Lesson 2 of 4

Spotting and reducing hazards

You cannot fix a danger you have not noticed. Good safety starts with looking at the workplace the way a visitor would, and asking, "What could hurt someone here?"

Hazard and risk

A hazard is anything that could cause harm. A risk is how likely it is that the harm will happen, and how bad it would be.

A wet floor is a hazard. If it is in a quiet corner that nobody uses, the risk is low. If it is in the busiest walkway, where people carry boxes, the risk is high. The hazard is the same, but the risk is not.

Common hazards at work

  • Slips, trips and falls: wet floors, loose cables, boxes in the walkway, poor lighting.
  • Moving vehicles: forklifts, trucks reversing, bakkies in the yard.
  • Falling objects: goods stacked too high or in an unsteady way.
  • Tools and machines: blades, moving parts, damaged equipment.
  • Fire and electrical: damaged plugs, overloaded sockets, blocked exits.
  • People factors: tiredness, rushing, heat, noise, distraction.
Four steps to deal with a hazard Four boxes joined by arrows: spot the hazard, judge the risk, choose a control, check it works. A return arrow shows that the cycle repeats. 1. Spot the hazard 2. Judge the risk 3. Choose a control 4. Check it works Look again. Work and workplaces change.
Dealing with a hazard is a cycle, not a one-off job.

Controls: ways to reduce the risk

A control is anything that makes a hazard less likely to hurt someone. The best controls deal with the hazard itself, not just the person near it. In order, from best to weakest:

  1. Remove the hazard. Fix the leaking tap so the floor stays dry.
  2. Keep people away from it. Put a barrier, a guard or a marked walkway between people and the danger.
  3. Change how the work is done. Agree on one-way traffic in the yard, or train people before they use a machine.
  4. Protect the person. Personal protective equipment, the subject of the next lesson.

Warning signs and cones help, but they only work while someone is paying attention. Where you can, fix the cause.

Example

Boxes keep ending up in the walkway between two shelves, and people have nearly tripped. Spotting the hazard is step 1. The walkway is busy at lunch, so the risk is high, which is step 2. The team marks a line on the floor and agrees that boxes are never left outside it, which is step 3. A week later the supervisor walks the aisle to see if the line is respected, which is step 4.

What you can do

You do not need to be a safety expert. Take a short look at your work area at the start of a shift. If you find a hazard, make it safe only if you can do so without putting yourself at risk. If you cannot, keep others away and tell someone who can fix it.

Key points
  • A hazard is anything that could cause harm. Risk is how likely and how serious the harm is.
  • Spot, judge, control, check, and then look again.
  • Controls that remove or block the hazard are stronger than controls that rely on people remembering.
  • If you cannot fix a hazard safely, tell someone who can.