Safety Talk Box 04- Introducing Managing Safely (b)-"ASSESSING RISK"

Greetings of the day!

This is a topic introduced by Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). Institute of Occupational Safety and Health is registered in England and Wales. IOSH is a charted body for Health and safety professionals.

With the studies given by IOSH, we being the members of organization can set standards and support, develop and connect our team workers with resources, guidance, events and training. We can be the voice of our team workers and campaign on issues that affect millions of working people.

1)      What is risk?

Risk is a part of everyone’s life – we can’t avoid risks but we can put things in place to manage them effectively.

Can you remember, for example, when you first joined the site for OPGW installation works? Perhaps you were looking forward to your first lesson because you were eager to learn and become independent. On the other hand, you might have been a bit apprehensive about getting to the site for the first time. Either way, learning to work at site involves a degree of risk. Because you were learning, you would’ve had qualified instructor or another competent person educating you, so the risk would have been well managed.

Learning to work at site helped you learn to manage risks for yourself as well as giving you a skill.

There will always be a small risk in taking learning lessons but without that risk you’ll never learn to do anything—a skill which you’re likely to use throughout your working life.

2)      Basic terms that apply to risk management

In order to ensure a safe work environment, you need to understand the definition of risk and be able to estimate it, evaluate it and take actions if necessary. Before you work our way through this process, let’s take a look at the basic terms that apply to risk assessment.

A hazard is anything that has the potential to cause harm. This could be something as specialized as a piece of complicated machinery or as commonplace as a hot drink. If it could be harmful in any way, then it’s a hazard.

A hazardous event takes place when someone or something interacts with the hazard and harm results. Suppose there is a rope half damaged (various cuts on it). That rope (the hazard) by itself isn’t causing any harm, but if someone used it and while using, rope break down (the hazardous event) then it would become harmful.

Every hazardous event has likelihood and a consequence.

Likelihood is a measure of the chance that the hazardous event will occur. If that half damaged rope is the only rope to work with a worker then it’s more likely the rope will break down. However, if the worker is having good ropes as well as that particular damaged rope then it’s less likely that the rope will break down (as either worker will use or he will not use).

The consequence is the outcome of hazardous event. If the rope broken while using on ground then the worker might not get any harm. However if rope broken while lifting  some tools from down to the top of the tower then the worker might get a serious injury.

So, RISK is the combination of the likelihood of hazardous event occurring and the consequence of the event.

RISK = likelihood × consequence

3)      What is risk assessment?

Risk assessment is a means of making sure that the serious workplace risks are managed by cost-effective control measures. Assessing risks allows you to priorities the action you take to control them.

Put simply, a risk assessment is a careful examination of anything in your workplace that could cause people to suffer injury or ill health while they’re at work.   

Risk assessment is about deciding who might be harmed and then judging how likely it is that something will go wrong, and how serious the consequences could be. Once you’ve worked out what the risks are and how significant they are, you can concentrate on cutting them out—or at least controlling them.

·         You don’t have to carry out the assessment yourself—if you’re not confident, get help from someone who is appropriately qualified and trained/ experienced and knows about what workers are assessing. But remember, you are responsible for making sure that it’s done properly.

·         It’s always a good idea to involve other people in the risk assessment process—particularly the person whose job you are assessing. Then may have noticed things which aren’t immediately obvious to you. By involving your staff, you’re also helping them to think about what could go wrong and how to avoid problems.

The risk assessment enables you to:

a)      Tell whether you’re doing enough to protect your workforce and others from harm

For example, are you providing enough- training/ information/ personal protective equipment (PPE) etc.

b)      Demonstrate good business practice and improve business performance

Understanding the risks that your site work faces will help you to manage it better, with—potential cost saving / reduced insurance premiums/ enhanced reputation.

4)      How the risk assessments are carried out?

The topic to be continued…..

Always remember that accidents and ill health at workplace can have devastating effect- it can cause small or a serious injury, can ruin lives and your name and fame.  

!! You can prevent workers from being unsafe by accessing the risks !!

So manage your site Safely !!!

THINK SAFETY WORK SAFELY

This all is a general information and implementation required!