Hazard Recognition and Control Flashcards
What is hazard recognition?
Systematic identification of all potential hazards in a workplace
Broad to capture the range of risks workers face
Employer responsibility to engage in this ongoing process
What is hazard assessment?
analysis of identified risks
Worker and employer joint assessment of what to address
intended to determine what is more urgent but shows tensions
What is hazard control?
preventative and corrective measures implements to reduce hazards
conflict in solution via employer and employee (workers err on caution, employers on profit)
What is a physical hazard?
Injuries caused by objects or equipment, falling, slipping, noise, vibration, electricity, radiation, etc
Most recognized and identified
What is an ergonomic hazard?
Poor workstation or tool design, repetitive injuries, standing or sitting too long, circulation, etc
Due to job design
Political: designed to fit men
What is a chemical hazard?
Short and long-term risks from harmful substances, burns, dizziness and nausea, poisoning, cancers, etc
Ex: miners, cleaners,
What is a biological hazard?
Bacteria, mold, fungi, other biological properties harmful to human health
What is a psycho-social hazard?
Social, environmental and psychological risks, harassment, workplace violence, mental stress, etc
What is the proximate cause of a hazard?
immediate cause
What is the root cause of a hazard?
structural designs and decisions that led to the proximate cause
root cause can be nature of employment relationship
What else should be apart of risk assessment?
nature of employment relationship (precarious?)
social location of workers (gender, race, ability, citizenship)
Organization and control of labour process
What are hazard recognition techniques?
workplace inspections, worker interviews, job inventories, review previous incident data, measure and test risks, research potential risks
What are workplace inspections?
Not government WHS inspections
Joint health and safety committees do inspections to create risk profiles
Involves reviewing equipment, insuring safety manuals exist
What are worker interviews?
Talk with workers to learn the hazards they identify
Hazard recognition plans do not work without interviewing employees
What are job inventories?
Catalog the risks for the job
Regularly update (new tech, new responsibilities, etc)
Mostly identifying proximate causes of risks
What is previous incident data?
Requires workplace to track incidents
Primary objective of health and safety committees
What is measuring and testing risks?
Must test to ensure adequate recognition of risk
Sometimes requires outside expertise
What does researching potential risks do?
Raise issues to management
They must research and maybe bring in experts to assess
What are the technical assessment tools?
probability, consequences, exposure
risk = probability x consequence x exposure
supplement worker interviews for info
What is the probability assessment tool?
likelihood hazards lead to incident, categorize by priority
What is the consequences assessment tool?
severity of injury or ill-health, create priority based on severity
What is the exposure assessment tool?
how often workers come into contact with the hazard
What are the Manitoba WSH act rules on assessment tools?
mandate workers are involved in inspections and investigations
requires procedure for revising every 3 years minimum