What tools and techniques can you use to assess safety hazards in a facility?

Always when encounters hazard we should be proactive rather than reactive. For proactive in nature we should know what are unsafe conditions which can be lead to unsafe act and then incident occurred. To encounter the hazards and minimize the risk ALARP , Check cards that is small risk assessment before commencing job is very much beneficial for identifying the hazards, Safety Flash or Safety Alerts( past accidents) should be discussed to highlight the dangers. Recorded Observations related to the HAZID location. Fresh eye , Walk around with people who are not working regularly on that place as regular working people neglect hazards thinking their routine job. Fresh eye will hunt more hazards.

One possible place to look for hazards is in complaints from the general public. This is very applicable where the industry interacts directly with the public, such as in transportation. Though some people may over-react and complain for seemingly minor issues, you must remember, people tend to keep quiet when expectations are met and occasionally praise when expectations are exceeded. If something goes wrong, complaints are far more likely. If the complaint is related to the service in any way, it should be looked at to see if the reason for the complaint was exposure to a percieved or real hazard. Real hazards can be adressed, percieved hazards may lead to service improvements. Monitoring trends can indicate hazards as well.

Determining the severity of the risk posed by a hazard requires careful thought. It is most important to determine the lowest severity indicator the hazard exists. As an example, speeding may result in an accident. Though severity increases with speed, what is more likely to indicate the existance of the hazard is a speeding ticket. Though the cost of a ticket increases with speed, a ticket is far less impactful than an accident. That is the risk exposure that should be assessed for speeding. By looking at the less severe outcomes, you also see an increase in exposure which provides a balanced view of the risk.

The hierarchy of controls will always apply in some way to how a risk is mitigated. Unless you can eliminate a hazard, a combination of the hierarchy is the better way to address things. You can engineer equipment to be quieter in a hearing protection program but combining that with hearing protection is better. Ensuring everyone that needs to be in that environment is trained and understands the hazard and how to protect themselves adds a third level in the hierarchy.

Implementing controls is only the first step. By assessing how effective a control is, you can determine the residual risk exposure. Is someone responsible to implement it? Was it assessed to ensure it is effective? Was it properly documented and training provided? All mitigating control measures should also be reviewed on a scheduled basis to ensure personnel comply and the controls remain effective.