Worksite Analysis is Just ONE piece of the puzzle!
Worksite Analysis
Worksite analysis involves a variety of worksite examinations to identify not only existing hazards, but also conditions and operations in which changes might create hazards.
Effective management actively analyzes the work and the worksite, to anticipate and prevent harmful occurrences.
Comprehensive surveys
For small businesses, OSHA-funded, state-run consultation services can conduct a comprehensive survey at no cost. Many workers’ compensation carriers and other insurance companies offer expert services to help their clients evaluate safety and health hazards. Numerous private consultants provide a variety of safety and health expert services. Larger businesses may find the needed expertise at the company or corporate level.
For the industrial hygiene survey, at a minimum, all chemicals and hazardous materials in the plant should be inventoried, the hazard communication program should be reviewed, and air samples analyzed. For many industries, a survey of noise levels, a review of the respirator program, and a review of ergonomic risk factors are needed.
Here’s a suggested plan to identify all worksite hazards:
Conduct a comprehensive, baseline survey for safety and health and periodic, comprehensive update surveys.
Conduct periodic and daily safety and health inspections of the workplace.
Perform routine job safety hazard analyses. (JSA or JHA)
Change analysis of planned and new facilities, processes, materials, and equipment.
Conduct Self Assessments/Bench Marking
In order to get where you want to go, it is essential to know where you are starting from.
You can use a variety of self-audit mechanisms to compare your site processes with other recognized models of excellence such as SHARP sites or Star VPP sites.
Visiting other sites to gain first hand information is also invaluable.
You can use perception surveys to measure the strengths and weaknesses of your site safety culture.
These surveys can give you data from various viewpoints within the organization. For instance, you can measure differences in employees' and managers' perceptions on various issues.
This is an excellent way to determine whether alignment issues exist and, if so, what they are. One example is the Safety and Health Program Check Up.
At this stage, it is important to look at issues that surface as symptoms of larger system failures. For example, ask what major system failed to detect the unguarded machine, or why the system failed to notice that incident investigations are not being performed on time, or if workers are being blamed for the failures. Your greatest level of success will come when these larger system failures are recognized and addressed.
Develop an Inspection Program
To identify hazardous conditions and employee behavior and determine what actions are required to reduce or eliminate accident potential.
Additionally, inspections can help determine the extent to which employees adhere to the company's safety program, operating procedures, rules and regulations.
Developing a self-inspection program and associated checklists can help to protect company assets from fire, employee injury and injury to the public.
Their development will require the attention of someone who has a sound knowledge of the company's operations and as well as knowledge of relevant safety standards and local codes.
The self-inspection program should be a process of fact finding with an emphasis on identifying potential hazards and developing the necessary corrective actions necessary to eliminate them.
Routine site safety and health inspections are designed to catch hazards missed at other stages. This type of inspection should be done at regular intervals, generally on a weekly basis. In addition, procedures should be established that provide a daily inspection of the work area
You can use a checklist already developed or make your own, based on: ~ Past problems. ~ Standards that apply to your industry. ~ Input from everyone involved. ~ Your company's safety practices or rules.
Important things to remember about inspections are: ~ Inspections should cover every part of the worksite. ~ They should be done at regular intervals. ~ In-house inspectors should be trained to recognize and control hazards. ~ Identified hazards should be tracked to correction. ~ Information from inspections should be used to improve the hazard prevention and control program.
Need help developing your bench-marking, inspections or other aspects of your safety and health program?
Author: Deborah Grow, Safety Compliance Specialist
Private Safety Consultant, Sales-Marketing Director Damon Fall Protection and Coordinator EHS Network ~ Kansas.
Follow me on:
Comments