Worksite
Analysis
Worksite
analysis is a combination of systematic
actions that provide the employer with
the information necessary to recognize
and understand the existing and potential
hazards of the workplace. While these
actions may appear
complicated, they are really basic activities
that are
performed in most workplaces. It includes
these actions:
- A
comprehensive hazard identification
program established and a hazard inventory
completed.
- Regular
site safety and health inspections
are completed on a regular basis (i.e.
monthly or more often).
- A
system is established for employees
to report hazards without fear of
reprisal.
- An
accident/incident investigation procedure
is in place.
- A
procedure for analyzing injury/illness
trends at least annually established.
B1
COMPREHENSIVE
HAZARD IDENTIFICATION
|
In
order to design a program of prevention
and control, an employer must have a
comprehensive hazard survey, a change
analysis, and a routine hazard analysis.
The
comprehensive hazard survey is the most
basic tool used to establish a prevention
and control program. This survey should
be performed by experts, preferably
someone not involved with the workplace,
who has a broad knowledge base of safety
engineering, industrial hygiene and,
if applicable, occupational medicine.
This survey identifies current and possible
hazards at the worksite. This survey
should be performed on a periodic basis.
The
second component used to build a prevention
and control program is the change analysis.
This analysis is conducted prior to
a change in facilities, equipment, processes,
or materials in the workplace. In this
way, potential hazards can be identified
before the change goes into effect.
It will also provide a source of savings
for the employer in that possible faulty
designed can be located and changed
before going into place.
The
last component of the comprehensive
hazard identification is the routine
hazard analysis. The most basic form
of routine hazard analysis is the job
safety analysis. This analysis divides
a job into tasks and steps, and then
it allows for an analysis of potential
hazards. A method of prevention and
control can then be developed from the
analysis that can eliminate the potential
hazards.
DO:
- Require
periodic inspections, surveys or consultations
from outside sources such as your
insurance carrier or the onsite consultation
project in your state. Require periodic
industrial hygiene surveys.
- Develop procedures to be conducted by in-house personnel to support
the improvement recommendations made
in those surveys, such as insuring
that ventilation systems are maintained,
personal protective equipment is used,
etc.
- Require that capital expenditures for new facilities or new equipment
be reviewed from a safety aspect during
their planning stages
- Secure from equipment manufacturers use and servicing instructions
for all equipment in use.
- Ensure that your operating procedures are consistent with safety
rules furnished by the manufacturer
and that they are adequate to protect
your workforce.
- Develop specific safe work procedures using job hazard analysis
techniques for tasks where the procedures
are insufficient or lacking
- Perform
routine job hazard analyses on all
new tasks, tasks involving new machinery
or processes, and tasks identified
as being involved in accidents.
B2
REGULAR SITE SAFETY & HEALTH
INSPECTIONS
|
Each
worksite should perform a safety and
health inspection on a regular basis.
Employees at the worksite can be trained
to perform these inspections. The goal
of performing this inspection will be
to identify any controls that might
have slipped since the routine analysis
was performed.
DO:
- Develop
an inspection program and assign responsibility.
- Train in-house safety inspectors and supervisors in hazard identification.
- Require
written reports of inspections.
- Follow
up to ensure correction of items identified
by in-house inspectors.
- Develop interim protections as a temporary hazard correction.
B3
EMPLOYEE
REPORTS OF HAZARDS
|
The
goal of any safety and health program
is to identify and correct hazards before
they become a problem and employees
are harmed. The employer should use
all employees as hazard lookouts. The
name of the game is accident and illness
prevention, and it should start with
each person who enters the job site.
To be effective, employees need to know
whom to notify and how, fear no reprisal.
Employees
will also need to see timely response
to their reports. These responses are
visible evidence of management's commitment
to worker safety and health and your
desire for meaningful employee involvement.
DO:
- Develop
a safety observation and reporting
system to provide a way for employees
to notify you of conditions or practices
they think are hazardous.
- Ensure
that all new employees are aware of
how to report unsafe conditions and
what actions should be taken while
the hazard is being corrected.
- Develop
a tracking procedure that requires
final disposition of recommendations
or hazards reported.
- Develop a response system to ensure that employees are informed
of decisions; this will increase employee's
confidence that you are serious about
safety and health.
B4
ACCIDENT/INCIDENCE REPORTS
|
Unfortunately
accidents can happen. Accidents must
be investigated and analyzed in a timely
manner while the facts are still fresh
and allows for accident reenactment.
Prompt investigation also indicates
managements concern.
Employers
should use accidents as learning tools
by investigating them to determine the
causes and then developing ways to avoid
similar situations in the future. Every
accident has a cause. Once you determine
what caused the accident, you can take
steps to keep it from happening again
and minimize time loss. The emphasis
for accident investigation should be
on fact-finding, not fault finding.
Because
the immediate supervisor is usually
first on the scene, the supervisor should
be trained in accident investigation.
The investigation should determine:
