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).