Spot the Hazard

New Brunswick Construction

Safety Association

Promoting Safety For Life

Shelley Poirier

Allie DeGrace

Spot the hazard challenge

How observant are you?

Can you spot the hazards in the following

video? Some are easier to identify than

others.

What are workplace

hazards?

Simply put, a hazard is anything that can hurt

you, cause illness or damage to equipment

and/or property.

As of June 1, 2014 the NB OHS ACT

requires safety programs to include:

8.1(1)d A hazard identification system that

includes:

i) evaluation of the place of employment to identify potential hazards.

ii) procedures and schedules for inspections and

iii) Procedures for ensuring the reporting of hazards, prompt follow up and control of hazards.

Legislation: Recent changes

Occupational Health & Safety Act

Starting on September 1, 2014, officers will

begin looking at the new requirements for

orientation and training of new employees,

workplace incident reporting and safety policy.

Legislation: Safety orientation and

job training for new employees

• Name and contact information of new employee’s

supervisor?

• Contact information of joint health and safety committee

(JHSC) or health and safety rep?

• Information on employee rights, liabilities, reporting

requirements, and duties under the OHS Act and

regulations?

Legislation: Safety orientation and

job training for new employees • Information on the safe work procedures and any codes

of practice related to the job tasks?

• The location of first aid facilities and how to obtain first

aid assistance?

• Workplace procedures for reporting injuries and

illnesses?

• Emergency plans and procedures?

Challenges of Identifying

hazards in the construction

industry

• Dynamics of the work- Project site is ever changing – Hazards change as project progresses

• New inexperienced or green workers

(Turnover)

• Weather

• Interactions between people and equipment.

Untrained/inexperienced workers

- Changing weather conditions

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Changing weather conditions

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Changing weather conditions

Changing weather conditions

Categories of hazards

• Physical

• Chemical

• Ergonomic

• Biological

• Psychosocial

Physical hazards - Examples

• Temperature extremes

• Electricity

• Falls

• Noise

• Vibration

• Radiation

Electrical hazards

Ergonomic Ergonomic hazards

• Heavy, frequent, or awkward lifting

• Repetitive tasks

• Awkward grips, postures

• Using excessive force, overexertion

• Using wrong tools for the job or using tools improperly

• Using improperly maintained tools

• Hand-intensive work

• Lighting, workspace design, noise

Ergonomic controls

Chemical hazards

Chemical hazards - Effects

Acute- carbon monoxide, H2S,

chlorine, ammonia (effects are

immediate)

Chronic: silicosis, asbestosis,

black lung. These exposures

can take many years for the

harm of exposure to manifest.

Biological hazards

• Animals - Birds, bats, pigeons, ticks

• Plants - Poison ivy, poison oak, stinging nettles, giant hogweed, wild parsnip

• Fungus, moulds, mildews, viruses.

Stagnant water, sewers

Psychosocial hazards

The uncomfortable hazards- Less likely to

be identified and dealt with at the workplace.

• Stress

• Work overload

• Depression, mental illness

• Distractions

• Bullying, physical violence

• Harassment

• Addictions

Psychosocial hazards-Stress

Challenging hazards

Distractions- Mind not on task

Really? You have got to be

kidding!

Stress / Production pressure

Conflict at home

Alcohol and drug abuse

Workplace bullying and

harassment

Two outcomes of hazards

• Contact Hazards - resulting in injury, cuts

burns, amputations, paralysis, death

• Exposure Hazards - resulting in illness;

often life-threatening

Often the challenge is not so

much spotting the hazard…

• As it is determining what to do with it once

we have discovered it.

• Can we eliminate it? What can we do to

make the activity safer?

• How do we develop a viable corrective

action plan?

Hierarchy of control

effectiveness

So what’s the hazard?

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What is the solution?

Duh…easy right?

• Take the ladder out of service. Problem

solved?

• Are we missing something important?

How are we going to prevent

the hazard from reappearing?

It’s not magic, it is simply thinking the

process through

Developing prescriptive corrective actions ( very rarely is

there just one).

Let’s look at the ladder again

Obvious solution- Take it out of service but to prevent the

hazard from reappearing.

Corrective action plan:

1. Inspect all ladders - remove defective ones from service.

2. Develop a tag to attach to defective ladders.

3. Develop a job procedure with the steps to follow when inspecting a portable ladder.

4. Communicate the requirement to inspect portable ladders before use during a toolbox meeting.

5. Develop a checklist to be completed during ladder inspection

6. Monitor to ensure compliance.

The key is to think the process through…

• Identify what needs to be changed and

come up with a plan to change it.

• Success in part is enhanced by building

responsibility and accountability into the

process.

Think it through…

The effectiveness of the

process depends in part on…

Assigning responsibility and accountability:

• Determining who is responsible for making the

changes and how are we going to hold them

accountable.

To assign responsibility without accountability

is safety’s greatest failing

Corrective Action Plan

Hazard Corrective Action (s) Responsibility Date Completed

by:

What is the hazard?

The result

What is our corrective action

plan?

•Identify who removed the guard and why it was removed?

( unaware, untrained, common practice, lack of

enforcement)

•If lack of training was a cause, develop a training plan.

•If violation of a known company rule was a cause, identify

appropriate disciplinary action.

•Review the rule violated in toolbox meeting and any

required corrective actions.

•Identify and develop a communication and follow up plan.

(review guard policies, procedures and regulatory

requirements)

Remember, hazards exists in all

areas of work

Office/Storage Hazards

Office / storage hazards

Office / storage hazards

Look for common trends

Trends can be discovered by identifying

hazards with similar causes (practices):

Poor housekeeping

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Housekeeping hazards

In this case identifying the trend (poor housekeeping) and

dealing with it will eliminate several individual hazards

Excavation hazards

Excavation hazards

Remember….

Often conditions in construction change

very rapidly, therefore, the hazard identification

process at your workplace needs to be a

continuous process.

This is sometimes referred to as the circle of

safety.

Circle of safety

Recognize

Evaluate Control

Re-Assess

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Thanks and……