Hazard Prevention and Control

Dr Aamir Amanat
Department of Environmental Sciences
The University of Lahore
Contact Email; aamir.ali@envs.uol.edu.pk
 Murphy’s Law

“Whatever can possibly go wrong, will.”

Safety Engineering Corollaries of Murphy’s Law
 When all else fails, read the instructions.
 Any system which depends on human reliability is unreliable.
 In any calculation, any error which can creep in will do so.
 Any error in a calculation will be in the direction of most harm.
 A fail-safe circuit will destroy others.
 A failure will not appear until a unit has passed final inspection.
 A car and truck approaching each other on a deserted road will meet at the
narrow bridge.
 Hindsight is an exact science.
 Only God can make a random selection.
Murphy’s Law

Cladding Design
 Hierarchy of Control

Elimination – Physically remove the hazard

Substitution – Replace the hazard
Engineering controls – Isolate people from the
hazard
Administrative controls – Change the way
people work
Personal protective equipment– Protect the
worker with PPE

 “You can’t eliminate every hazard, but the closer you can get to the top, the
closer you can reach that ideal and make people healthier and safer,”
 OSHA Most Cited Violations (2021)
1. Fall Protection, (29 CFR 1926.501)
2. Respiratory Protection, (29 CFR 1910.134)
3. Ladders, (29 CFR 1926.1053)
4. Hazard Communication, (29 CFR 1910.1200)
5. Scaffolding, (29 CFR 1926.451)
6. Fall Protection Training, (29 CFR 1926.503)
7. Control of Hazardous Energy (lockout/tagout),
(29 CFR 1910.147)
8. Eye and Face Protection, (29 CFR 1926.102)
9. Powered Industrial Trucks, (29 CFR 1910.178)
10.Machinery and Machine Guarding, (29 CFR
1910.212)
 Elimination
It is by far the most effective, because it removes the risk of
incident altogether.
During the evaluation, the company seeks to eliminate any
aspect of the tasks that put employees at an unacceptable
level of risk.
Get everybody involved in the whole life cycle to ask the first
question, which is, “‘Can I eliminate this?’”
“There’s no guarantee that you will be able to eliminate it,
but there is a guarantee that you won’t know unless you try.”
 Elimination Cont…
Companies struggle with the
elimination step, due to its initial
costs.
Long-term savings, both in
operational and workers
compensation terms, elimination
becomes a more viable directive.
Example: John and Morris run the
risk of falling while repairing an
overhead light.
The company eliminates the safety
issue by forcing employees to lower
the light to the ground to work on it.
 Substitution
Substitution seeks to remove the causes of accidents before an incident
occurs.
Examine products and chemicals instead of actions.
Safer alternatives are sometimes more expensive than their harmful
alternatives.
Second, they substitute one product with another that causes the same
or similar safety issues.
Substitution is a process that requires an investment of time and energy
to sample several different alternatives before making a switch.
Example: Acme Farms sees many employees suffer health problems due
to the use of pesticides with DDT.
The farm substitutes an organic pesticide, and the health issues go away
 Engineering Controls
Engineering controls are a compromise tactic between eliminating
the problems and leaving them completely unaddressed.
Engineering controls are used to physically separate employees from
harmful machines or dangerous working conditions.
By removing the hazard from the worker environment or creating a
barrier.
Most engineering controls are expensive from the outset, and can
lead to further problems in the future.
Since the company never addressed the root cause of the hazard, if
the control fails, employees may still get injured.
 Engineering Controls Cont…
Engineering controls are a very
reliable way to control worker
exposures as long as the controls
are designed, used and maintained
properly. The basic types of
engineering controls are:
 Process control
 Enclosure
 Isolation of emission source
 Ventilation etc.
 Process Controls
Process control involves changing the way a job activity or process is done
to reduce the risk.
Monitoring should be done before and as well as after the change is
implemented to make sure the changes did, in fact, control the hazard.
Use wet methods rather than dry when drilling or grinding.
"Wet method" means that water is sprayed over a dusty
surface to keep dust levels down or material is mixed with
water to prevent dust from being created.
Use an appropriate vacuum or "wet method" instead of dry
sweeping (e.g. with a broom) to control dust and reduce the
inhalation hazard.
 Process Controls Examples
Use steam cleaning instead of solvent degreasing (heat stress
hazard).
Use electric motors rather than diesel ones to eliminate
diesel exhaust emissions.
Instead of conventional spray painting, try to dip, paint with
a brush, or use "airless" spray paint methods. These methods
will reduce the amount of paint that is released into the air.
Decrease the temperature of a process so that less vapor is
released.
Use automation - the less workers have to handle or use the
materials, the less potential there is for exposure.
Use mechanical transportation rather than manual methods.
 Enclosure and Isolation
These methods aim to keep the chemical "in" and the worker
"out"
An enclosure keeps a selected hazard "physically" away from the
worker.
Enclosed equipment, for example, is tightly sealed and it is
typically only opened for cleaning or maintenance.
Other examples include "glove boxes" or remote control devices.
The enclosure itself must be well maintained to prevent leaks.
Isolation places the hazardous process "geographically" away from
the majority of the workers.
 Common isolation techniques are to create a contaminant-free or
noise-free booth either around the equipment or around the
employee workstations.
 Ventilation
Ventilation is a method of control that
strategically "adds" and "removes" air in the
work environment.
Ventilation can remove or dilute an air
contaminant if designed properly.
It removes the contaminant at the source so it
cannot disperse into the work space and it
generally uses lower exhaust rates than general
ventilation.
Local exhaust ventilation is an effective means
of controlling hazardous exposures but should
be used when other methods (such as
elimination or substitution) are not possible.
 Engineering Controls Examples
Manufacturing’s employees
complain of respiratory and allergy
issues from airborne particles on
the factory floor.
The company installs a vent hood
to circulate air and reduce air
pollutants inside the factory.
 Administrative controls
Administrative controls limit workers'
exposures by scheduling shorter work
times in contaminant areas or by
implementing other "rules".
These control measures have many
limitations because the hazard itself is
not actually removed or reduced.
 Administrative controls are not
generally favored because they can be
difficult to implement, maintain and
are not a reliable way to reduce
exposure.
Administrative Controls Examples
Training of workers, management etc.
Written proper operating procedures (SOPs)
Work permits
Safe work practices
Inspection and maintenance
Housekeeping, Monitoring the use of highly hazardous materials
Supervisions, trainings, Alarms, signs and warnings
Scheduling maintenance and other high exposure operations for
times when few workers are present (such as evenings, weekends)
Using job-rotation schedules that limit the amount of time an
individual worker is exposed to a substance.
Using a work-rest schedule that limits the length of time a worker is
exposure to a hazard.
 Administrative controls
In administrative controls the onus of workplace safety is on staff
instead of management, and the results are unpredictable.
Warning signs are only effective if employees heed the warning,
but many employees choose to ignore safety procedures in order
to save time or effort.
Example: The Riverside Inc. warehouse suffers a series of
workplace injuries related to improper operation of forklifts.
Company managers begin a thorough retaining and certification
program for all operators.
 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Example: Machine shop uses a press
loud enough to damage employee
hearing. Owner offers the crew ear
protection.
The least effective of all the safety
controls is reliance on PPE.
PPE is any piece of additional
equipment, like helmets, gloves, or
safety goggles, that protect employees
from workplace hazards.
 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
High failure rate makes PPE useless for all but the most
minor of hazards.
A helmet is not going to protect an employee from a falling
steel beam, and goggles can only withstand so much force
before they break under pressure.
PPE should NEVER be the primary focus of safety controls.