Julia Waygood

RISK ASSESSMENT

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS FOR RISK ASSESSMENT

Health and Safety at Work etc Act

1974
shall ensure, so far as is
reasonably practicable, the health,
safety and welfare of employees
Management of Health and Safety
at Work Regulations 1999
- shall carry out a suitable and
sufficient risk assessment

MANAGEMENT OF HEALTH & SAFETY AT WORK

REGULATIONS 1999
Regulation 3

Risk
Assessment

WHAT IS RISK ASSESSMENT?

The identification, evaluation, and

estimation of the levels of risks
involved in a situation, their
comparison against benchmarks or
standards, and determination of an
acceptable level of risk
Read more:
http://www.businessdictionary.com/defi
nition/risk-assessment.html#ixzz2AFutz

WHAT IS A HAZARD?

Physical hazard: physical environment which could increase

or decrease the probability or severity of a loss. It can be
managed through risk-improvement
Workplace safety: Dangerous event or situation that may
lead to an emergency or disaster. It could also be a
biological, chemical, or physical agent in (or a property of)
an environment that may have an adverse health effect, or
may cause injury or loss. As such, a hazard is a potential
and not an actual possibility.

Read more:
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/hazard.html#
ixzz2AFvlw173

WHAT IS AN ACCIDENT?

Legalistically speaking an accident is

an event, which either kills someone or
inflicts serious injury (Notification of
Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences
Regulations 1999)
Perhaps the widest and most
acceptable definition is..... 'any event
which causes, or has the potential to
cause injury, or loss, or damage to
plant premises and material'.

CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS

In 1931 Heinrich postulated his famous theory of

accident causation that people not things cause
accidents.

'The occurrence of an injury invariably results from

a complicated sequence of factors, the last one of
these being the injury itself. The accident which
caused the injury is in turn invariably caused or
permitted directly by the unsafe act of a person
and/or a mechanical or physical hazard'.

CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS
Henrich

argued that: -

1. Industrial injuries result only from accidents

2. Accidents are caused directly and only by:
a) The unsafe acts of person(s)
b) Exposure to unsafe physical conditions

3. Unsafe acts and physical conditions are caused only by faults of persons
4.Faults of persons are created by social environments or ancestry (inherited)
He demonstrated these principles with his celebrated Domino Theory

HENRICHS DOMINO THEORY

When pushed each domino it will have

an effect on the next unless removing a
domino disturbs the sequence
Ancestry /
Social
Environme
nt

Fault of
Person

Unsafe
Act or
Conditio
n

Accident

Injury

HENRICHS DOMINO THEORY

Heinrich argued that the simplest and

most effective way of preventing an
accident was to remove the centre
domino, which he called the 'hazard'
(unsafe act/ condition).

EXAMPLE OF HOW HENRICHS THEORY CAN BE

APPLIED

In applying this theory to an accident in

which a man falls off a ladder, the
results of an investigation identify:

1. The unsafe act: Climbing the ladder

2. The unsafe condition: A defect in the
ladder
3. Preventative action: Remove the
ladder

MULTIPLE CAUSES
It is very rare for an accident to arise from a single
cause; more frequently there is a combination of
factors all of which must be present simultaneously.
Accidents, therefore, result from the- combined effects
of physical circumstances that can often be
recognised and controlled. Unsafe conditions can be
engineered out of the working system and unsafe acts
(of persons) can be influenced by training, instruction
or supervision. These hazardous situations, however,
even if compounded by human factors are not in
themselves the cause of an accident, they are an
indicator of some other deficiency

MULTIPLE CAUSATION

To use the theory of multiple causation for ladder accident

above, instead of arriving at the conclusion 'Remove the
ladder' we should be asking:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6.

Why was the defect not observed during normal inspection?

Why did the supervisor allow its use?
Did the employees know it should not be used?
Was the user properly trained?
Was he reminded to check the ladder and if in doubt not to
use it?
Did the supervisor know a ladder was required for the work?

LADDER EXAMPLE

Corrective or remedial action may then

include: -

1.
2.
3.
4.

Improving inspection procedures

Improving training
Defining responsibilities
Planning job properly

CONCLUSION

It is clear then that unsafe acts and unsafe conditions

should not be treated in isolation, they are merely
symptoms of dysfunction in the organization, for example,
lack of training or supervision, poor maintenance,
ineffective safety policy, etc, or any combinations of
these.

The narrow interpretation of the domino theory brings us

only to the unsafe condition or human factor; it does not
tell us what caused the condition itself. To understand
why accidents happen we must find the root causes of the
unsafe act or condition and deal with them.

FAULT TREE ANALYSIS

1
a

3b

FAULT TREE ANALYSIS

When looking for the root causes, look

beyond the first event until you reach
the point where events go outside your
control. (This is probably where your
investigation will cease).

ACCIDENT PREVENTION
Heinrich proposed a philosophy of
accident prevention based firmly upon
his theory of accident causation. It had
five logical steps:
Step 1 : Organisation
Step 2 : Fact Finding
Step 3 : Analysis
Step 4 : Selection of Remedy
Step 5 : Application of Remedy

ACCIDENT PREVENTION

Step 1: Organisation - This requires a

planned and systematic effort in all
industrial establishments. The
organisation for safety is the
mechanism, which induces interest and
directs and controls the safety
programme.

ACCIDENT PREVENTION

Step 2: Fact Finding - This includes the

findings of accident investigations,
surveys, inspections, etc, and also
conclusions based upon experience,
judgement and inquisition

ACCIDENT PREVENTION

Step 3: Analysis - Conclusions are

drawn from the assembled data, which
identify the principle direct causes and
types of accidents, types of injury,
persons involved and typical locations.
By definition this includes the study of
sub-causes or 'the reasons why persons
persist in unsafe acts' or 'why unsafe
conditions repeatedly exist'

ACCIDENT PREVENTION
Step 4: Selection of Remedy - After
analysing the facts an effective remedy
must be selected these may include: 1. Engineering Solution
2. Instruction, persuasion and appeal
3. Personnel adjustment
4. Discipline

ACCIDENT PREVENTION

Step 5: Application of Remedy - Having

taken the four prior steps it is necessary to
do the work indicated by these steps and
follow it through e.g. guarding dangerous
machinery. The application of these
measures will immediately reduce unsafe
conditions and circumstances while the
follow through will devise procedures to
anticipate and prevent a recurrence of a
similar nature.

HAZARDS PREVENTION AND

CONTROL
Heinrichs theory specifies that there are two types of hazard:
(a) Mechanical or Physical unsafe condition
(b) Personal or Human unsafe act
Although this is generally the case, we now know however
that these things are not the sole cause of accidents, but
merely a symptom of an overall condition in a workplace.
These two headings cover a limitless variety of hazards within
each group and to anticipate the existence of hazards or to
correct already existing hazards requires knowledge of those
that are probable or possible.

EXAMPLES
Unsafe Act
Unsafe Condition
Misuse of equipment Bad lighting
Improper dress Bad ventilation
Recklessness Noise
Horseplay
Unguarded machinery
Removal of machine Untidy workplace
guard

MAIN SOURCES OF HAZARD AND ASSOCIATED RISK

(a) Imported Risks - those brought into the

company through the purchase of new machinery,
materials and equipment, new building programmes
and process changes, employment of new staff.

(b) In-house Risks - those occurring within the

existing framework through machine degradation,
deviation from normal procedures, environmental
hazards and residual risks arising from the
introduction of new machinery, processes and
equipment

CONTROL
Many hazardous situations are the subject of
statutory requirements, which not only assists
us in our task of identifying dangerous
situations (because they are spelled out for
us) but also compels us to take remedial
action in these cases. Not all hazards are
easily visible; some like frayed wiring require
close inspection, loose guards need to be
shaken or prodded, hazards situated above
eye level need to be actively searched out.

CONTROL
The most elusive hazards, however, are those which are: (a) Contingent - on other errors or activities, e.g. they
only occur when two particular machines or processes are
working together.
(b) Transient - e.g. they only occur when maintenance or
other passing duties are carried; or on night shift etc.
(c) Invisible or otherwise not detectable (by the senses)
-e.g. microwaves, electrical malfunctions, dust end fume,
and cracks in materials, welds etc.

5 STEPS TO RISK ASSESSMENT

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Identify the Hazards

Decide Who Might Be Harmed
Evaluate the Risks
Record and implement your findings
Review your assessment

?????

Any questions???