Introduction
Safety in any operation works best if the person
or people in charge take a leading role in
managing safety and health.
Many business enterprises have proven that
good safety management leads to increased
productivity, and the same works for farms.
By having a good safety management program,
you can avoid not only farm injuries, but also
other incidents that are costly, time consuming,
stressful and inconvenient. This makes good
economic sense.
HAZARD
Any thing which has potential to cause harm to
the people and property is called hazard
Hazards may be identified by:
Observation - use your senses of sight, hearing,
smell and touch - combined with knowledge and
experience.
Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) - obtain
them from manufacturers and suppliers. Read
them carefully to identify possible harm from
hazardous substances and precautions that need
to be taken.
Hazard and risk surveys - conduct hazard
spotting surveys of main work areas. Talk to
others about their safety concerns.
Record analysis - keep records of identified hazards,
near misses, injuries and workers' compensation
claims to help identify possible trends.
Discussion groups - are useful for identifying
hazards and recommending solutions.
Safety audits - consider creating a safety committee
to investigate safety and help prepare a
management plan.
Information - keep informed of hazards in the
industry through the latest available information.
Consumer information - carefully read and follow
consumer guidelines on equipment and substances.
Regulations and best practices
How to assess the risks in your
workplace
Identify the hazards
Decide who might be harmed and how
Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions
Record your significant findings
Review your assessment and update if necessary
Identify the hazards
One of the most important
aspects of your risk
assessment is accurately
identifying the potential
hazards in your
workplace. A good starting
point is to walk around
your workplace and think
about any hazards. In
other words, what is it
about the activities,
processes or substances
used that could injure
Decide who might be harmed and
how
Think how employees
(or others who may be
present such as
contractors or visitors)
might be harmed. Ask
your employees what
they think the hazards
are, as they may notice
things that are not
obvious to you and may
have some good ideas
on how to control the
risks.
Evaluate the risks and decide on
precautions
Having identified the
hazards, you then have to
decide how likely it is that
harm will occur; ie the level
of risk and what to do about
it. Risk is a part of everyday
life and you are not
expected to eliminate all
risks. What you must do is
make sure you know about
the main risks and the
things you need to do to
manage them responsibly.
Record your significant findings
Make a record of your
significant findings - the
hazards, how people
might be harmed by
them and what you
have in place to control
the risks. Any record
produced should be
simple and focused on
controls
Review your assessment and
update if necessary
Few workplaces stay the same. Sooner or later,
you will bring in new equipment, substances and
procedures that could lead to new hazards. So it
makes sense to review what you are doing on an
ongoing basis, look at your risk assessment again
and ask yourself:
Have there been any significant changes?
Are there improvements you still need to make?
Have your workers spotted a problem?
Have you learnt anything from accidents or near
misses?
Make sure your risk assessment stays up to date.
CONTROL TECHINQUE
The hierarchy of control is used to remove or
reduce hazards and risks and should be used
during a risk assessment. The idea is that you
start by choosing methods from the top of the list
and work your way down if required
Eliminate
Reduce
Isolate
Control
Personal Protective Equipment
Discipline
Elimination
Elimination
Physically removing the
hazard—is the most
effective hazard
control. For example, if
employees must work high
above the ground, the
hazard can be eliminated
by moving the piece they
are working on to ground
level to eliminate the need
to work at heights.
Engineering controls
Engineering controls
The third most effective
means of controlling
hazards is engineered
controls. These do not
eliminate hazards, but
rather isolate people
from hazards. For
example, a crew might
build a work platform
rather than purchase,
replace, and
maintain fall
Administrative controls
Administrative controls
Administrative controls are
changes to the way people
work. Examples of
administrative controls
include procedure changes,
employee training, and
installation of signs and
warning labels (such as those
in the Workplace Hazardous
Materials Information
System).Administrative
controls do not remove
hazards, but limit or prevent
people's exposure to the
hazards, such as
completing road
Personal protective equipment
Personal protective
equipment (PPE)
includes gloves,
Nome/Uniform, res
pirators, hard
hats, safety
glasses, high-
visibility clothing,
and safety
footwear. PPE is
the least effective
means of
controlling hazards
because of the
high potential for
damage to render