Risk Assessment: Hazard Identification and Worksite Analysis

A safety management system includes the expectation that there will be hazards and risks in the workplace. Some workplaces have more potential for hazards and risks. For instance, the construction industry is often viewed as an industry prone to occupational hazard. That is the reason most construction sites require workers and visitors to wear hard hats for example. However, there are some workplaces that people do not think have much risk, but they may be surprised. For instance, the retail industry is susceptible to hazards and risks—some more potentially damaging than others. The way to identify the risks as part of the safety management system is to do an assessment, identify the hazards and risks, assess the risks, and analyze the risks for their potential to do harm. Of course, the next step is to alleviate the hazards and risks, but that comes after the preliminary steps of assessing, identifying, and analyzing take place.

The Assessment

The best way to do a risk assessment is to conduct a safety inspection of the entire facility in question. McKinnon (2017) says, “Risk Assessment can be defined as: the evaluation and quantification of the likelihood of undesired events and the likelihood of injury and damage that could be caused by the risks” (McKinnon, 2017, p. 36). Besides just looking for risks, a safety inspection looks for the consequences of not addressing the risk or alleviating the hazards that are found. Some risks may be so small that they are not worth addressing immediately or at all. Risk assessment involves determining what can be done with the least effort and biggest impact to address the risks and hazards.

Hazard Identification

Hazard identification is a proactive approach to the issue of potential risks posed by hazards in the workplace. This contrasts with the reactive approach where someone is injured and then the hazard is addressed. The Columbia Southern University Unit V Study Guide (2019) says, “Proactive approaches are preferred as they recognize and address hazards before an incident or accident occurs” (Columbia Southern University, 2019, p. 3). The proactive approach then is to do a safety inspection and identify the hazards within the workplace before they can injure someone.

Hazards can be classified using a simple A, B, C. method McKinnon (2017) describes as “A. Likely to cause death, permanent disability, extensive property damage, or even catastrophic results B. Likely to cause serious injury but less serious than an A class hazard, substantial property loss, or damage to the environment C. Likely to cause minor injury, relative property damage, and minor disruption” (McKinnon, 2017, p. 37). While doing the inspection and identifying hazards, it is expedient to classify them at the same time.

To determine the risk levels of potential hazards, there are many methods to use. McKinnon (2017) says, “The two main techniques are the fundamental and the comparative methods” (McKinnon, 2017, p. 38). Fundamental methods include: Hazard and Operability studies (HAZOP), Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA). Failure Mode, Effect, and Critical Analysis (FMECA), So What if it Happens (SWIFT), Event and Fault Tree Analysis, Past Accidents and Near Miss Incidents, Lessons Learned, Single Root Cause Analysis, Critical Task Identification, Safety System Audits, Brainstorming, Delphi Technique and Human Reliability Analysis. “Comparative techniques use checklists based on industry standards or existing codes of practice. They could involve comparing the plant in question with similar plants” (McKinnon, 2017, p. 38). The inspection done for this assignment used HAZOP and FMECA methods.

Risk Assessment

Risk evaluation involves identifying the potential hazards, and determining what could happen if the risk became a hazard that caused an accident or injury, and then evaluation the outcomes (Columbia Southern University, 2019, p. 3). In order to identify and assess hazards, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) (2019) suggest the following steps:

• Collect and review information about the hazards present or likely to be present in the workplace.
• Conduct initial and periodic workplace inspections of the workplace to identify new or recurring hazards.
• Investigate injuries, illnesses, incidents, and close calls/near misses to determine the underlying hazards, their causes, and safety and health program shortcomings.
• Group similar incidents and identify trends in injuries, illnesses, and hazards reported.
• Consider hazards associated with emergency or nonroutine situations.
• Determine the severity and likelihood of incidents that could result for each hazard identified, and use this information to prioritize corrective actions. (OSHA, 2019)

These steps in hazard assessment comply with the HAZOP and FMECA inspection methods.

A safety inspection is, of course, also part of the assessment. Doing a safety inspection involves a tour around the workplace with the objective of looking for issues of safety related to people, products, equipment, and machinery (McKinnon, 2017, p. 42). Safety inspections should be a regular and recurring managerial duty especially in a retail establishment where customers who are not employees could be at risk for the same hazards as employees. Things to evaluate during an inspection include the processes being used, working conditions, short cuts, workarounds, and high-risk behaviors. Once these are identified, they can be addressed or alleviated using a proactive approach.

Risk Analysis

The risk analysis is the determination of the probability of severity and frequency of possible accidents or injuries occurring because of a hazard. It is done to reduce the probability and uncertainty surrounding risks. It looks at what has occurred in the past and could recur in the future (McKinnon, 2017, p. 47). The Unit V Study Guide suggests using a risk matrix to analyze simple situations using a low, medium, high risk designation, but an algorithm may be required for a more complex situation (Columbia Southern University, 2019, p. 4). Using a matrix or an algorithm should result in a risk score that represents the probability of a hazard occurring.

Hazards in the Workplace

Several categories of hazards exist including biological hazards, chemical hazards, ergonomic hazards, safety hazards, environmental hazards, and psychosocial hazards (Columbia Southern University, 2019, pp. 2-3). In the retail industry there are several types of hazards that may occur that fall under one of these categories.

Retail involves some potential physical hazards, but other types as well. Brittain (2018) of Loss Prevention Magazine explains some of the types of accidents or injuries that can occur in the retail workplace including overexertion injuries that involve excessive physical effort. Another type of hazard in retail is lifting and handling materials. Slips, trips and falls are potential hazards in most industries and in the retail industry as well. Brittain (2018) says, “The severity of the injury is typically based on the velocity of the impact (how far and how fast you fall); the hardness and other characteristics (smooth, rough, etc.) of the surface that you land on; and the orientation of the body upon impact” (Brittain, 2018). Both exertion and lifting hazards are ergonomic hazards caused by improper lifting, pushing, pulling, lowering and twisting. Slips, trips and falls are safety hazards. Other safety hazards include injuries from knives, box cutters and other sharp objects often used in retail to open boxes and other containers quickly. These types of injuries are the result of improper training, failure to use PPE and to follow safety procedures, and employees being in a hurry. Forklifts or pallet jacks are also considered safety hazards.

Environmental hazards in the retail workplace include loud noises from tools or equipment and workplace violence. “Workplace violence refers to any act or threat of physical violence, abuse, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs in the work setting. It can range from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and even homicide” (Brittain, 2018). In this era of mass shootings, workplace violence should be something about which every employer is concerned.

Psychosocial hazards present in the retail workplace include stress at work which may involve “harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker” (Brittain, 2018). Another psychosocial hazard is workplace bullying, which Brittain (2018) defines as “persistent, unreasonable actions directed towards a subordinate or coworker which are intended to intimidate, degrade, humiliate, or undermine; or which create a risk to the health or safety of the employee. This may involve verbal, nonverbal, psychological, physical abuse and humiliation” (Brittain, 2018). There are probably other hazards, but those listed are the ones with the most potential to cause hazards in the retail workplace.

Possible Consequences

The consequences of an overexertion injury include inflammation of the joints and sore muscles. Overexertion may bother some people greatly and others not at all. Other ergonomic hazards can result in strains, sprains, and other injuries. Box cutters and other sharp objects can cause punctures, lacerations and other wounds that could cause serious blood loss or death. Forklifts, pallet jacks and other mechanical equipment can cause bending, punching, pulling, caught-in, caught-on and crushing accidents that can break bones, crush organs, strain muscles and cause other injuries or death. Environmental hazards such as loud noises can cause hearing loss. Workplace bullying can cause “feelings of defenselessness and injustice, and undermines an individual’s right to dignity at work” (Brittain, 2018). Workplace violence causes stress, psychological trauma, physical injury or death.

Hazard Type	Likelihood of Injury	Severity of Injury	Level of Risk
Ergonomic	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate
Safety	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate
Environmental	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate
Psychosocial	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

Conclusion

Workplace hazards are present in every industry. The retail industry may not use material and equipment that are often associated with high risks of injury, but there are tools and equipment used in retail that can cause injury or death, although risk is not high. However, there is usually a great deal of turnover in the retail industry so training may not be adequate in some instances. Environmental and psychosocial risks are also present, but depend upon other factors such as the randomness of workplace violence to be considered a risk.

References

Brittain, J. (2018, July 18). The Top 10 Retail Workplace Hazards. Retrieved from Loss Prevention Magazine: https://losspreventionmedia.co...

Columbia Southern University. (2019). Unit V Study Guide: Hazard Identification and Risk Analysis. 1-5. Columbia Southern University. Retrieved from Columbia Southern University.

McKinnon, R. C. (2017). Risk-based, Management-led, Audit-driven, Safety Management Systems. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press/Taylor and Francis.

OSHA. (2019). Hazard Identification and Assessment. Retrieved from Occupational Safety and Health Administration: https://www.osha.gov/shpguidel...

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