Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
tABle 11.1
Physical Barrier Analysis (PBA) matrix
1
2
3
4
Barrier on the
energy source
Barrier
between energy
source and the
Person
Barrier on the
Person
time/space
Barrier
separating the
energy & the
Person
A
Was not
Possible and
Practical
B
Was Possible
and Practical
but not
Provided
c
Was Provided
but not used
d
Was Provided
and used,
but Failed
Human.barriers.work.the.opposite.way..The.presence.of.human.barriers.increases.
the.likelihood.of.accidents.and.prevents.an.individual.from.making.the.appropriate.
response..Human.barriers.increase.the.likelihood.of.an.individual.doing.something.that.
should.not.be.done.(e.g.,.walking.into.the.path.of.a.moving.vehicle)..Human.barriers.
decrease.the.likelihood.of.an.individual.doing.something.that.should.be.done.(e.g.,.lock-
ing.out.and.tagging.disconnecting.devices.before.working.on.electrical.equipment).
When.physical.barriers.are.used,.the.physical.environment.in.which.the.person.
works.is.changed..At.times,.there.are.some.solutions.that.do.not.involve.changing.the.
physical.environment..Those.solutions.involve.doing.something.to.the.worker..When.
dealing.with.human.barriers,.try.to.change.factors.that.directly.impact.the.person,.or.
try.to.change.the.way.the.person.responds.
In.doing.the.HBA,.there.are.three.assumptions.to.make..First,.there.are.logical,.
understandable.reasons.why.people.perform.in.ways.that.lead.to.an.accident..Second,.
those. reasons. usually. take. the. form. of. barriers. that. cause. them. to. do. things. they.
should.not.do..Third,.the.reasons.that.cause.them.not.to.do.things.they.should.not do..
Identifying. and. eliminating. these. barriers. will. increase. the. likelihood. of. perfor-
mance. that. reduces. the. possibility. of. accidents. and. reduces. the. likelihood. of. the.
performance.that.causes.accidents.
