Construction Safety

“A safety professional must consider the levels of

understanding to risk when working with sites or
individuals. We are walking lessons learned, and that is
our advantage.”
• Risk is not a new concept. In fact, every day we evaluate the risks in our lives and
make decisions accordingly. Everything from the house we live in to the speed of
our car to the route we take to work to how we spend our money are all based on
decisions to manage and mitigate risk.
• A great deal of time and effort is often spent developing Health and Safety Plans
for organizations in an effort to manage risk. Most health and safety plans are
comprehensive in nature and provide such things as the nature of hazards present
in the workplace, as well as who will be responsible for health and safety related
tasks that are conducted to protect against these hazards.
• In order to mitigate or eliminate risk, one must first recognize the risk.
• A safety professional must consider the levels of understanding to risk when
working with sites or individuals. We are walking lessons learned, and that is
our advantage. Gauging the "expected knowledge" in a simple conversation
is critical to establishing understanding of risk such that efforts can be made
proactively to prevent harm.
 Process for Managing Risk
• Risk identification: Potential risks are defined, such as work site hazards.
• Risk analysis: Risks are then reviewed in order to determine the probability of leading to negative outcomes,
their potential consequences, and causal relationships with other business functions.
• Risk assessment and evaluation: The risk is then further evaluated after determining the overall likelihood of
occurrence combined with its overall consequence. Decisions can then be made on whether the risk is
acceptable and whether the company is willing to do it (or continue to do it, as related in the story) based on
its appetite for risk.
• Risk mitigation: This step is conducted in order to assess and prioritize risks, as well as develop plans to
mitigate them using specific risk controls. During this step, actions to address the risk and drive
improvement through interventions occur.
• Risk monitoring: Part of the mitigation plan includes following up on both the risks and assessing the
effectiveness of any controls in place that were designed to eliminate or mitigate this risk(s).