Identifying Hazards and Risk Assessment

Course No: 10335/ICA506111
Training Package: ICA11
Topic 3: Identifying Hazards, Assessing & Controlling Risks

This topic addresses the following performance criteria:
1. Develop procedures for ongoing hazards identification, and assessment and control of
associated risks;
2. Include hazard identification at the planning, design and evaluation stages of any change n
the workplace to ensure that new hazards are not created by the proposed changes;
3. Develop and maintain procedures for selection and implementation of risk control
measures in accordance with the hierarchy of control;
4. Identify inadequacies in existing risk control measures in accordance with the hierarchy of
control, and promptly provide resources to enable implementation of new measures;
5. Identify intervention points for expert OHS advice.
Introduction
Topic 1 focused on the requirements for organisations to establish and maintain an effective OHS
system.
Topic 2 explored the participative arrangements and consultation needed to ensure that the OHS
system is supported by consultation, the management of issues and effective communication
involving all managers and employees of the organisation.
Every organisation must provide a safe and healthy workplace for their people and for visitors to
the workplace. In this Topic 3, we will address the fundamental process to identify hazards, assess
the related risks, and control those risks via the hierarchy of control.
Organisations must:
 Develop procedures for hazard identification;
 Develop procedures for risk assessment and control;
 Incorporate OHS considerations into any workplace changes to ensure new hazards are not
created;
 Develop procedures that enable the organisation to select and implement risk control
measures in accordance with the hierarch of control;
 Maintain and update risk control measures to address any inadequacies;
 Support the provision of resources to execute hazard identification and risk management
processes;
 Identify when expert OHS advice is required and access that advice at the appropriate
level.
Workplace Accidents
Accidents occur in the workplace. They may be minor accidents, but others can be major accidents
that may cause serious injury, disability to employees or employee death(s). As a result, the
organisation will experience loss in a number of areas including:
 Loss of productivity as injured workers are unable to work;
 Loss of efficiency as production processes are delayed by the need to investigate and
recover from a major accident;
BSBOHS509A, Assignment, Version 2 Page 15of 33

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 Financial loss due to legal liability, increases in insurance, workers compensation

commitments, and training and rehabilitation costs.
The majority of accidents are caused by system failures or poorly designed work systems. Only a
small number of accidents are actually caused by human errors. The nomination of human error as
a cause of accidents in the workplace infers that an employee has made a mistake in the execution
of their job role duties. Generally this can be linked back to an issue that that has arisen due to the
employee’s training or the role that supervision plays in the day-to-day activities of employees.
Organisation must work with their employees to build a culture that is positive towards OHS. This
in turn drives a higher level of focus in each individual employee and in the various teams and
groups within the organisation.
When an accident occurs in a workplace, the organisation needs to facilitate the reporting,
recording and investigation of the incident. This includes those incidents that are classified as near
misses. The investigation needs to research the cause of the incident and recommend changes or
updates in the work practices or operations of the organisation to prevent a similar incident
occurring in the future.
Organisations must also notify the appropriate OHS authority in their Sate or Territory of:
 A dangerous incident or accident;
 An injury that causes an employee to miss 30 consecutive days of work or shift periods;
 An accident that causes serious injury;
 And of course an accident that causes death.
This is a requirement under current legislation.
Hazard Identification
Many accidents in the workplace are actually caused by hazards. Hazards are defined as things
that are likely to cause accident or injury, harm health or property.
Organisations have a primary OHS responsibility to identify hazards and then act to control them,
the main intent being to prevent accidents, near misses and injury in the workplace.
There are 3 steps associated with the obligation to manage hazards in the workplace:
1. Identify the hazard (hazard identification);
2. Assess the risk (risk assessment);
3. Act to control the risk (risk management and control).
Some hazards may be very obvious and are easy to identify (e.g. employees running electrical
cords across the a walkway). Some hazards cannot be observed or easily identified (e.g. the use of
chemicals in work areas may introduce a hidden hazard via inhalation). Other hazards develop
over a period of time and may be difficult to observe while they are developing (e.g. wearing of
electrical cords may develop over a period of time and may not be easily identified when the
hazard starts to occur.
Organisations may conduct safety audits that will facilitate the identification of hazards in the
workplace. One may undertake audits simply by inspecting a workplace and completing a safety
audit checklist. The checklist needs to be tailored for the specific work area or organisation.

Example of safety audit checklist:

Office Area Safety Element Yes No Action needed
First-aid kits Kits are fully stocked
Employees can access kits
Lights All lights are working
Glare minimisation is in place
Lighting is adequate
Hygiene Common kitchen area is clean
Toilet areas are clean
Rubbish is in bins
Washroom basins have soap
Storage areas Lighting is adequate in storage areas
Storage items are packed correctly
Heavy items are stored on lower shelves
Walkways Are clear of any obstructions
Are even surfaces
Are not used for storage
Have adequate lighting
Completing safety audit checklists ensures the audit process can be carried out efficiently and
effectively. Formal procedure documents are needed to support the safety audit activity that is
required by the organisation and to ensure that he appropriate personnel are able to comply with
the organisation’s expectations for this activity.
Formally recording the results of the safety audit:
 Enables the organisation to address any areas identified as requiring improvement,
 Ensures that the audit activities can be reviewed by the appropriate delegate in the
organisation,
 Ensures that a formal acceptance of the results and any resulting actions can be achieved.
This process reflects consistency and integrity, as all safety audits within an organisation would be
done using a standard approach, forms and tools.
Statistical analysis may be performed to highlight areas that need to be reviewed and addressed.
This gives the organisation an opportunity to take proactive action and concentrate on the aspects
of the workplace that appear to be more harmful or present more risks to employees.
Employees are required to report a hazard to their employer immediately upon its identification.
Employers have a responsibility to take action to address the hazard and keep employees
informed of the progress of the activity to address the hazard and manage the risk.

Risk Assessment
Whenever a hazard is identified in a workplace, risk assessment must be performed to determine
the risk associated with the hazard. This assessment is required to determine the likelihood of the
hazard causing harm or injury, and also to determine the severity of the harm or injury that is
likely to occur.
In the context of OHS, risk is defined as the possibility that a hazard will have an adverse effect or
impact on the health, safety, well-being of the employees or visitors to the workplace.
Risk assessment is an integral part of an organisation’s OHS system and organisations have an
obligation to assess and manage risk once a hazard has been identified in the workplace
For each hazard that has been identified, the Risk Assessment process needs to consider the
following factors:
1. Frequency of exposure to the hazard;
2. Likelihood of the hazard to cause harm;
3. Severity of the harm that would be caused if the hazard resulted in an accident.
The organisation must then consider the combined impact of these 3 factors. This will indicate the
level of risk that is attributed to the hazard, which will then determine the actions that need to be
taken to manage the risk.
Most organisations will perform risk assessments by using and completing a risk register (or risk
log), which enables them to allocate a grading, or level of significance, of each risk that has been
identified in the workplace.
Example of Risk Register:

Hazard Frequency Probability Impact Priority
Electrical appliance High High Very significant 1
Boxes in hall High Low Not significant 3
Risk Management
Once a hazard has been identified and a risk assessment has been performed, organisations are
required by law to take action to control and manage the risk that has been identified.
The most common way to approach this is by the use of the hierarchy of controls, and the
preferred order is as follows:
1. Elimination;
2. Substitution;
3. Engineering;
4. Administration;
5. Personal protective equipment (or PPE).

The preferred outcome when a risk has been identified and assessed is to remove the risk from
the workplace (elimination). In most organisations however it is not possible to totally eliminate a
risk. Therefore organisations must apply a process to reduce the risk associated with the hazard,
and hence reduce the impact that the risk may have on employees or visitors to their workplace.
If a hazard cannot be eliminated from the workplace, the organisation needs to seek to substitute
it with a less hazardous alternative (substitution). For example, substitute dangerous cleaning
chemicals with organic products that do not contain poisonous substances.
If the organisation cannot eliminate the hazard or use an appropriate substitute, then they must
undertake steps to engineer the hazard (engineering), and thus reduce the risk that employees are
being exposed to in the workplace. For example: installation of high power ventilation systems to
evacuate dangerous fumes.
If it is not possible for a period of time to eliminate, substitute or engineer a hazard, administrative
measures should be used (administration) to address the hazard condition and reduce the risk to
employees and visitors to the workplace. For example: implementation of work instructions and
procedures that reduce the possible risk in the workplace.
As a final control, an organisation may provide PPE to its employees and visitors to the workplace.
This would occur when no other method of control is practical for the organisation. For example:
providing protective clothing to all employees and visitors to the workplace. This method would be
regarded as the least reliable in the hierarchy of controls as it depends on individual compliance
and relies on the behaviour of every individual in the workplace.
Example of risk register

Reason for Accountable Area,
Risk Priority Control Method
Method Delegate, Timeframe
Engineer – Unable to
Injury from Production department, Factory
installation of eliminate risk or
factory High manager,
guards on substitute
machinery Within 7 days
machinery machinery
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Organisational Change
Organisations operate in highly competitive and dynamic marketplaces and there is a constant
need for them to improve and change in order to remain competitive, retain good employees,
increase market share and profits and maintain a positive organisational image.
As a result, many workplaces undergo change on an increasing basis. Changes may be needed in
the following areas:
 Policy & procedure changes to reflect changes in law or industry regulations;
 Product changes to reflect demand patterns or customer preferences;

 Work practice changes to introduce increased efficiency or safety;

 New information technology systems to increase efficiency or enhance customer
management techniques;
 Revised work practices to reduce cost and improve quality of output.
There are many reasons why organisations will seek to change and improve their practices and the
product or service offerings they have. While the process of change may be difficult to undertake
for organisations and their employees on such a rapid basis, the impacts of not responding to
change may be significant and include:
 Loss of talented employees;
 Los of customers;
 Reduction in demand for product or service;
 Increasing costs associated with core business activities;
 Non-compliance with legislation or regulations;
 Our-dated equipment or technology that results in increasing maintenance or replacement
costs;
 Workplace accidents.
It is good business practice for an organisation to plan and implement change to the organisation
using an effective change management process. An important part of this process is the
evaluation of the change and of any risks associated with the change. Because an organisation will
invest time, money and resources into change activities, there needs to be a process to ensure
that there is benefit to the organisation. Many organisations will undertake a formal evaluation of
changes to ensure the costs are appropriate for the level of benefit the organisation expects to
achieve, and also to ascertain the impact of the change on the employees of the organisation.
Changes will be evaluated to ensure any legal or regulatory impact is identified and managed, to
ensure ongoing compliance with legal obligations. From an OHS perspective, risk analysis must
also be performed on changes to ensure that new hazards are not introduced to the workplace,
and to ensure that the health, safety and wellbeing of employees are not impacted by the change.
Taking a proactive approach to evaluating the OHS impacts of a change helps to ensure that the
organisation is able to take action and avoid introducing a new hazard to a workplace as a result of
a workplace change
Review of Risk Management

The risk management processes of an organisation should be reviewed on a regular basis to
ensure they are effective and efficient. The review activity will usually be based on the reporting
and monitoring that is in place within the organisation and needs to be conducted on a regular
basis.
The hierarchy of control provides the guidance to the organisation on how to best control a risk
that has been identified as a result of the occurrence of a hazard in the workplace. This also
enables organisations to review the control measures that have been implemented and determine
if these can be improved.
Over time, a risk control measure that has been implemented may be changed or improved to
achieve a higher level of control or a more effective level of control of an identified risk.

The review of existing control measures in accordance with the hierarchy of control can result in a
number of benefits for an organisation, including:
 More effective controls being implemented to better manage and reduce risks to
employees;
 More cost-effective investments being made in up-to-date methods of control;
 Less reliance on control methods that rely on ongoing employee compliance or behavioural
methods;
 Overall improvements to the effectiveness of the organisational OHS management system.
Once an opportunity is identified for improvements in control methods, the organisation must act
promptly to enable the implementation of a new control method. Financial, human and material
resources may need to be allocated and deployed to enable the implementation of the new
control measures.
Additionally, the introduction of new control measures may require policy or procedural updates.
These updates may then need to be communicated to employees and some employees may need
to be trained in new work methods. This will ensure that employees understand the changes that
are being implemented. In this context, the organisation should use a formal change management
process to support the introduction of the new control measures. This enables the organisation to
ensure that the appropriate resources are allocated to the change and the change is managed
effectively within the organisation.
OHS Advice
The process of managing hazards and risks in the workplace may require the engagement of OHS
experts for advice and direction. This expert advice will enable the organisation to achieve optimal
outcomes in the provision of a healthy and safe workplace.
As indicated in Topic 2, some organisations employ H&S officers who are experts in OHS. The
organisation may use this position to provide advice on a range of OHS requirements.
Other resources may be used to obtain this level of expert advice, including the following:
 Codes of practice provide practical advice on methods that have been used to control risks
and reduce injury;
 Safety alerts are issued by the State or Territory OHS authority. They provide information
that relates to significant incidents that have occurred in relation to OHS;
 Safe Work Australia provides guidance on OHS alerts and documentation related to each
State and Territory;
 Unions generally have areas dedicated to OHS and can provide valuable information
related to the management of hazards and incidents in the workplace;
 Industry groups and associations offer advice and information on OHS issues.
Specialist advice may also be needed to enable the organisation to control risks and implement
control measures. The organisation may require a specialist to undertake research and analysis in
response to an OHS hazard that has been identified in the workplace.
An important factor for organisations to consider when deciding on the engagement of specialists
or seeking expert advice is to ensure that the organisation will gain practical and relevant advice
that will enhance the effectiveness of the OHS management system. In particular, if the advice or

assistance is required for hazard identification and risk management, the organisation must be
confident that the advice or assistance will be credible, appropriate and reliable.
COMPLETE ACTIVITY 8 IN ASSESSMENT TASK DOCUMENT


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Course No: 10335/ICA506111

Training Package: ICA11

Topic 3: Identifying Hazards, Assessing & Controlling Risks

BSBOHS509A, Assignment, Version 2 Page 15of 33

 Financial loss due to legal liability, increases in insurance, workers compensation

BSBOHS509A, Assignment, Version 2 Page 16of 33

Example of safety audit checklist:

BSBOHS509A, Assignment, Version 2 Page 17of 33

Example of Risk Register:

BSBOHS509A, Assignment, Version 2 Page 18of 33

Example of risk register

COMPLETE ACTIVITY 7 IN ASSESSMENT TASK DOCUMENT

BSBOHS509A, Assignment, Version 2 Page 19of 33

 Work practice changes to introduce increased efficiency or safety;

Review of Risk Management

BSBOHS509A, Assignment, Version 2 Page 20of 33

BSBOHS509A, Assignment, Version 2 Page 21of 33

COMPLETE ACTIVITY 8 IN ASSESSMENT TASK DOCUMENT

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