HAZARD RECOGNITION AND ASSESSMENT—A CASE STUDY

Abstract

Hazard recognition and the assessment of associated risk should be considered as an integral part of a company's safety management system. Whilst this is generally accepted, the systems for handling hazard data such as a 'Hazards Register' are often separate from other incident reporting systems, eg. the accident data base.

Accidents and potential hazards, however, may pose the same level of risk to an organisation. Philosophically, after an accident occurs it reverts to being a potential hazard, albeit with a greater understanding of its actual causes and outcomes; yet it is often treated differently from other hazards of equal potential. Only at the point in time of occurrence can an accident be considered anything but a potential hazard. There is no logical reason to create separate systems for handling these data yet typical industry response is to do just that. The reporting of hazards should not be separated from the normal incident reporting system within an organisation.

The development and implementation of an integrated risk classification method and incident reporting system is discussed in this paper as a case study.