risk assessment

[Andrewcarter]

Hi everyone, Can anyone help with a question I need some info on. I need a documented risk assessment so I can write up about the outcomes, causative factors and list opportunities for improvement as well as the likely impact of any change.

The reason I ask is that I do not work in OHS and have limited information. Some of the questions on the diploma I'm doing doesn't realise this.
Ant help would be great.

Thanks

[tracker]

Andrew

Start with AS / NZS ISO 31000 on Risk Management then look at " How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks " a Safework Australia Code of Practice.

For Construction work, although you can apply it to any situation especially situations involving high risk work, look at the HAZPAC from WorkCover NSW and Code of Practice for Construction work from Safe Work Australia.

Normally a risk assessment is carried out in consultation with the workers involved and includes knowledge of the Industry standards and controls applicable to the hazard you are considering.

It you are a student get together with a few other students and / or persons from your work and select a hazard that you all would be exposed to regularly ( a good one is a chemical such as bleach and get a MSDS to guide you )

Go through the process from start to finish and see if the group work together as this is not an exact science and you may find that most people have trouble identifying what the hazard actually is.

Tracker

[Andrewcarter]

Andrew

Start with AS / NZS ISO 31000 on Risk Management then look at " How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks " a Safework Australia Code of Practice.

For Construction work, although you can apply it to any situation especially situations involving high risk work, look at the HAZPAC from WorkCover NSW and Code of Practice for Construction work from Safe Work Australia.

Normally a risk assessment is carried out in consultation with the workers involved and includes knowledge of the Industry standards and controls applicable to the hazard you are considering.

It you are a student get together with a few other students and / or persons from your work and select a hazard that you all would be exposed to regularly ( a good one is a chemical such as bleach and get a MSDS to guide you )

Go through the process from start to finish and see if the group work together as this is not an exact science and you may find that most people have trouble identifying what the hazard actually is.

Tracker

[Andrewcarter]

Hi Tracker

the thing is I'm doing this online and do not work ikn OHS so it is hard for me to team up with people as I am a service agent and work on my own. Also I don't have access to RA's so I have to search on the net.

Cheers for the reply

Andrew









Andrew

Start with AS / NZS ISO 31000 on Risk Management then look at " How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks " a Safework Australia Code of Practice.

For Construction work, although you can apply it to any situation especially situations involving high risk work, look at the HAZPAC from WorkCover NSW and Code of Practice for Construction work from Safe Work Australia.
Thanks Tracker,



Normally a risk assessment is carried out in consultation with the workers involved and includes knowledge of the Industry standards and controls applicable to the hazard you are considering.

It you are a student get together with a few other students and / or persons from your work and select a hazard that you all would be exposed to regularly ( a good one is a chemical such as bleach and get a MSDS to guide you )

Go through the process from start to finish and see if the group work together as this is not an exact science and you may find that most people have trouble identifying what the hazard actually is.

Tracker

[tracker]

Andrew,

The difficulty of doing OHS on line especially given the legislation is all about consultation and the need to exchange thoughts, ideas and industry experience as part of OHS learning.

Get a copy of the Hazpac off the WorkCover NSW web site (or any risk assessment tool such as SWMS, JSA etc ) and follow the process substituting construction work for a hazard that you are exposed to. Not certain what a service agent does but you may be exposed to things like moving vehicles, hazardous chemicals, trips, electrical, excessive noise or even manaual handling. If you are having trouble and you have a BBQ get a MSDS on LP gas ( hazard - fire & expolsion ) and carry out a risk assessment on transporting, installing, using, maintaining and storing the gas bottle looking at who is exposed at each stage, what controls are in place now and how can the risk be reduced.

Without knowing your location it is difficult to advise but join a Local Safety Group - I am in the Southern Safety Group in Dandenong Victoria and was for years in the Central Coast group in Gosford NSW but they are in most States - your local OHS Inspectors should be able to tell you how to contact them.


Tracker

[alanmurfee]

Risk assessment is unfortunately easily overlooked. This makes it difficult to determine dangers and reduce their impact. I believe risk assessment should be made a compulsory part of construction industry.

[tracker]

Andrew

OHS / WHS Legislation in all states requires an employer to identify hazards and assess the risk and to consult - in new WHS Act it goes even further for areas considered as High Risk Construction work and requires Employers to prepare a Safe Work Method Statement.

The difficulty at present is that few people understand what a hazard is , SWMS are being prepared as generic documents ( that are over complicated and /or include work that is not high risk ) so when presented workers tend to turn off and just agree instead of participating in a true risk assessment and consultation process.
If done right they are an excellent document that can be used in any industry to compliment Safe Operating Proceedures etc etc.

Have a look at Construction Work Code of Practice - Safe Work Australia that is on the web www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au


Tracker

[Chris A]

Andrew


The difficulty at present is that few people understand what a hazard is , SWMS are being prepared as generic documents ( that are over complicated and /or include work that is not high risk ) so when presented workers tend to turn off and just agree instead of participating in a true risk assessment and consultation process.
If done right they are an excellent document that can be used in any industry to compliment Safe Operating Proceedures etc etc.



Tracker

This is probably one of the BEST paragraphs i have read about OHS any where:cool:

I have lost count of the times when safty reps try and brow beat you into what they consider a danger, it is extremely hard to swallow when they have no idea on what they are even looking at, but just going from a book or some form of inadequate training they have had.

Comming from a domestic and now comercial building experiance, the people that get the best results from workers, are the ones that admit they do not know it all, and belive it or not those people are few and far between, the BEST people to do a risk assesment are the ones that work with the machine\site every day, yes we need promting sometimes, but we do know how bad a machine can bite, and belive it or not most people like the idea of not ending up at hospital;)

As tracker has touched on, there is a huge us and them menatlity out on site, both side are generally wrong, but when work together it is a good result.

OP, a risk assesment is a hard thing to do, more so if you have no back ground in what you are trying to do it on, find some people family\friends that work in what ever you are trying to do it on, and have a chat to them, this is the only way to do it, not just to pass the test, but to have some idea on what you really are looking at, do this and keep doing this when working as a OHS safty rep, and you will become one of the few that are repected in a workplace.