OHS Risk Assessment - University of Washington



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Health & Safety Risk Assessment Guidelines for Wineries

Table of Contents

1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..1

2. Definitions…………………………………………………………………………… 2

3. Health & Safety Risk Assessment Method……………………………………….3

1. Introduction

These guidelines summarize the procedure to be followed when conducting and annual health and safety risk assessment. This methodology is suitable for the assessment of most work tasks. It is not suited to the assessment of complex processing activities. These are assessed using alternative methods such as Hazard and Operability Studies (HAZOP) or Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA).

The risk assessment methodology covers all OH&S related hazards. Some legislation, standards and guidance require more detailed risk assessment for specific hazards. The following list (non exhaustive) of specific hazards should be included in the risk assessment however they may also require a more detailed assessment:

Manual Handling- Manual Handling Risk Assessment

Chemicals- Chemical Use Risk Assessment

DSE / VDU - Display Screen Equipment / Visual Display Unit

Noise- Noise Risk Assessment

Dusts- Atmospheric Hygiene Assessment

Explosive Atmospheres Assessment

Occupational Health- Occupational Health Risk Assessment (GRMS)

Machinery- Machinery Risk Assessment

Fire- Fire Risk Assessment

Ergonomics- Ergonomic Risk Assessment

Legionella Risk Assessment

Process Equipment Risk Assessment (HAZOP)

Lightning Risk Assessment

Work at Heights Risk Assessment

Wellbeing Risk Assessment

FLT Risk Assessment

The guidelines have been developed using the following publications:

• BS 8800:2004 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems Guide

• Boyle, T., (2002) Health and Safety Risk Management, IOSH

• HSE, (1997) HSG65 Successful Health and Safety Management

• HSE, (2006) INDG163 5 Steps to risk assessment

The risk assessment should be reviewed and updated on an annual basis or due to changes in a process, activity, organization or equipment changes. The risk assessment should also be reviewed if an incident investigation highlights that the risk has not been appropriately assessed.

2. Definitions

Hazard

Source or situation with a potential for harm (in terms of human injury, ill health or a combination of these).

Risk

Combination of the likelihood and consequence of a specified hazardous event.

A risk always has two components:

a. The likelihood of a hazardous event.

b. the consequences of the event

Where health is concerned the consequence of a hazardous event may be based on a number of events. E.g. repeated exposure to noise on separate occasions may cause noise induced hearing loss.

Risk Assessment

Process of identifying hazards and evaluating the risks to health and safety arising from these hazards whilst taking account of the existing risk controls.

(For planned activities evaluate risk by taking account of the proposed risk controls.)

Risk Controls

Workplace precautions, for example physical safe guards, containment of airborne contaminants, safe systems of work, training / competency and personal protective equipment. When proposing risk controls to mitigate a hazard due consideration should be given to the hierarchy of control:

- First:- If practical eliminate hazard altogether

- Second:- Try to reduce the risk at source

- Third:- Reduce the risk through procedures

- Fourth:- Reduce the risk by providing PPE

3. Health and Safety Risk Assessment Method

The 5 steps to risk assessment are:

Determine work activities

Identify hazards

Identify current risk controls

Assess the risk

Specify actions to reduce the risk

Risk assessment should be conducted by competent people with practical knowledge of the work activities. Risk assessment should be conducted by small teams of individuals who have been trained in the risk assessment methodology. The teams will need access to OHS specialists to conduct the assessment.

3 a. Determine work activities

Work activities are listed in a workshop session by considering normal every-day activities and other non-routine activities such as infrequent maintenance tasks, contractor activities and home-working. It is important to consider different operational modes of the activity i.e. normal use, change over or CIP. Work activities can be classified in three ways:

Geographical areas

Stages in the production process

A combination of a. and b. above

To obtain the necessary level of detail for risk assessment it will be necessary to decompose activities into tasks, see example below.

Process / Area: Bottling line

Activity: Automatic labeling machine

Tasks: Replenish labels

Bottle size change-over

Conduct Autonomous Maintenance

Replenish liquid glue

Relieve blockages

Operate machine

Clean machine & parts

In order to identify the hazards associated with a task those conducting the risk assessment should have an understanding of the following:

The duration, frequency

Scope for hazardous interaction with other activities

Who carries out the tasks

Others who are affected by the task (maintenance, cleaners, contractors)

Existing procedures relating to execution of the task

Permit-to work systems in place

Manufacturers instructions (in the case of work equipment)

Substances / Chemicals used

The weight / size / shape of materials manually handled during the task

Accident / incident records relating to the task

For certain unplanned tasks e.g. the repair of a burst pipe, it is unlikely that this task would have been risk assessed using this methodology as its occurrence would not have been anticipated by the risk assessment team. These activities are risk assessed in a different manner. If the task is being completed by a contractor it should be risk assessed in the task specific method statement prepared by the contractor prior to commencement of works. In other instances a permit to work checklist forms the basis of a risk assessment.

3 b. Identify Hazards

Identify the hazards associated with each task. When identifying the hazards consider the following:

Is there a source of harm?

Who or what could be harmed?

How could harm occur?

Consider the following physical, chemical, biological & psychological hazards (not exhaustive):

PHYSICAL

Slippery or uneven ground leading to slips / falls

Work at heights leading to falls

Equipment falling from a height causing injury

Inadequate space e.g. low headroom leading to head injury

Poor ergonomics leading to RSI

Manual handling leading to back injury

Moving parts causing trapping /entanglement injuries

Hot surfaces or substances causing burns e.g. glue / steam

Poor housekeeping leading to fire

Ionizing radiation leading to health effects

Violence to staff

Harmful energy sources e.g. electricity, pneumatic energy, compressed air, hydraulic energy

Noise leading to hearing defects

Confined spaces with hazardous atmospheres

BIOLOGICAL

Inhalation, ingestion or contact with bodily fluids causing illness

CHEMICAL

Inhalation, ingestion, contact with a chemical which causes injury

PSYCHOLOGICAL

Workplace stress leading to health issues

Physical violence leading to injury

The list above is by no way exhaustive and should only be used to guide thinking. Care must be taken to ensure all other hazardous scenarios are documented.

3 c. Identify current risk controls

For each identified hazard existing control measures should be specified.

3 d. Determine the Risk

Risk is determined by estimating the potential severity of harm and the likelihood harm will occur for a given hazard. To estimate the severity of harm consider:

How the person is likely to be affected?

What harm will result?

Severity of harm is categorized into the following levels, see table overleaf:

| | | | |

|Harm Category |Low |Medium |High |

| | | | |

|Health |Nuisance and irritation, |Partial hearing loss, |Acute fatal diseases, severe |

| |temporary ill health leading |dermatitis, asthma, WRULD, |life shortening diseases, |

| |to discomfort |ill health leading to |permanent substantial disability|

| | |permanent minor disability | |

| | | | |

|Safety |Superficial injuries, minor |Lacerations, burns, concussion, |Fatal injuries, amputations, |

| |cuts and bruises, eye |serious sprains, minor fractures|multiple injuries, major |

| |irritation from dust | |fractures |

Next consider the likelihood that a hazardous event actually results in harm.

Likelihood is categorized into the following levels:

| | | | |

|Likelihood of Harm Category |Low |Medium |High |

| | | | |

|Typical Occurrence |Typically experienced once |Typically experienced once every|Typically experienced at |

| |during the lifetime of an |five years by an individual |least once every six months by |

| |individual | |an individual |

Risk level is estimated using the business risk footprint below.

3 e. Specify Control Measures

Control measures are specified for each hazard along with owners and completion dates. Control measures should reduce the hazard to an acceptable risk level.

The table below should be considered in determining the level of action required to mitigate a given hazard.

| | | |

|Risk Level |MATRIX SECTOR |ACTION REQUIRED |

| | | |

|LOW |A, B, C |No additional controls required unless they can be implemented with |

| | |minimal effort in terms of cost and human resource. Actions to |

| | |mitigate these hazards are low priority. |

| | | |

|MEDIUM |D, E, F |Action is required to move this hazard to a lower risk level. These |

| | |actions should be progressed within one month. |

| | | |

|HIGH |G, H, I |Substantial efforts should be made to reduce the risk. Consideration |

| | |should be given to suspending the activity until additional controls |

| | |have been implemented. These actions |

| | |should be progressed within one week. |

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