Risk Management - Part 2 of 4.

From Engineering in Part 1, we move to Work Process Design in the progression of eliminating or minimizing hazards to the worker. Each step is increasingly more difficult, complex and expensive than the prior step. Where we looked at the overall project in Step 1, we now look at the individual tasks with the goal of minimizing worker exposure to specific hazards we could not eliminate.

In the Engineering step we identified the safest possible material which could be used. In Work Process Design we consider tools, aids and guards (below) to isolate the worker from direct contact with the work or material; or to isolate the worker from the work point where the tool contacts the material.

Tools might be the actual tool to do the work such as cutting, scraping; or a power tool to replace a hand tool. Select tools which are effective in doing the work and isolate the worker from hazards wherever possible. A tool might be used to reach into a machine to insert or adjust material. A tool might be a large machine such as a crane or forklift.

Aids are items which not only minimize obvious hazards, but reduce the chances or ergonomic injuries such as proper seating/positioning and lift tables. An aid in Work Process Design might be simple common sense such as storing heavy objects on lower shelves to minimize lifting.

Guards may be on the machine or equipment, or they may be work on the person, such as a face shield. Face shields come under the category of PPE which we cover in Part 3 of this series. Guards are required on machines to protect the worker from exposure to hazardous tools and work points. See http://safetyrich.blogspot.com/2011/06/spotted-2.html for an extreme example of the failure to use guards to protect the worker.

If you have an example of a task where you are deciding on a solution to protect the worker, let us help.  Send your question to: SafetyRich@gmail.com. If it is an existing situation, a picture or video can help. This service is to help the worker, so we conduct the analysis at no charge, with no obligation.

The process of Risk Management is to protect the worker from harm. We begin by Engineering safety into the project. Then we do Work Process Design to make the task safer. When we reach a point where hazards can no longer be eliminated or minimized, we provide Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to protect the worker.  Part 3 of 4 discusses the selection use and maintenance of PPE.

See our Web site: SafetyRich