground leads to missing some of the hazards and developing inefficient control measures.
Who Needs HIRA Training?
Organizations must conduct HIRA training to be able to detect workplace hazards, measure risks, and establish proper controls. The program is highly recommended in:
- Manufacturing
- Construction
- Oil & Gas
- Petrochemicals
- Power Plants
- Utilities
- Mining and Metals
- Warehousing and Logistics
- Chemical Processing
- Infrastructures
HIRA Training is designed to provide role-specific training on hazard identification, risk assessment, and control for engineers, safety personnel, managers, and front-line workers.
Improving Workplace Safety through Practical HIRA Training
A successful HIRA process involves more than just documentation and relies heavily on the ability of workers to actually recognize hazards and manage the risks effectively in the workplace setting.
NIST Global provides practical and role-based HIRA training suitable for managers, supervisors, safety personnel, and other workers in the workplace setting. It includes hazard recognition, risk assessment, Hierarchy of Controls, HIRA documentation, and other workplace safety training topics using interactive training modules.
Develop a proactive safety culture through practical HIRA training. Call NIST Global today to learn more about our corporate training programs.
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