Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Key Point
A hazard is anything that could hurt you or someone else.
Key Point
Assessing the risk means working out how likely it is that a hazard will harm someone
and how serious the harm could be.
Whenever you spot a hazard, assess the risk by asking yourself two questions:
For example:
ask your supervisor for instructions and training before using equipment
Key Point
It is your employer's responsibility to fix hazards. Sometimes you may be able to fix
simple hazards yourself, as long as you don't put yourself or others at risk. For example,
you can pick up things from the floor and put them away to eliminate a trip hazard.
The best way to fix a hazard is to get rid of it altogether. This is not always possible, but
your employer should try to make hazards less dangerous by looking at the following
options (in order from most effective to least effective):
Isolation - Separate the hazard from people, by marking the hazardous area, fitting
screens or putting up safety barriers. (e.g. Welding screens can be used to isolate
welding operations from other workers. Barriers and/or boundary lines can be used
to separate areas where forklifts operate near pedestrians in the workplace.)
Activities
Students can complete the following Hazard, Risk Assessment and Control activities:
HAZARD IDENTIFICATION
HAZARD ID PROCESS
Identification
Walk around your workplace
Identify actual and potential hazards
Ask yourself what if..?
List the hazards
Risk Assessment
Hazards are classified as Significant, Medium or Low risks
Significant Hazards Ask yourself Does this have the potential to kill or permanently
disable someone?
Medium Risk Hazards Ask yourself Does this have the potential to cause a serious
injury or illness that will temporarily disable someone?
Low Risk Hazards Ask Yourself Does this have the potential to cause a minor injury
that would not disable someone?
Control
Hazards must be controlled by Eliminating or Minimising
List the hazards in your Hazard Register
Decide whether they are Significant, Medium or Low risks and decide how you will
control them
The higher the risk, the more extensive the control measures need to be
Decide whether you can Eliminate the hazards in the first instance or Minimise the
hazards and who will be responsible to do this
Advise all staff of the hazards and what you are doing about them
Monitor
Hazards need to be monitored to ensure your control measures are effective.
Specify a timeframe to do this Daily, Weekly, Monthly etc.
New Hazards
Encourage the reporting of new hazards and apply the same process to them as they arise.
1. STEP 1: Look for the hazards.
2. STEP 2: Decide who might be harmed and how.
3. STEP 3: Evaluate the risks and decide whether the existing precautions are adequate or.
4. Whether more should be done.
5. STEP 4: Record your findings.
6. STEP 5: Review your assessment and revise it if necessary.