Identify hazards Assess the risk

Hazards = Anything that has the potential to cause harm Risk = The likelihood that the hazard will cause harm

How to identify hazards How badly could someone be harmed?

● Take regular walks around the workplace (this may or may not What is the chance (high or low) that the hazard will
be part of a formal inspection) actually cause someone harm?
● Talk to team members
● Look at how plant and equipment are used Control the risk
● Find out what chemicals are around and what they’re used for
● Look for unsafe work practices
Controls = How you will stop the hazard causing harm
● Examine the general state of housekeeping
● Investigate accidents, incidents and complaints
Most Physically remove the
● Review planned and unplanned changes in the workplace Eliminate
Eliminate hazard
Questions you can ask when looking for hazards:

Effectiveness
Substitute Replace the hazard
Substitute
● What doesn’t look right here?
● If an untrained person walked into this space/did this task how Isolate Separate people from the hazard
could they hurt themselves or others? Engineering
Redesign the work environment
● If I compare this piece of equipment/space to when it was new, controls
what’s different? Administrative
Change how people work
● What safety controls information/cautions already exist for this controls
Least
task? PPE Protect workers with personal
● Are team members following procedure or doing workarounds? protective equipment

It can sometimes be hard to identify hazards in a work Review controls

area that you are very familiar with.

! Consider having a team member from another work

area do a hazard inspection with you to help view your
Are the controls as effective as planned in minimising
the risk?
area with fresh eyes. Have the controls introduced any new hazards?