EFFECTIVE TOOLS FOR SUPERVISORS   TO   USE IN IDENTIFYING HAZARDS

Tools That Supervisors Can Use To Identify The Hazards

Supervisors can utilise a variety of useful methods to assist them detect and fix dangers, including observations, inspections, job hazard analysis (JHA), and incident/accident investigations.

Make Alerts

Observation is crucial because it may be a powerful tool for identifying activities that directly cause the majority of workplace injuries. It is superior to the other tools we will explore since it focuses on detecting harmful actions rather than hazardous circumstances. There are two kinds of observations: formal and informal.

Informal Alert: An informal observation technique consists of keeping an eye out for risks and risky behaviours during the work shift. There is no particular technique involved. Every employee should be asked to inspect their work spaces on a regular basis. 

Formal Alert: The formal observation programme, which includes a documented strategy and procedures, is one of the most effective proactive approaches for collecting relevant data regarding dangers and risky practises in your workplace.

Members of the safety committee or other workers, for example, may be assigned to perform a certain number of observations of safe/unsafe actions during a set period of time. Here's what you can do with the information you've gathered:

• This information is gathered and analysed in order to create graphs and charts that depict the current state and patterns in employee behaviour.
• Posting the findings of these observations raises awareness and reduces injury rates.
• The data also provides useful information regarding the flaws of the safety management system.

Note: An crucial principle for successful formal observation processes is that they are not tied to discipline in any way. Employees should not be disciplined or "snitched" on by observers. Discipline should never be imposed as a result of an observation. This assures that any observation programme will fail as a reliable fact-finding instrument. Use the following recommended practises:

• As observers in the programme, only workers who do not have the authority to discipline should be used.
• If managers or supervisors engage, be certain that they do not observe in their areas of responsibility.
• Ascertain that everyone knows the policy about "no discipline" as a result of an observation.
• It is also vital for observers to show gratitude when safe behaviours are observed, as well as to encourage or warn employees to apply safe practises if they are not completing a task properly.

Execute Out Safety Inspections

Conducting an efficient walkaround safety inspection is another key action to create a safe work environment. It makes logical to allocate responsibility for safety inspections to the supervisor in order to be most successful. Who is in a better position to identify and correct workplace hazards? Remember that, as an agent of the employer, supervisors have the primary obligation to check the work environment.

Look for dangers in the five MEEPS categories during the inspection. In some cases, employing an inspection checklist to ensure a systematic method is followed is a smart idea. The main disadvantage of employing a checklist is the "tunnel vision" condition, which occurs when threats not covered on the checklist are disregarded. Another issue is that inspectors may just search for "conditions" while disregarding "behaviours." When inspecting, look for both.

Everyone should be an inspector: Supervisors should not be the sole ones inspecting the workplace for safety. Everyone should be able to work as an inspector. But how can the supervisor persuade staff to examine for safety every day? Simply said, supervisors set the example by inspecting on a frequent basis, insist on everyone examining, and reward (thank) their employees for inspecting and reporting concerns.

Conduct Job Hazard Analysis (JHA)

The Job Hazard Analysis is another helpful activity for ensuring a safe and healthy workplace (JHA). This procedure is also known as a Job Safety Analysis (JSA) Supervisors and employees work together to assess each stage of a specific activity and come up with solutions to make it safer throughout the JHA process.

Inquire into Incidents & Accidents

The investigation of near-miss events and injury accidents is another key function of the supervisor. Although incident/accident investigations are "reactive" in the sense that they take place after the near-miss or injury occurrence, they can still be quite useful in identifying dangers and preventing future injuries.

Ensure That Personnel Report Any near-Misses: It's a well-known truth that studying near-miss situations is beneficial for a variety of reasons.

Because no harm or disease has occurred, investigating occurrences is usually less expensive than investigating accidents.

Investigation of an accident – Safety triage: Accident investigations that take place after someone has been hurt are nevertheless highly significant if the primary goal is to identify underlying causes.

Fix the system, not the person: Conducting accident investigations to assign blame is never appropriate: it is a waste of time and will hurt the safety management system in the long run. Discipline should be applied only when it has been demonstrated that no safety management system components contributed to the accident.

Locate the Root Causes

When hazardous circumstances and dangerous behaviours are detected as a result of observations, inspections, JHAs, or investigations, it is critical to identify the root causes.

A danger, risky conduct, near-miss, or harm might be the consequence of a number of elements interacting in some dynamic fashion. When doing hazard studies or incident/accident investigations, be sure to include each of the following stages of analysis to ensure that the underlying causes are discovered:

Analysis of Injuries - What caused the injury? At this stage of investigation, we are attempting to discover the direct cause of the damage that may or may not have occurred. The following are some examples of direct causes of injury:

• lifting big objects causes strain
• tissue damage by contact with a poisonous chemical concussion caused by impact forces from a fall
• burns caused by contact with combustible materials

Analysis of the Surface Causes - What caused the accident? The distinct hazardous factors and dangerous actions that combined to cause the accident are determined here. The surface causes of the accident include all of the dangerous circumstances and harmful practises that were discovered. They provide hints that indicate to potential fundamental causes/system flaws. The following are some examples of surface causes:

• broken ladder
• worker removes a machine guard
• supervisor fails to conduct a safety inspection
• defective tool

Analysis of the Underlying Causes - What caused the surface causes to occur? At this stage, you're looking into the flaws in the safety management system that led to the accident. Inadequate or absent safety components such as policies, programmes, plans, processes, procedures, or practises are examples of these flaws. The following are some examples of root causes:

• components of the safety management system that are insufficient or absent
• insufficient performance or failure to carry out system components such as failing to teach, failing to supply PPE, and failing to apply safe procedures
• inability to enforce safety standards, penalise for violations of safety regulations, or acknowledge safe performance
• Inadequate safety inspections, JHAs, and incident/accident investigations

For More Details - CONTACT:

Ms,Divyasree - HSE Advisor | Aim Vision Safety Training & Consulting 

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