Risk assessment hazard evaluation team

Safety committees or teams can be a valnable asset and serve as an edncational resonrce. All stndents should have access to information (MSDSs, books, etc.), know about the hazards of the substances they handle, and be prepared to respond in emergencies. For students conducting research, thorough risk assessments must be carried out to evaluate potential hazards associated with planned experiments. In the event of an accident, formal review of the incident and appropriate follow-up actions must occur. A safe environment must be provided in all classrooms and laboratories. 

A systems hazards analysis (SHA) is a systematic and comprehensive search for and evaluation of all significant failure modes of facility systems components that can be identified by an experienced team. The hazards assessment often includes failure modes and effects analysis, fault tree analysis, event tree analysis, and hazards and operability studies. Generally, the SHA does not include external factors (e.g., natural disasters) or an integrated assessment of systems interactions. However, the tools of SHA are valuable for examining the causes and the effects of chemical events. They provide the basis for the integrated analysis known as quantitative risk assessment. For an example SHA see the TOCDF Functional Analysis Workbook (U.S. Army, 1993-1995). 

Hazards may be identified through a qualitative process, either formal (part of safety assessment) or based on discussions, interviews, and brainstorming. This is normally done after formation of a multidisciplinary team. As a part of safety assessment, the main aims are (1) to identify a potential incident/accident scenario, and (2) evaluate the scenario through detailed discussions and brainstorming to arrive at risk assessment and recommend risk mitigating procedures. In some cases when conclusive judgment cannot be made, then the system may be repeated for the final result. Some of the various methods under this category are ... 

System safety should be actively involved as a team member in the CM process. All ECPs must be evaluated by an experienced system safety analyst to determine if any hazards are associated with the proposed change, the associated risk, and the safety impact of the ECP on the existing system. The program should be notified when an ECP will decrease the level of safety of the existing system. It is important that only qualified safety engineers make the safety determination on proposed ECPs because they have the most experience and knowledge in regard to system hazards and risk assessments. 

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