Risk Assessment
Management
Sharmaine G. Dato, RCrim
Hazard
● A hazard is any source
of potential damage, harm or adverse
health effects on something or someone. It
is also the effect of unpredictable and
unanalyzable forces in determining events.
● Hazard identification - the process of
finding, listing, and characterizing hazards
What materials or situations do I come
into contact with? Possibilities could
include:
● electricity
● chemicals (liquids, gases, solids, mists, vapours,
etc.)
● temperature extremes of heat or cold (e.g.,
bakeries, foundries, meat processing)
● ionizing/non-ionizing radiation (e.g., x-
rays, ultraviolet (sun) rays)
● oxygen deficiency
● water
What materials or equipment could
I be struck by?
● moving objects (e.g., forklifts, overhead cranes,
vehicles)
● flying objects (e.g., sparks or shards from
grinding)
● falling material (e.g., equipment from above)
What objects or equipment could I strike
or hit my body upon, or that part of my
body might be caught in, on, or between?
● stationary or moving objects
● protruding objects
● sharp or jagged edges
● pinch points on machines (places where parts are very close
together)
● objects that stick out (protrude)
● moving objects (conveyors, chains, belts, ropes,
etc.
What could I fall from?
(e.g., falls to lower levels)
● objects, structures, tanks, silos,
lofts
● ladders, overhead walkways
● roofs
● tree, cliffs
What could I slip or trip on?
(e.g., falls on same level)
● obstructions on floor, stairs
● surface issues (wet, oily, icy)
● footwear that is in poor condition
How could
I overexert myself?
● lifting
● pulling
● pushing
● carrying
● repetitive motions
Why is risk assessment
important?
Risk assessments are very important as they form an integral part of an
●Create awareness
occupational of hazards
health and and risk.
safety management plan. They help to:
●Identify who may be at risk (e.g., employees, cleaners, visitors,
contractors, the public, etc.).
●Determine whether a control program is required for a particular
hazard.
●Determine if existing control measures are adequate or if more
should be done.
●Prevent injuries or illnesses, especially when done at the design or
planning stage.
●Prioritize hazards and control measures.
Create awareness of hazards and
risk
● Having a heightened awareness of all the
hazards will help keep us healthy and safe
from injury or illness. We need to be mindful
of our surroundings and identify potential
threats and dangerous situations. Ignorance
of danger makes it unlikely that you will see
danger.
Prevent injuries or illnesses, especially
when done at the design or planning
stage.
● Consider work practices, employee physical
requirements, and eliminating confined spaces when
designing buildings and processes.
● Design for safe replacement and modifications of
equipment to reduce the risk of injury to operations and
maintenance staff.
● Comply with applicable regulatory requirements
such as the (DOLE) Department Order No.198 series of
2018 standards.
Prioritize hazards and control measures
● Now that you’ve identified hazards in your workplace,
set priorities so you can focus on the biggest risks.
You’ll use your prioritized list to work on the next safety
and health program element, Hazard Prevention and
Control. Make sure to keep your list up to date:
hazards and risks change along with changes in work
processes.
Assess the risks and prioritize
● To start, ask your workers which hazards pose the
greatest risk. For example, you can give workers or
safety champions the list and ask them to choose the
top three hazards. See if any patterns emerge. Ask
workers about the reasoning behind their choices—why
did they choose the ones they did? Then, with
involvement of workers, consider these factors for each
hazard:
Assess the risks and prioritize
● Severity. If this hazard leads to an incident, how serious
might the resulting injury or illness be?
● Likelihood. How likely is an incident to occur? This
could be influenced by how often an activity is done,
how often workers are exposed, and how close workers
are to the hazard. Keep in mind that a serious risk can
be unlikely but have catastrophic results (see the “Low-
Likelihood Incidents Can Still Be High Risk” box).
● Number of workers. How many workers are exposed to
When should a risk assessment be done?
There may be many reasons a risk assessment is needed, including:
● Before new processes or activities are
introduced.
● Before changes are introduced to existing
processes or activities, including when
products, machinery, tools, equipment
change or new information concerning harm
becomes available.
How is a risk assessment
●done?
Assessments should be done by a
competent person or team of individuals
who have a good working knowledge of the
situation being studied. Include either on the
team or as sources of information, the
supervisors and workers who work with the
process under review as these individuals
are the most familiar with the operation.
How are the hazards
identified?
● Overall, the goal is to find and record possible hazards that
may be present in your workplace. It may help to work as a
team and include both people familiar with the work area, as
well as people who are not - this way you have both the
experienced and fresh eye to conduct the inspection. In
either case, the person or team should be competent to carry
out the assessment and have good knowledge about the
hazard being assessed, any situations that might likely occur,
and protective measures appropriate to that hazard or risk.
Why is it important to
review and monitor the
● Itassessments?
is important to know if your risk
assessment was complete and
accurate. It is also essential to be sure that
any changes in the workplace have not
introduced new hazards or changed hazards
that were once ranked as lower priority to a
higher priority.
What documentation should
be done for a risk
assessment?
● Keeping records of your assessment and
any control actions taken is very
important. You may be required to store
assessments for a specific number of years.
Check for local requirements in your
jurisdiction.
End of slide.
