601 Essentials of Occupational Safety and Health

Hazard Identification and Control

A workplace hazard is any unsafe condition or practice that could cause injury or illness to an employee. Most accidents are ultimately caused by weaknesses in the safety management system because those weaknesses affect the effectiveness of the safety program, which, in turn, affect behaviors and conditions in the workplace.

Primary Sources of Hazards (MEEPS)

There are five primary sources of hazards in the workplace:

1. Materials. Includes flammable/explosive substances, toxics, chemical reactions.
2. Environment. Includes hazardous atmospheres, radiation, temperature extremes, working at elevation, noise levels.
3. Equipment. Includes unguarded machines, equipment defects, electrical contact, ergonomics, high pressure, vibration.
4. People. Includes use and abuse of drugs, alcohol, fatigue, and workplace violence.
5. System. Includes flawed policies, programs, plans, processes, procedures, and practices

Methods to Identify Hazards

There are four important methods to identify hazards in the workplace:

1. The walkaround inspection - identifies hazards in various work areas so that they can be mitigated.
2. Observation - identifies safe and unsafe behaviors to improve control strategies.
3. Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) - identifies hazards and safe work procedures for hazardous jobs.
4. Accident Analysis and Investigation - identifies surface and root causes for accidents so that controls can be implemented.

Methods to Control Hazards

Traditionally, a prioritized "Hierarchy of Controls" (HOC) has been used to implement feasible and effective exposure controls to protect workers. We encourage the use of the HOC as described within the ANSI/ASSP Z10, Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems, to control hazards. The six strategies are discussed below.

1. Elimination: Completely eliminate the hazard so that it cannot cause an accident. This is your first priority, if feasible.
2. Substitution: Replace materials, equipment, etc., with something that reduces the hazard to acceptable limits.
3. Engineering controls: Design the environment, materials, tools, equipment and machines so that they do not present hazards.
4. Warnings: Place OSHA signs (Danger, warning, caution, or safety instruction), audible alarms (klaxon, whistles, buzzers), or tactile warnings (vibration or fans) that alert employees about the presence of hazards.
5. Work Practice Controls: Develop policies, programs, processes, procedures, practices, rules, and signage to eliminate or reduce exposure to hazards.
6. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): PPE and Fall Protection is used in conjunction with other controls to eliminate or reduce exposure to hazards.

Interim Measures

Using a lower priority hazard control method over another higher priority control strategy may be appropriate for providing interim (temporary) protection until the hazard is abated permanently. If you can't eliminate the hazard entirely, the interim control measures will likely be a combination of control methods used together. OSHA believes that feasible interim measures are always available if higher-level control methods are not possible.

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