Welcome to the Center for Chemical Process Safety's Hazard Awareness Program.
If you are a frontline operations or maintenance worker, this program is for you.
You belong to the group of men and women who place their lives on the line each day
in our plants, refineries, and facilities working in the chemical and process industry.
Hazards are everywhere,
and in our industry hazards don't give you a second chance.
In everyday life, we are all more familiar with hazardous conditions such as cluttered pathways, pinch points on moving pieces of
equipment, or objects falling from elevated heights. However, in the chemical or process
industries hazards are not as easily seen and can't necessarily be detected at first glance.
When an incident occurs in the process industry, its consequences may reach far beyond the immediate area.
Process or chemical hazards may cause fires, explosions, or toxic effects when they escape into the open air.
This program will introduce you to the basic hazard recognition and identification concepts as they relate to the chemical
or process industry and provide you with the skills to anticipate problems before they occur.
The company or facility where you work may operate a bit differently or abide by different policies; that is all good.
Our goal is to get you thinking about your own workplace, and raising your awareness of the hazards that exists there.
We all have that natural sense of curiosity. When we see a vehicle accident on the side of the road, we wonder what caused it.
You can develop hazard recognition as a skill that will help you prevent major events like this,
both at work and in your personal lives. The material in this program
is intended strictly for your education and awareness. When you have completed the program you'll be able to recognize and
identify hazards better in your workplace. The ultimate goal is for the safety of all workers,
the public, and the communities surrounding our facilities.
You will find useful tools along the way to help you through, like exercises and quizzes.
Let's get started.
All of the world's process catastrophes can be traced back to a hazard. Imagine if they could've been prevented.
So if a hazard could have been recognized and identified, the outcome would have been drastically different.
So, what it is a hazard? Let's examine what it is that we need to stay on top of. Hazards are at the root of all safety incidents,
and include activities, materials, chemical substances, physical equipment, and any form of energy.
In fact, something as simple as where person chooses to stand, relative to a high energy source,
may pose a significant hazard. Being in the line of fire can also present a hazard if something goes wrong.
Hazards can grow over time or combine with other hazards to cause catastrophic consequences.
Some hazards inflict pain and provide you with an early warning so you can look for protection. Other hazards are more subtle
and can inflict serious injuries or even fatalities with no warning
The first step to a safer site is recognizing hazards ... and ...Hazard recognition is not a basic human instinct.
You can improve the odds against a hazard developing into something major.
We recommend that you take the time to walk the line. When you are putting your life on the line, it's your safest approach.
When you do recognize a hazard, it gives you the opportunity to get out of harm's way.
Don't allow yourself to become immune to hazards, especially if you have not experienced a personal incident ... yet.
The belief that "accidents only happen to others" sometimes dampens the awareness and
the response to hazards. We can't let that happen.
It is important to know that we may not see all hazards with the naked eye.
Trust your instincts and get out of the way when you suspect something is wrong.
This famous picture shows steelworkers erecting the RCA building in New York in 1930.
This illustrates what the common safety culture was back then.
Workers were content to work alongside their coworkers with little concern about their surroundings.
That is no longer the case today.
Hazard identification is the act of identifying and taking immediate action to
eliminate or properly manage hazards. You are the key to making a positive impact.
When you identify new hazards, not the hazards already recorded or known, you are
helping to prevent bodily harm, damage to facilities, to the environment, and others.
Let others know about the potential risks associated with known hazards and warn them to watch for other hazards.
Hazards are all around us. Many of these are well within our control.
It is the significant hazards that can cause serious injury or even death.
These must be recognized and dealt with so that this does not happen.
See if you can pick out the significant hazards in these images.
How or why do you think your responses could be different between you and a coworker?
Well, your life experience and the context in which you view a hazard or think about it will influence your reaction.
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Hazards are often associated with the energy that could be released or transferred during an incident.
Some hazards are truly active and could harm workers at any time.
Active hazards include things such as fire or radioactive materials, while other hazards
are passive or dormant, such as propane cylinders or chemical drums.
These dormant hazards must be disturbed or tampered with to cause harm.
Some hazards can change over time. When conducting work it is important to
monitor your surroundings for signs of changing conditions.
Hazard recognition is the first line of defense because it empowers responsible people to make things safer.
Checklists are sometimes used to check for hazards in the workplace. These ensure a consistent approach when used by
different workers. Checklists are good for checking some common hazards but they
are seldom adaptable to changing conditions or new situations.
Nothing is better than the trained eye of an experienced worker.
In the workplace, why you think it is not practical for workers to eliminate all hazards?
Is it a lack of time, they are difficult to spot, they can develop in a short period of time,
or is it because hazards are an integral part of the work environment and need to be managed?
The short answer is ... It's impossible to eliminate all hazards. We need to treat them with utmost respect.
Simple awareness and recognition can improve our chances of avoiding an incident.
There is one catch however. Follow-through.
If you recognize a hazard, take the appropriate measures before proceeding with your work.