Estimated Duration: 1 Hour
Objectives:
To outline the difference between reactive and proactive means of accident prevention;
- To provide a genera overview of the different means of accident prevention measures used in industry today;
- To define the hierarchy of risk control.
Lecture Plan
1 Reactive/Proactive accident prevention.
- Reactive - the traditional management approach - the prevention of repetitions of accidents that have already occurred.
- Pro-active - the prevention of accidents before they have chance to occur.
2 Hierarchy of risk control
- Eliminate all risks by substituting the dangerous by the less dangerous;
- Combating risks at source by engineering controls (guards, interlocks etc.) and giving collective protective measures priority;
- Minimising risks by the design of suitable systems of work (training, rules, procedures, supervision etc.)
- Using personal protective equipment (PPE) and safety equipment as a last resort.
- Risk control is more effective /more costly up the hierarchy
- PPE reduces the severity of a potential accident rather than the likelihood, hence its position in the hierarchy.
Suggested Reading & Other Resources
- HSE - Successful Health & Safety Management HS(G)65, HSE Books, 1995
- HSE - ACSNI Study Group on Human Factors 3rd Report: Organising for Safety, HSE Books, 1993