Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
course. and. at. the. same. time. encourages. lexibility. in. pursuing. areas. of. potential.
use..The.supervisory.role.of.the.organizer.and.director.of.the.project.should.also.be.
coming.into.focus..Consistent,.progressive,.eficient.programs.do.not.fall.apart.by.
themselves..A.poorly.managed.program.is.normally.required.to.ensure.such.things.
There. are. additional. areas. to. think. about. that. will. give. us. a. chance. to. solidify.
our.roles.and.responsibilities.to.make.the.system.work..The.purpose.of.the.PBA.is.
to.familiarize.us.with.accidents.in.an.effort.to.establish.some.broad.perspective.of.
what.may.be.causing.them..The.PBA.and.HBA.are.only.for.fast.screening..As.in.all.
fast.screening.mechanisms,.we.must.be.willing.to.trade.off.a.degree.of.accuracy.for.
expediency..If.we.are.10.percent.off.in.the.placement.of.accidents.into.groups,.this.
is. certainly. understandable. and. acceptable. considering. the. lack. of. information. on.
many.of.the.accidents.
When.looking.at.major.groupings.or.clusters,.it.really.will.not.make.or.break.us.if.
we.miss.an.accident.that.probably.should.have.gone.in.Group.A.instead.of.Group.C..
The.result.may.have.made.Group.A.contain.75.accidents.instead.of.76—that.is.still.
considered.acceptable.
If.we.are.inclined.to.lean.one.way.or.the.other,.we.should.be.given.the.beneit.
of.the.doubt.for.all.groups.except.Group.A..Because.Group.A.will.normally.be.the.
largest,.it.is.easy.to.begin.to.throw.everything.into.Group.A.without.just.consider-
ation.of.the.other.categories.
Take.what.is.given.about.the.accident,.read.into.it.what.is.needed.to.make.sense.
out. of. it,. trust. your. instincts,. and. when. inished,. the. margin. of. error. will. be. well.
within.the.acceptable.limits..Primarily,.you.must.be.consistent..Lack.of.consistency.
really. shows. up. when. one. puts. Accident. #1. into. Group. A. and. Accident. #73. into.
Group.D.when.they.are.identical.accidents..Lack.of.consistency.can.jeopardize.any.
potential.usefulness.of.the.PBA.and.HBA.
There.is.no.clear-cut.number.of.accidents.one.should.set.out.to.analyze..Generally,.
100.accidents.is.broad.enough.coverage.to.exhibit.the.breakdown.of.accidents.into.
their.representative.groups..If.one.begins.with.ten.accidents,.for.example,.it.is.dif-
icult.to.get.any.meaning.from.the.fact.that.three.accidents.are.in.Group.2,.two.in.
another,.etc..There.just.is.not.enough.difference.between.Group.3.and.Group.2.to.
make.viable.assumptions.based.on.that.difference.
If.you.have.an.operation.with.few.accidents,.say.ten.to.twenty,.that.you.are.inter-
ested.in,.then.you.would.probably.handle.the.analysis.a.little.differently..Because.the.
number.of.accidents.is.small,.you.can.go.to.the.operation.and.get.additional.informa-
tion.about.each.accident,.and.then.factor.them.into.their.respective.groups.as.per.the.
PBA.and.HBA.
However,.it.is.important.to.remember.that.HBA.and.PBA.are.more.than.a.set.of.
tools..They.are.different.in.perspective,.a.different.way.of.looking.at.accidents..Even.
if.the.industrial.operation.only.had.one.accident,.you.would.still.want.to.look.at.it.in.
terms.of.PBA,.and.HBA,.although.you.would.not.go.through.the.paperwork.of.PBA.
and.HBA.
There.is.no.hard-and-fast.rule.on.how.far.back.to.go..Is.there.a.tendency.to.look.at.
accidents.and.incidents.dating.back.1.year,.2.years,.or.3.years?.If.you.were.dealing.
with.a.large.operation.that.ranks.above.the.national.average.for.incident.rate,.then.
you.may.not.have.to.go.beyond.1.or.2.months.to.get.100.accidents.
