Hazard recognition is one of the most critical elements of occupational safety.
It's essential for keeping workers safe and lowering the risk of accidents and injury. Most incidents can be attributed to poor hazard recognition, according to Ascend Performance Materials Health, Safety, and Environmental (HSE) manager Bill Chidester.
"We started looking at incident data and history," Chidester said. "seventy percent of those incidents you could attribute to either lack of, inadequate or poor hazard identification. It was pretty easy to realize we [needed] better hazard recognition."
To effectively recognize hazards, people must be taught to think of them as a form of energy. Ascend Performance Materials Occupational Safety specialist Lauren Terry explained that energy is based on facts, not interpretation, and it relies on common knowledge rather than common sense.
"Not everybody has the same experiences in their careers; not everybody sees the same thing," Terry said. "When we talk about energy sources, we're [asking] 'what do we see around us that brings everybody onto the same page?'"
At the recent 2022 EHS Seminar & Tradeshow held in Galveston, Texas, Terry presented a definition of a hazard that accounts for energy sources.
"The definition of a hazard that we have is the potential for an uncontrolled release of, or unwanted contact with an energy source that can result in harm to people, the environment, assets and reputation," she said.
In a recent article in BIC Magazine, Michael Fleming, a certified safety professional with Decision Point Associates Inc., explained that it is fundamentally necessary to have solid hazard recognition skills.
"Otherwise, whatever type and level of risk assessment or management of risk we undertake is potentially inadequate to prevent harm," he explained. "Making a difference every day requires good job planning to predict future events - especially those that can cause harm."
