Our latest Safetip is about maintaining an inventory of internal and external sources of information on workplaces hazards.
Hazards and Risks: What’s the Difference?
Many people use “hazards” and “risks” interchangeably, but they’re not the same thing!
A hazard is a source of potential damage, harm or adverse effect. It can affect something or someone. A hazard has the potential to cause illness or injury to people, or damage to property or equipment.
A risk is the likelihood of an adverse event due to exposure to a hazard. A risk assessment determines the likelihood that an incident would take place because of the hazard, and the severity of the potential incident.
In essence, an incident is a risk that has materialized because of: 1) the presence of a hazard, and 2) exposure to the hazard (contact, interaction, close proximity, etc).
It is theoretically possible for a hazard to exist without any serious risk of incident. But that’s not the proper mindset to adopt. All hazards should be taken seriously and investigated for their potential to cause harm.
Once a hazard is identified, it can either be eliminated, or control measures can be used to reduce risks of incidents caused by the hazard. The hierarchy of controls shows the effectiveness of control measures.
Let’s use an example. Inspecting a communication tower is a hazardous situation because someone has to work at heights. You can either eliminate the hazard by using a drone to conduct the inspection, or you can mitigate the risk of injury by using fall protection gear or a mobile elevated platform.
List All Sources of Information
An effective workplace safety program consists of identifying and mitigating safety risks. You need to be aware of workplace hazards to properly identify safety risks.
To help with hazard identification and assessment, start by creating and maintaining a list of all sources of information on workplace hazards. The sources should be consulted periodically, or whenever a new process or job task is introduced.
The following are sources of information on hazards that may already be available in your workplace and that are mentioned in OSHA’s document on Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs:
- Equipment and machinery operating manuals.
- Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) provided by chemical manufacturers.
- Self-inspection reports and inspection reports from insurance carriers, government agencies, and consultants.
- Records of previous injuries and illnesses, such as OSHA 300 and 301 logs.
- Reports of incident investigations.
- Workers’ compensation records and reports.
- Patterns of frequently occurring injuries and illnesses.
- Exposure monitoring results, industrial hygiene assessments, and medical records (appropriately redacted to ensure patient/worker privacy).
- Input from workers, including surveys or minutes from safety and health committee meetings.
- Results of job hazard analyses or job safety analyses.
- Documentation from other existing safety and health programs (lockout/tagout, confined spaces, process safety management, PPE, etc.).
There are also external sources of information that you can use, such as:
- Websites, publications and alerts from OSHA, NIOSH, the CDC, EU OSHA, EU ECHA, the UK HSE, and other government agencies from around the world.
- Best practices or other publications made available by industry groups or trade associations.
- Labor unions, state and local occupational safety and health committees/coalitions, and worker advocacy groups.
- Safety and health subject matter experts and consultants.
Be sure that all internal sources of information are always up-to-date, and monitor the external sources.
Finally, don’t be reactive by simply waiting for a hazard to be documented somewhere. Be proactive by encouraging workers to report observations and near misses directly in the field through mobile devices. Events reported by workers can help you identify new hazards.
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Posted by SkillMaker in Nov, 2014
There are many different sources of Work Health & Safety information available at online websites like //www.comlaw.gov.au/details/c2011A00137. You will also find relevant information by going to the library, by reading newspapers, and by watching some of the news programs. You will find that there are several pamphlets available about Work Health & Safety from organizations like the workers compensation board, and Australian OH&S Risk Management Services.
What are Sources of WHS information like?
Sources of Work Health Safety information are like books, newspaper articles, flyers, pamphlets, and educational videos explaining the regulations set out by the WHS Act.
What is WHS information used for?
Some of the top uses for Work Health Safety information are:
- So that employers can be certain that they are in compliance with all of the rules and regulations named in the WHS Act
- So that employees can learn about what things their employers are allowed to require of them and what things they are not allowed to ask them to do. Such as; employers cannot ask an employee to do work that they are not going to be paid for having done.
- So students can write engaging papers on the topic
- So that officials in the police departments, and judicial system, are kept abreast of all of the changes that may occur in the Work Health & Safety Act
What is the principle structure of WHS information?
The principle structure of Work Health & Safety information is:
- Written information detailing the regulations described in the WHS Act
- Written descriptions of non-compliance cases, and written explanations detailing employers who are doing their part to honor the Work Health & Safety Act rules
- Pamphlets that are designed to be informative and to rise the curiosity of people so that they want to learn more about the WHS act
- Video clips that are put online at webpages detailing the Work Health & Safety Act
- News stories done by local news anchors covering the different aspects of the WHS act
What are the different Sources of WHS information?
Some of the sources of information for WHS are:
- Newspaper articles written by local reporters covering companies in compliance, and companies found to not be in compliance, and informative articles written to explain to the general public what the Work Health & Safety act is, and how it is designed to work
- Local news programs that do interviews with people who are responsible for regulating the rules of the Work Health & Safety Act
- Pamphlets from organizations who are trying to get the word about the Work Health & Safety act out to as many people, and employers as possible
- Online government websites that have pertinent information about the WHS act
- Law enforcement agencies that are charged with enforcing the laws detailed in the Work, Health & Safety act
- Libraries that have written material on-hand
- Social media sites like YouTube will often have informational videos that people have made about the subject of Work Health & Safety issues
- The office of the workers compensation board will have information to help you learn more about the subject
What terms are used when accessing WHS information?
When accessing information about the WHS act you will come across some common terms. Some of these terms are:
- Publications which may be referring to magazines or to newspapers that are published daily, or weekly
- Periodicals are magazines, or newspapers, that are published at set intervals like daily, weekly, monthly, semi-annually, or annually
- Broadcasts are video clips of people giving interviews concerning the subject
- Pamphlets are usually printed information made into small books that agencies hand out to interested people, and to people they believe could benefit from knowing the information contained in the written material
- Articles are the stories that a reporter writes and publishes in newspapers, magazines, and on online websites
- Site specific management plan refers to the WHS guidelines that are put into place for one particular job location
Where can I find more information about the Sources of WHS information?
If you have an interest in learning more about the WHS act and the rules governing employers in Australia you can find some more information at the following websites.
//whsnational.com/whs
//www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/swa/model-whs-laws/model-whs-act/pages/model-whs-act
//www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/SWA
Information about regulatory issues, industry trends and your competition is crucial to the development of your small business. Begin by identifying your business's information needs. Then, seek out good information sources. By using them properly, you can prevent legal problems and identify new opportunities for your small business.
Information Issues
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Your small business can miss opportunities and even find itself in regulatory trouble if you don't monitor information about your industry. Missing opportunities and running afoul of regulators can cost you time and money that you cannot afford to lose. Yet, the challenge for a small business owner is that you don't have the funds to hire a corporate librarian or competitive intelligence specialist to seek out and maintain this information. It's important to develop cost-effective ways to keep abreast of legal and industry changes that have a significant impact on your business.
Information Needs
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Before searching for information sources, identify the information that you need. During your workday, keep a record of the types of information you use to perform your job and the topics of any Internet searches that you perform. Survey your employees about their information needs, and ask them how they find their information. You will likely identify several areas in which your business relies on your ability to develop accurate sources of information.
Information Sources
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There are numerous online and print information sources that are very accessible to businesses of any size. Government agencies often sponsor websites that contain a great deal of information for non-legal professionals. These sites are usually very reliable and up-to-date. Industry and trade organizations may also sponsor websites and print publications that contain industry news and comprehensive information about regulatory changes.
Proprietary database companies sell online access to multiple information sources, including legislative and regulatory information as well as industry guides that contain information about companies and their leadership. Database companies offer subscription packages that include access to data sources that are important to your business and industry.
Maintaining Information
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A good way to ensure that information remains up-to-date and accessible is to develop a shared spreadsheet for the different information categories pertinent to your business. Assign responsibility for maintaining these spreadsheets to one or more employees, or take on the responsibility yourself. To address the problem of making business decisions and assumptions based on outdated information, specify the date when information is entered and updated in each cell or section of the spreadsheet. Other good policies for maintaining information spreadsheets include identifying information sources in the form of comments on spreadsheet cells and assigning someone to review all of the spreadsheet's information on an annual basis.