A list of questions to ask to identify personal safety hazards

 Take this post as a tool to perform a formal risk assessment.

There are 5 common categories of hazards to be known. Here a brief explanation and a short list of questions that may be helpful to get a more complete risk matrix.

Fig. 01 A map of the safety hazards

Biological hazards

These are related to other subcategories such as:

• biological contamination and
• infection due to hazardous organisms,

for example. Some materials to be processed in a plant are always contaminated (like waste materials) or should nod be contaminated (as in food industry).

Some questions you may ask are and so use the answers to find solutions are as follows:

• is the personnel going to work near waste materials? (for example in a waste water treatment plant)
• is the personnel going to handle sharp objects or dusty materials? (for example in a solid waste recylcing plant)
• is the work environment be fill with volatiles compounds or dust from waste? (for example in a solid waste recylcing plant)
• would you recommend the use of gloves, safety goggles or face masks inside the plant?

Physical/mechanical

These are commonly related to accidents such as:

• slips,
• cuts,
• falls,
• noise,
• burns,
• falling objects,
• vehicles in motion,
• automated machines moving,
• repetitive motions (fatigue) and
• heat/cold/dehydration/stress strikes

for example. These kind of risk are commonly due to excess of confidence by the personnel during activities in hazardous zones.

Some questions to ask to reduce the risk may be:

• may a leak or spill of liquids cause slipery floor? (these may occur in oil re-processing/re-refining operations),
• should the personnel need to be close to a machine or vehicle whose motion be a danger? (as in a manufacturing or assembling line),
• will the personnel handle sharp objects (pices of metal, broken glass, etc.)? (as in a waste recycling facility),
• is there any equipment that should operate at high temperatures near the personnel? (such as boilers)
• is there any equipment having risk of explosion? (such as boilers or pressurized vessels)

Chemical

These risks are common to operations involving chemicals, its reactions and products/subproducts. Gases, dust or liquids comming from chemical processes may be toxic. These risks are usually referred as: chemical intoxication.

Some sample questions to help are as follows:

• may the chemical reaction release toxic vapors?
• what is the phase of the toxic compounds/materials? (liquid, gas, solid, two-phase)
• what is the level of toxicity of the materials used in the process?
• what is the type of protection needed for the personnel?
• is there characteristic smell/odor for the toxic gasses?
• shall sensor-alarm system be needed?

Electrical

These are also related to accidents. These risks perhaps can be named as: short-circuit risks. Some potential causes are:

• static electricity,
• overload in drives, and
• magnetic fields.

for example. Electric motors are very common in industry and poor maintenance may cause failures and potential risks to the operators. Operations where dust is present may cause strong electric discharges to personnel.

Some questions you may ask are:

• what unit operations of the process generate dust?
• is there any dust collector?
• is there proper ground installed in the plant?
• is the control cabinets assembled with proper electrical protection? (fuse, overload relays, etc.)

Psychosocial

These risk are related most of the time to the design of the plant where the personnel spend most of the day. Examples of these may be,

• dinning room near to noisy operation zones,
• poor personnel training,
• poor management of the plant, and
• confined spaces

for example. Some sample questions are:

• is the meals/rest time enough,
• what is the relationship between operators and supervisors?,
• are the bathrooms located at convienent distance from the personnel?
• is the illumination according with the spaces and time of the day?

Any question? Write in the comments and I shall try to help.

Other stuff of interest

• Estimation of internal pipe diameter
• Who was Clausius?
• Units conversion
• LE 04 - Latch contact with encapsulated relay for turning on/off an AC bulb light
• About PID controllers
• Ways to control a process
• About pilot lights
• Solving the Colebrook equation

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Ildebrando.