Hazards in the Workplace - Recognizing and Avoiding Hazards

Sofemaonline.com offers online training including EASA Part 66 Module 9 Human Factors compliant training for third country workshop personnel 

Introduction to Hazards & Risk 

Hazard - Consider that a Hazard has the potential to disrupt or cause harm in some way - this does not in any way mean that it will - simply it can.

Risk - When we look at risk we are trying to determine how great is our exposure to the perceived hazard. So risk is subjective and the more effective the risk analysis and mitigation process the less likely we are to suffer the consequence of a “hazard”.

Reality Check 1 - Maintenance professionals are of course human and therefore prone to human error. Therefore acceptance of vulnerability and potential exposure is the first step in taking responsibility and avoiding risk-taking behaviours. 

Reality Check 2 - Safety can be proactively managed, means all accidents and incidents can potentially be prevented but with certainty reduced, to do so requires barriers to be understood, erected and maximized. 

Effective organisational systems to detect, reduce, as well as contain the pre-cursors to human errors become the most effective ways of improving safety.

Incident reporting programs should offer the possibility of confidentiality as well as being non-punitive.

If we can foster a culture of adherence to Process and Procedure we can significantly reduce our exposure to accidents and incidents.

Examples of Hazards in the workplace include:

▪ Poor planning or scheduling as this places pressure on the system.
▪ Inadequate design/poor equipment - leads people to find workarounds or even worse - to take shortcuts.
▪ Improper allocation/lack of resources. Without sufficient manpower we put people under significant pressure which can lead to stress related error.
▪ Flawed procedures - Relying on process & procedures means that any inadequately can be translated into negative outcomes.
▪ Defective communications - Miscommunicating is a major factor in may HF errors and it is necessary to ensure that we have strong communication process and procedures.
▪ Training deficiencies - Directly impact competencies and increase the exposure both within the organisation as well as the individual.
▪ Inspection and oversight flaws - Insufficient attention paid to the very important role of Inspection can lead to increase exposure.
▪ Neglect of known hazards. Complacency or acceptance of “norms” can lull people into a false sense of security and can breed disconnects and lead to bad outcomes.
▪ Lack of Motivation - leads to people not taking sufficient care or paying appropriate attention to what is going on around them.

SAS & SOL offer training in Human Factors, Safety Management Systems Implementation & Management, Maintenance Error Management, and Training for Trainers in a Human Factors and Maintenance Environment. For details please see www.sassofia.com & www.sofemaonline.com or email office@sassofia.com & online@sassofia.com