Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
experience. in. safety. and. health. protection. can. be. utilized. and. employee. concerns.
can. be. addressed,. provide. a. reliable. system. wherein. employees,. without. fear. of.
reprisal,.can.notify.management.personnel.about.conditions.that.appear.hazardous.
and.receive.timely.and.appropriate.responses;.and.encourage.employees.to.use.the.
system.. Provide. for. investigation. of. accidents. and. near-miss. incidents. to. identify.
both.their.causes.and.means.for.their.prevention..Analyze.injury.and.illness.trends.
over.time.so.that.patterns.with.common.causes.can.be.identiied.and.prevented.
rAnkIng hAzArds
Once.a.number.of.hazards.have.been.identiied,.a.mechanism.for.ranking.the.hazards.
needs.to.exist..The.employer.can.devise.his.own.or.use.someone.else's.approach..An.
approach. is. provided. in. this. section. that. can. be. tailored. and. revised. to. meet. the.
company's.needs.
The.main.purposes.of.ranking.hazards.are.to.determine.which.hazards.should.be.
addressed.irst.and.provide.a.method.to.prioritize.this..The.irst.step.is.to.determine.
the.probability.of.the.hazarding.occurring..This.can.be.combined.with.its.severity.
or.the.outcomes.of.its.occurrence..To.have.some.numeric.values.to.compare,.start.
with.Probability.(P).multiplied.by.Outcomes/Severity.(OS);.the.product.becomes.the.
factor.of.potential.exposure.and.the.outcome.of.exposure..These.estimates.can.come.
from.the.hazard.analysis.and.past.history.from.accident.records.
For. occupational. exposure. purposes,. the. values. in. Table 4.4. can. be. used. for.
Probability;.for.Outcome/Severity,.Table 4.5.can.be.used.to.determine.an.OS.value.
tABle 4.4
Probability of exposure values
Frequency (exposure)
P value
Frequently.(daily)
5
Likely.(weekly)
4
Occasional.(monthly)
3
Seldom.(yearly)
2
Unlikely.(every.5.years)
1
tABle 4.5
severity and outcome of exposure values
outcome
severity
os value
Catastrophic
Deaths.and.multiple.employees.in.hospital
5
Critical
Severe.disabling.injury.or.illness
4
Moderate
Medical.treatment
3
Minor
First.aid.required
2
Negligible
No.injury.or.illness
1
