Work equipment risk assessment

The risk assessment carried out under Regulation 3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 will help employers to select work equipment and assess its suitability for particular tasks. 

This describes the principles of qualification and validation which are applicable to the manufacturer of medical products. It is a GMP requirement that manufacturers identify the validation work needed to prove control of the critical aspects of their particular operations. Significant changes for the facility, the equipment and the processes which may affect the quality of the product should be validated. A risk assessment approach should be used to determine the scope and extent of validation. 

It is partly for these reasons that since its recent reorpnisation, the Work Environment Authority has attempted to standardise practices in its ten districts. This has included trying to ensure that, while employers continue to be reminded of their obligations to undertake or to commission measurement as part of risk assessment, the Labour Inspectorate in each district is also technically competent and equipped to undertake them. Indeed, because of a perceived need for more rather than fewer measurements, currently labour inspectors are encouraged to carry them out in situations in which it appears unlikely that employers have the capacity to do so. 

Technical exposure control. Additional necessary exposure control measures which are not noted in heading 7 have to be noted. The described measures are important for the risk assessment in the workplace, and these have to be done by the employer in accordance with Article 4 of Directive 98/24/EC [4-15]. The design of appropriate work processes and engineering controls, the use of adequate equipment and materials, and the application of collective protection measures at source are required. 

Establishing correct safety procedures is when a manager analyzes certain tasks and writes safe work procedures for performing the work. Based on risk assessments, the tasks can be risk-ranked and the critical tasks identified. This will help prioritize the writing of procedures. Specific inspection procedures, equipment maintenance procedures, internal audit procedures, and other procedures are vital components of the system. 

Based on this risk assessment, managanent lists and schedules the work needed to be done to create a safe and healthy work environment and eliminate high-risk acts of people. This would mean the introduction of a suitable structured SMS based on world s best practice. All safety management systems should be based on the nature of the business and be risk based, management led, and audit driven. This could include having to guard machinery, demarcate walkways and work areas, purchase correct tools and equipment, and set up maintenance systems for equipment, etc. 

The deseription of exposure parameters (type of solvents, eoneentrations, duration, routes of exposure) are important for the evaluation of toxieokineties. Solvents and other ehemieals are usually emitted as a mixture of various substanees. Therefore, the risk assessment of emitted solvents is diffieult to aseertain. Solvent eoneentrations and duration of exposure vary in most eases (intermittent high-value peaks, periods of low exposure). The exposure is influeneed essentially by surrounding oeeupational and environmental eondi-tions, sueh as working elimate, proteetive equipment and by individual parameters sueh as eating habits. 

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations already require risk assessments of work activities to be carried out to identify risks arising from the use of lifting equipment and the appropriate precautions required to deal with these risks. The level of precaution will depend on the degree of risk assessed, and should reduce the risk to as low a level as is reasonably practicable. Particular hazards to be considered are equipment striking a person or object and the consequences of equipment failing. 

Most conventional land-based contractors equipment can be employed on the shore-based aspects of coastal and maritime works (Figures 5.1 to 5.3). Normal safety risk assessment applies to the use of this equipment, but some items of plant and their use require specific site-based consideration. An example of this is the use of dump trucks on beaches. This particular equipment is susceptible to variable ground conditions and can easily overturn if a patch of soft sand is hit. 

Life-jackets or buoyancy aids must be worn where there is a foreseeable risk of drowning when working on or near water and at all times while working on boats. Risk assessments can be used to identify areas which are safe and where no buoyancy equipment is required (e.g. accommodation blocks on a jack-up platform). Equally areas where there is a high risk should reinforce procedures. 

Where a particular hazard exists in the working environment, an employer must can7 out a risk assessment and establish procedures which will reduce or eliminate the risk. When the risk cannot be completely removed, an employer must provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect his or her employees from a risk to health and safety. 

Whatever the hazard to health and safety at work, the employer must be able to demonstrate that he or she has carried out a risk assessment, made recommendations which will reduce that risk and communicated these recommendations to the workforce. Where there is a need for PPE to protect against personal injury and to create a safe working environment, the employer must provide that equipment and any necessary training which might be required and the employee must make full and proper use of such equipment and training. 

Risks to persons or to the environment must be minimized by adherence to safety legislation and protocols, e.g., Occupational Health and Safety (COSSH in the UK), which informs on health risks associated with specific chemicals and appropriate medical and cleanup procedures in the event of exposure or a spillage. Before undertaking field work, a site-specific risk assessment should be carried out to identify potential risks and specify safe practices. Important issues include transport of persoimel and equipment, weather conditions, possible health risks from the sample and the general environment, appropriate protective clothing, safe onsite working practices, safe use of equipment, communications, and emergency procedures. 

It can be helpful to distinguish between risk assessment and risk management. These are two procedures that work in sequence one should first identify (assess) all of the risks associated with a chemical or procedure. This can often be relatively straightforward if one is thorough, is knowledgeable, and maintains a constant vigilance for hazards. But, for example, as you know from earlier chapters on hazard recognition, we sometimes don t fully know the level of health risk associated with some chemicals. A faulty piece of equipment can be very hazardous, too, and sometimes it would be nearly impossible to know about this until the equipment fails. The key here is to do the best risk assessment possible. 

Major elements of an occupational safety and health program address recognition, evaluation, and control of hazards. The activities may include risk assessment and charting of probability and severity of potential incidents. The activities may deal with routine functions as well as non-routine functions. Changes in operations and conditions or equipment may also trigger these activities. Inspections, reviews, and other analysis methods will help identify the hazards, the likelihood of occurrence and the potential severity. For example, there should be inspections of repair and maintenance work to ensure that guards and other protections are in place or an area is clear of flammable and combustible materials and sources of heat and fire. Previous chapters offered several methods for hazard recognition and control. 

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