Hazard Reporting

Hazard:  Anything which may cause harm, injury, or ill health

When a new hazard is identified the first step is reporting it to your immediate supervisor in person, via mobile communication and/or using a safety concern report form. Prompt reporting by immediately notifying your supervisor will help in ensuring it is adequately controlled before someone gets injured. The person who has identified the hazard has the responsibility to immediately report and adequately control or guard it.

This can be achieved using the following acronym

S.A.F.E

S - Spot the Hazard

A - Assess the Risk

F - Fix the Problem

E - Evaluate your Results

Hazard Reporting Procedure

(Document Web Link)

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Spot the Hazard

• Notify your immediate supervisor

• Observe the work as it is being done

• Talk to workers about the work and the areas where work happens

• Participate in workplace inspections

• Look at reports and records that your workplace has about the work

• Listen to the concerns

Assess the Risk

You need to understand how likely it is that a worker will get hurt or made sick by the hazard. Tasks almost always contain hazards and the consequence severity needs to be identified.

To assess the risk associated with the task hazard, ask the following four questions:

• How does the hazard compare to legislation, standards and guidelines?

• How can the worker get hurt or sick?

• How likely is the hazard to affect worker health and safety?

• How badly could the worker get hurt or sick?

Complete the assessment portions of the Field Level Risk Assessment Card.

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Fix the Problem

Fix the problem with controls. Control the hazards by looking for ways to get rid of the hazard or to make the job safer.

The safest thing to do is to remove the hazard. (control at the source)

If removing the hazard is not possible, look for ways to prevent workers from coming in contact with the hazard, such as separating the hazard from the worker. (control along the path)

If neither of the above solutions protects the worker, workers can use protective equipment, devices, engineered and/or administrative controls to help keep them safe. It’s your obligation as a supervisor to make sure workers use this equipment where required by the OHSA and Regulations or by the employer. (control at the worker)

Evaluate Results

Evaluate how well the hazard controls are working:

Picture yourself performing the task and if your controls would be adequately protecting you against harm.

• Ask your supervisor or health and safety representative for assistance if you deem the hazard inadequately controlled

• Talk about the work to the workers who report to you

• Watch them do their work

• Listen to what they say and look for ways to improve health and safety

Hazards must be properly identified, reported, accessed, controlled or guarded and evaluated using the S.A.F.E acronym and your daily risk assessment card. If a substandard condition remains after this process, the supervisor will address any questions or concerns and correct any substandard conditions immediately. If the hazard controls implemented by the Supervisor are not satisfactory, you may request a consult from your Health and Safety Representative.