Changing A Tyre Risk Assessment Information Technology Essay
A Risk Assessment is a thorough look at the workplace to identify those things, processes, situations, etc that may cause harm or loss to people, property and environment. After identifying these hazards you must now evaluate the likelihood and the severity of these risks and then implement measures that can be put in place to effectively prevent or control these hazards from causing harm.
The purpose of conducting a risk assessment is to take the necessary measures to safe guard employees and also to prevent occupational risks, but this cannot always be practicable. Where it is not possible, these risks should be reduced and the residual risk controlled. A suitable and sufficient risk assessment should include suitable and relevant information that is useful to employees to understand the hazards they are exposed to during their daily working activities and must be undertaken by person(s) who are competent, well trained, experience and knowledgeable about the job.
There is no right or wrong way in conducting a risk assessment and you cannot eliminate all the risks in your workplace. A risk assessment does not need to be overcomplicated; it should be simple and clear so that employees will find it easy to follow.
MAIN BODY
2.1 Five Steps to Risk Assessment
These five (5) steps can be taken into account when doing a risk assessment.
Step 1
What are the hazards?
Spot hazards by:
– Walking around your workplace.
– Asking your employees what they think.
– Checking manufacturers’ instructions.
Step 2
Who might be harmed and how?
Identify groups of people. Remember:
– Some workers have particular needs.
– People who may not be in the workplace all the time.
– Members of the public.
– If you share your workplace think about how your work affects others present.
– Say how the hazard could cause harm.
Step 3
What are you already doing?
– List what is already in place to reduce the likelihood of harm or make any harm less
serious.
– What further action is necessary?
– You need to make sure that you have reduced risks ‘so far as is reasonably practicable’. An easy way of doing this is to compare what you are already doing with good practice. If there is a difference, list what needs to be done.
Step 4
How will you put the assessment into action?
– Remember to priorities. Deal with those hazards that are high-risk and have serious
consequences first.
– Action Done by whom by when
Step 5
Review date:
– Review your assessment to make sure you are still improving, or at least not sliding back.
– If there is a significant change in your workplace, remember to check your risk
assessment and, where necessary, amend it.
2.2 Hierarchy of Risk Controls
The risks must be minimised to the lowest reasonably practicable level by taking the following measures in the following order and as determined by the risk assessment.
Elimination – The job is redesigned to remove the hazard. The alternative should produce the same end result but by not using a less effective process.
Substitution – Replace the material or process with a less hazardous one. For example, replace mercury thermometers with spirit thermometers.
Engineering Controls – Separating the hazard from workers by enclosing or guarding dangerous items of machinery. For example, use guards on compression testing machines.
Administrative Controls – Reducing the time the worker is exposed to the hazard.
Prohibit the eating, drinking and smoking in laboratory areas. Provide training.
Perform risk assessments. Increase safety awareness signage. Etc.
Personal Protective Equipment – Only after all other measures have been tried and found to be ineffective in controlling the risks should Personal Protective Equipment be considered. PPE should be selected and fitted to the person who uses it, and training in the function and limitation of each item. For example, an operator should know how long the compressed supply in a self-contained breathing apparatus will last. PPE should be used as a temporary control measure until other alternatives can be installed. A combination of engineering controls, administrative controls and PPE can be use to effectively control the risks.
2.3 Risk Analysis
Risk analysis is the process of defining and examining the dangers to people, property and the environment, that may be caused by the release of hazards. A risk analysis can either be qualitative or quantitative and others can sometimes be both.
2.4 Quantitative risk analysis
A numerical value is sort to determine the probability of each risk factor and the adverse effects of a particular event-taking place. It involves analysis of data (pictures or objects) and it is done in the later phases of research projects. Data that is correlated are in the form of numbers and statistics. This form of risk analysis is objective.
Some advantages of using a quantitative approach are that the risks are prioritized by financial impact while assets are prioritized by financial values. The results can be expressed as monetary value and probability as a specific percentage. Accuracy tends to increase over time. Historic records of data are built by the organization while gaining experience.
Some disadvantages of using a quantitative approach are that calculations can be complex and time consuming, the process to reach consensus and results can be time consuming. Results can be difficult for non-technical persons to understand and it is presented in monetary terms. The values assigned to risks are based on participants’ opinions and this process requires expertise and cannot be easily coached to participants.
2.5Qualitative risk analysis
It involves the analysis of data such as words, pictures or objects. It is an inductive process that measures risk or asset value based on a ranking or separation into descriptive categories such as low, medium, high; not important, important, very important. It also deals with descriptions; data can be observed but not measured.
Some advantages of using a Qualitative approach are that it is easier to reach a consensus among participants; financial values do not have to be determined for assets. It does not require experts and anyone can be involved. There is visibility and understanding of risk ranking and quantifying threat frequencies are not necessary.
Some disadvantages of using a Qualitative approach are that results are dependent upon the quality of participants; there is not sufficient differentiation between important risks. You cannot justify investing in control measures because there is no basis for a cost benefit analysis.
Process of changing a tyre: The operator would loosen the nuts on the wheel by using an air gun, he would then proceed to jack up the car and take the wheel off the hub. He would then retrieve the spare tyre from the trunk of the vehicle and proceed to install the spare tyre onto the hub of the vehicle, and then he would tighten the nuts of the wheel using the air gun. Finally the operator would jack down the vehicle with the new tyre installed. The flat tyre would be checked for holes and repaired. Utilising the five step method to risk assessment produced by Health and Safety Executive and Job Safety Analysis, I have undertaken two (2) risk assessments on changing a tyre in a tyre shop.
2.6RISK ASSESSMENT ON CHANGING A TYRE USING THE FIVE STEP METHOD
COMPANY NAME: JACK’S TYRE SHOP
DATE OF RISK ASSESSMENT: 15/02/2011
STEP 1 – WHAT ARE THE HAZARDS?
STEP 2 – WHO MIGHT BE HARMED AND HOW?
STEP 3 – WHAT ARE YOU ALREADY DOING?
WHAT FURTHER ACTION IS NECESSARY?
ACTION BY WHOM
ACTION BY WHEN
ACTION WAS DONE
Equipment under pressures (impact wrench)
It can explode and cause harm to both operator and customers
Making sure air gun is certified.
Monitor pressure being used.
Workers trained in safe working procedures.
Making sure that bursting disc and pressure safety value are working properly on equipment.
Owner
Noise (impact wrench)
Prolong exposure could lead to hearing loss or deafness to operator.
Minor irritancy to customers.
Warning signs.
Work patterns.
Owner
Vibration (impact wrench)
Causes whole body vibration and white finger to operator.
Work patterns
No further action required.
Owner
Manual Handling
When the operator lifts the tyre of the hub and takes the spare out the trunk, he can develop a hernia or back injury.
Operators made aware of proper lifting techniques.
No further action required.
Owner
Slips and Trips
Operators and customers can suffer sprains or strains from tripping over the air gun or poor house keeping of shop form other activities.
Practice good house keeping methods.
Proper care around hose to prevent tripping hazards.
No further action required.
Operators
2.7JOB SAFETY ANALYSIS FOR CHNAGING A TYRE
JOB SAFETY ANALYSIS WORKSHEET
JOB: Changing a car tyre in a Tyre Shop. (JACK’S TYRE SHOP)
APPROVED BY: A. JACK (Owner)
DATE: 15/02/2011
STEP
PROCEDURE
POTENTIAL HAZARDS
SAFETY MEASURES
1
Remove spare tyre from trunk of car and place on ground.
Manual handling
Practice correct lifting techniques
2
Break and loosen wheel nuts.
Lug wrench may slip
Use proper lug wrench and apply steady pressure slowly.
3
Jack up car to remove weight of tyre.
Crush
Block wheels of car to stabilise it.
4
Using impact wrench remove wheel nuts off the wheel.
Explosion
Monitor air pressure being used.
5
Remove tyre off hub and place on ground.
Manual handling
Practice correct lifting techniques
6
Remove spare tyre from ground and place on hub of car.
Manual handling
Practice correct lifting techniques
7
Loosely tighten wheel nuts on wheel and jack down car slowly.
Explosion
Monitor air pressure being used.
8
Tighten wheel nuts fully.
Lug wrench may slip
Use impact wrench.
REPORT
Five Steps to Risk Assessment model is a working model that aids in the identification of hazards, who might be at risk and the safety measures required to protect those who might be harmed by such hazards. It is easy to use and can be tailored to suit any organisation’s needs and sets the foundation to develop their own risk assessment. It is suitable for most hazard identification but can be limited to those areas that are more hazardous. Most of the other risk assessment models follow the five steps method, the difference is at the stage of evaluating the risk. At this stage a risk matrix is introduced by categorising the likelihood by the severity of harm, this will determine which risk should be dealt with first.
Task Analysis – breaks down a complex task into its components.
Example of Task Analysis – Job Safety Analysis (JSA) is used to identify, analyse and record steps involved in performing a specific task, the health and safety hazards associated with each step and recommendations for actions or procedures to eliminate such hazards and the risks associated with them.
This method does not rely on individual memory because you can observe the worker while he is performing his job, doing it in this way induced recognition of hazards and identifies prior unnoticed hazards. It also helps in increasing ones knowledge of the job.
Some advantages of using a JSA is that it helps to train new employees and promotes consistency in said training, helps in the reduction of injuries, is a good investigation tool, it identifies unsafe work practices before an accident take place and it serves as a evaluation tool for supervisors.
Some disadvantages of using a JSA are that it does not identify all the hazards present so that no action can be taken to control the risk from these hazards and it can be too general.
This form of risk assessment (JSA) is more suited for this type of work because it is based on the daily operations of the operators in the tyre shop. Each task involved in the changing of the tyre is examined and the associated hazards and risks are identified and recommendations can be made to control or eliminate these hazards. The five step model was also useful because of the simplicity of the task undertaken for the risk assessments.
SUMMARY
Every employer is required by law to assess the risks to his employees and anyone who may be affected by the daily operations of their business. By doing this, risk assessment helps to develop a safety culture. It helps to identify potential accidents and to increase managements’ awareness to hazards and incident in the workplace. Risk assessments also help to prioritise incidents that require a deeper review or investigation.
The five steps to risk assessment is both easy to use and understand, it efficiently covers the basics to risk assessment and can be modified to form the foundation for a company to develop their own risk assessment. Job Safety Analysis method is also easy to use and understand; it is an accident prevention technique employed in safety programs in many companies. JSA breaks down each task into steps and evaluates each hazard.
As mention earlier risk assessments does not have to be overly complicated it should be easy to use and understand. There will be risks that you cannot eliminate all together but it is advised to minimize it to as low as reasonable possible. Both risk assessment methods were useful in undertaking the task of changing a car tyre and can be used for many other tasks.