RC 381581 Principles of Occupational Safety and Loss Control

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RC 381/581Principles of Occupational Safety and
Loss Control

• Hazard Identification and Abatement

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Hazard Recognition - Locating Accident Sources

• Hazard recognition is the ability to perceive
  potentially loss-producing situations
• Must be a skill that all employees possess
• Demands eliminating the apathetic view that a
  known hazard will not result in some type of loss
  (e.g., Wont happen to me)
• Stresses the identification and correction of
  substandard acts substandard conditions

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Substandard Act(e.g., personal hazard)

• A departure from an accepted, normal, or correct
  procedure/practice
• Conduct minimizing the degree of safety normally
  present
• An unnecessary exposure to a hazard
• Generally, supervisors have ampleopportunity to
  identify and correctsubstandard acts before an
  accident occurs

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Substandard Condition(e.g., mechanical/physical
hazard)

• Any physical situation, if left uncorrected, may
  contribute to a loss-producing event
• Generally, employees have numerousopportunities
  to identify and correctsubstandard conditions
  before an accident occurs

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The Systems Approach to Hazard Identification

• We attempt to identify the uncontrolled
  interaction between the following components to
  eliminate the presence of substandard acts
  substandard conditions
• People
• Processes/procedures
• Equipment
• Materials
• Environment

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Recognizing PotentialHazards Accidents

• Hindsight (good)
• Utilizing work experience lessons learned from
  the past (accidents/incidents)
• Foresight (best)
• Utilizing knowledge of hazard types, immediate
  causes, and common accident classifications to
  help predict the outcome of a certain activity

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Fundamental Types of Occupational Hazards

• The fundamental types of hazards which must be
  identified and subsequently controlled in the
  workplace include
• Mechanical
• Physical
• Biological
• Chemical
• Electrical

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Mechanical Hazards

• Unguarded pinch points
• Belt/chain/gear drives feed rolls
• Certain articulating/scissoring parts
• Unguarded power transmission devices
• drive shafts/couplers
• hydraulic/pneumatic activated equipment
• Other unprotected devices
• Compressed or suspended devices/materials
• High speed moving equipment

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Physical Hazards

• General workplace issues
• Sharp, abrasive, or hot surfaces
• Poor housekeeping/slippery walking surfaces
• Low hanging equipment
• Environmental issues
• Noise
• Heat/cold
• Ionizing/nonionizing radiation
• Ergonomic issues
• Poor work-station design

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Biological Hazards

• Contact with viral/bacterial agentse.g., HIV,
  HBV, tetanus, lymes, botulism
• Contact with animalse.g., snakes, dogs, fish,
  skunks, rodents
• Contact with insectse.g., wood ticks, bees,
  mosquitoes, spiders
• Contact with plants e.g., poison ivy/oak,
  nettles, fungus, mold

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Electrical Hazards

• Exposed live electrical devices/wiring
• Faulty electrical wiring
• Uncontrolled electricity
• Static electricity

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Chemical Hazards

• Exposure to the body through inhalation,
  ingestion, or skin contact
• Toxic compounds
• Cryogenics
• Reactions related to
• Rapid oxidation (e.g., fire)
• Incompatibility
• Instability

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What Helps Us With Hazard Identification

• Fundamental knowledge of
• Applicable safety health standards
• Human behavior physiology
• Sciences (biology, physics, chemistry)
• Materials processes
• The ability to envision the occurrence of an
  undesirable event by realistically asking Based
  on this situation, what if ...?

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Methods of Identifying Workplace Hazards

• Job Hazard Analysis
• Key personnel are trained on hazard types,
  immediate causes, accident classifications
• Activities of every job are periodically (e.g.,
  annually) reviewed to identify hazards
• Controls are developed and implemented to
  minimize exposure to identified hazards
• Systematic Worksite Inspections
• Key personnel perform periodic intra/inter
  departmental inspections to identify hazards

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Implementation of Appropriate Controls

• Engineering Controls
• Redesign the system to eliminate the hazard from
  the machine, method, process, or plant structure
  (e.g., automate)
• Control the hazard by enclosing or safeguarding
  it at its source.
• Administrative Controls
• Train personnel of the hazards present
• Prescribe the use of approved PPE or other types
  of equipment

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How to Maintain a Limited-Risk Work Environment

• Use accident analysis to identify hazards
• Develop systems to control hazard occurrence
• Train employees on hazards common to industry
• Promote reporting of hazards to management
• Develop periodic dept./facility inspection
  guidelines
• Abate reported hazards with recognized
  engineering/administrative approaches
• Periodically audit effectiveness of hazard
  abatement methodologies

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RC 381/581 Principles of Occupational Safety and
Loss Control

• Incident/Accident
• Reporting Analysis

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Survival of the Fittest ...

• Organizational survival greatly depends on
• The ability to maintain a pulse of operational
  errors which permit loss to occur
• People
• Product
• Service
• Facility
• Environment
• The ability to expediently correct the true
  causes of such errors to prevent their recurrence

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Incident/Accident Analysis

• A critical process which allows us to view an
  actual loss-producing event with 20/20 vision
• Culminates with the development and
  implementation of corrective activities/
  standards which help refine system-related
  processes

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Objectives of Incident/Accident Analysis

• To determine the Who, What, Where, When, and How
  about an accident
• To identify the true causes of an accident
• To determine where operational errors occurred in
  the management system
• To prevent recurrence

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What an Effective Accident Analysis Should Do

• Describe what happened
• Determine the real causes
• Evaluate the risks
• Develop the controls
• Identify loss trends
• Demonstrate concern for employee welfare

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Which Incidents/Accidents Get Analyzed?

• All incidents/accidents should be analyzed to
  determine the extent to which reasonable controls
  can be instituted to prevent recurrence
• Special attention should be given to those which
  possess high loss potential

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Why Supervisors Should Analyze Incidents/Accidents

• They have a personal interest
• They know the people and conditions
• They know best how and where to get information
• They will ultimately start or take action anyway
• They benefit from the analysis

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Basic Elements of an Incident/Accident Reporting
System

• Develop agreed upon reporting standards
• Routinely remind supervisors and employees of the
  need to report losses/near losses
• Maintain accurate records (computer-based)
• Use data to identify incident/accident trends
• Routinely provide management with trend results

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Initial Actions at Incident/Accident Scene

• Take control
• Ensure first aid and call emergency services
• Control potential secondary hazards
• Identify sources of evidence
• Preserve/gather evidence
• Notify appropriate line/staff management

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The Incident/Accident Analysis Process

• Immediately collect the who, what, when, where,
  and how of the four Ps of evidence
• Determine two most likely immediate causes
• Perform an Ishikawa (e.g., cause-effect) analysis
  on each immediate cause
• Test for most probable uncontrolled risk factors
• Develop implement control measures for at least
  3 uncontrolled risk factors