Ranking Hazard Controls

Structuring should begin with a written safety and health program. There is a need to assess your accident/incident history and develop a good accident and injury 

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Another major area is the identification, ranking, and controlling of risk. This part of the process is paramount when faced with serious hazards that can be catastrophic... 

In determining which hazard control procedures have the best chance of being effective, it is useful to rank them along a continuum. The five hazard controls that were espoused in the earlier part of this chapter are ranked in Figure 13.4. This should assist you in determining which control, if you have a choice of more than one, would be most effective for your purposes. The ranking goes from most effective to least effective. 

The JHA process begins by selecting designated jobs, ranked in order by priority, and ends with standard operating procedures (SOP) and enhanced hazard controls and associated risk reduction. 

The EPA Hazardous Ranking System computes a numerical score for hazardous waste. If the score exceeds a predetermined value, the waste site is placed on the National Priority List (NPL) for Superfund cleanup. Discuss the pros and cons of such a ranking system. Describe a possible situation in which an air contaminant is controlled but the control system used transfers the contaminant problem to another medium, such as water or soil. 

The amount and type of hazards will determine the performance standard specified in site-specific control plans. This includes the content, detail, and formality of review. The approval of the plans is based on risk and hazard potential. Using the hazard-based approach, levels of risk or methods to rank risk (degree) are standardized. 

Fourteen formulations of chemical alternatives were submitted to EPA under confidentiality and they were assessed based on numerous human health and ecotoxicity endpoints in addition to bioaccumulation potential and environmental persistence. They were also screened for potential exposure to workers, users and the aquatic environment. Where data gaps existed, EPA experts used models and chemical analogs to estimate the hazard for a particular endpoint. The literature and test data reviews were published in the final report, Environmentally Preferable Options for Furniture Fire Safety Low Density Furniture Foam . In addition, each hazard endpoint was ranked with a concern level (High, Moderate or Low) based on the criteria used by the EPA s New Chemicals Program to rate the concern level of new chemicals submitted under the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA). As seen in Figure 8.2, where the hazard endpoint rankings are bold, the value is based on experimental data. Where the hazard endpoints are presented in italic font, the value is estimated based on models or chemical analogs. In this way, detailed hazard information was summarized and presented in a clear and concise format. 

Approximate Number of Events Required for 80% Power with 5% Two-Sided Log-Rank Test for Comparing Treatment Versus Control arm of Design in which Marker is not Measured. Randomized Arms Are Mixtures of Marker - and Marker + Patients. Hazard Ratio For Marker -Patients Is 1 for the Two Treatment Groups and 0.67 For Marker + Patients. 

Eckel WP, Langley WD. 1988. A background-based ranking technique for assessment of elemental enrichment in soils at hazardous waste sites. In Superfund 88 Proceedings of the 9th National Conference. Washington, DC The Hazardous Materials Control Research Institute. 

Uncontrolled Hazardous Waste Site Ranking System Def. of Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act Standards... 

The 12 options are ranked in Table XV with respect to cost effectiveness of release reduction, expressed in dollars per ton. The results indicate that five options—11b, Quarterly LDAR 5c, Secondary Seals on Storage Tanks 7a, Blowdown System Upgrade 6, Soils Control and 8, Modify Sampling—are the most cost effective with regard to release reduction. Taken together, these five options attain a release reduction of 6700 tons of hydrocarbons and hazardous solid waste per year at an annual cost of 2.2 million. Note that while soils control is a good pollution prevention option since it prevents the generation of hazardous waste, it... 

Halfon E, Briiggemann R (1998) On Ranking Chemicals for Environmental Hazard. Comparison of methodologies. Proceedings of the Workshop on Order Theoretical Tools in Environmental Sciences 11-48 Harrington EC (1965) The Desirability Function, Industrial Quality Control. 21 494-498... 

Once hazards have been examined, rated, and ranked by the committee, some plan of action for their control should be developed either by the committee or by company management. The results of the hazards review by the committee tmd the action to be taken should be fed back to employees. Experience using this type of program indicates that for every 100 hazards reported, 1 is very serious, needing immediate action, 24 require attention quickly to avert a potential accident, 50 require some minor action to improve the quality of working conditions but do not concern a serious hazard, and 25 concern gripes and hassles of employees that are not related to safety hazards. 

Professional safety practice requires that the potentials for the greatest harm or damage be identified for the decision makers and that a ranking system be applied to proposals made to avoid, eliminate, or control hazards. 

Eight case studies were selected for application of the Safe Place, Safe Person, Safe Systems framework and OHS management assessment tool. The risk ranking exercise was conducted as a two stage process firstly without taking into account interventions that were already in place so that areas of vulnerability could be identified should any of the current control measures fail (the raw hazard profile) secondly, an assessment... 

The amount or degree of potential hazard perceived by a given set of parameters and operating conditions. Risk assessment provides a means to identify and rank risks and to obtain information on their extent and nature. By performing a risk assessment suitable risk control measures can be identified and assessed for adequacy. In... 

Later chapters (Chapters 34—38) describe risk analysis and other procedures and methods for identifying hazards and selecting and ranking controls. These procedures help apply knowledge about hazards and controls covered in other portions of this book. 

Relative Risk The goal is to rank departments, not individual hazards. The department with the highest risk index (highest positive value) is not likely to need much reduction in hazards. A high risk index value indicates that controls in place are effective. A department with a high risk index will not need funds as much as other departments. The authors use the best department risk score as the baseline or reference score for all other departments. The procedure adjusts aU department scores relative to the score for the best department. The procedure subtracts the risk score for the best department from all other department risk scores. This adjustment makes the relative risk score for the best department zero. 

Example 34-3 Six departments in a plant seek money to improve process safety. The company elects to use logical process risk analysis as a guide for aUocafing funds. The goal is to reduce potential losses. The company completes analysis for each department to determine hazard scores, control scores and exposure dollars. Table 34-10 presents the data. The company ranks departments based on the data. Table 34-11 presents the results. 

A hierarchy is a system of persons or things ranked one above the other. The hierarchy of controls in ZIO provides a systematic way of thinking, considering steps in a ranked and sequential order, to choose the most effective means of eliminating or reducing hazards and the risks that derive from them. Acknowledging that premise—that risk reduction measures should be considered and taken in a prescribed order—represents an important step in the evolution of the practice of safety. 

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