Identifying And Controlling Workplace Hazards And Accidents

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Chapter:- Safety Management

Safety Article

Identifying And Controlling Workplace Hazards And Accidents 

Identifying and controlling workplace hazards involves many processes. It’s more than simply “inspecting out hazards.” Before we can effectively control hazardous conditions and unsafe behaviors, we need to be familiar with their characteristics and the necessary processes to make sure they are promptly identified and analyzed. 

Hazardous conditions and unsafe or inappropriate behaviors you see in the workplace are the observable symptoms or effects of deeper system root causes.

Surface symptoms:

• Are unique conditions or individual behaviors (you can point at a person or object)
• May exist or be performed by anyone, anytime, anywhere
• May directly cause or contribute to an incident or accident
• May be important clues revealing root causes

The elements of an effective hazard control , the nature of hazards program, the knowledge and skills to identify, analyze, and apply control strategies to eliminate or reduce hazardous conditions and unsafe practices in the workplace help organisation to control the many types of hazards that may exist in the workplace and finally help to create safe work enviroments for workforces. 

Common Accidents / Injuries Reasons at Workplace 

Unpreventable acts. Only 2% of all workplace accidents are thought to be unpreventable. Heart attacks and other events that could not have been known by the employer are examples of unpreventable acts. Companies often try to place most of their injuries into this category. They justify these beliefs with such comments as: "He just lifted the box wrong and strained his back. What could we do?" Unfortunately, they are excuses for not looking into the "root cause" of the injury.

System failure. Safety management system failures account for at least  98%

of all workplace accidents. System failures refer to inadequate design or performance of safety programs that provide training, resources, enforcement, and supervision.

Hazards Cause Accidents: The Final Effect

1. Struck-by. A person is forcefully struck by an object. The force of contact is provided by the object.
2. Struck-against. A person forcefully strikes an object. The person provides the force or energy.
3. Contact-by. Contact by a substance or material that, by its very nature, is harmful and causes injury.
4. Contact-with. A person comes in contact with a harmful substance or material. The person initiates the contact.
5. Caught-on. A person or part of his/her clothing or equipment is caught on an object that is either moving or stationary.
6. Caught-in. A person or part of him/her is trapped, or otherwise caught in an opening or enclosure.
7. Caught-between. A person is crushed, pinched or otherwise caught between a moving and a stationary object, or between two moving objects.
8. Fall-To-surface. A person slips or trips and falls to the surface he/she is standing or walking on. A "top-ten" cause of injury.
9. Fall-To-below. A person slips or trips and falls to a level below the one he/she was walking or standing on.
10. Over-exertion. A person over-extends or strains himself/herself while performing work. A "top-ten" cause of injury.
11. Bodily reaction. Caused solely from stress imposed by free movement of the body. Sudden motions, bends, slips, trips, without falling. A common cause of injury.
12. Over-exposure. Over a period of time, a person is exposed to harmful energy (noise, heat), lack of energy (cold), or substances (toxic chemicals/atmospheres).

Diagnose and Treat the Underlying Hazard & Accidents Root Causes!

To eliminate the visible surface symptoms or effects, we need to accurately diagnose and treat the underlying root causes for 95% of all workplace accidents: the inadequate design and performance of the safety management system.

System Design Weaknesses- Inadequate planning and development (Failure to plan the work).

Characteristics:

• Missing or inadequate policies, plans, programs, processes, procedures
• Missing or inadequate resources - money, time, people, materials, etc.
• The deep root causes for most accidents Effects:
• Cause system performance failures

System Performance Weaknesses- Failure to accomplish action plans (Failure to work the plan).

Characteristics:

• Failure to effectively accomplish safety policies, plans, processes, procedures or practices
• Failure to provide training, resources, enforcement, supervision, and leadership Effects:
• Cause common hazardous conditions and/or unsafe behaviors
• Cause repeated unique hazardous conditions and/or unsafe behaviors