Recognizing hazards and preventing accidents requires a methodical approach to safety. Five basic steps can lead to lower accident rates and a safer workplace.

 1. Define the Hazards.隐患识别  Identifying hazards in the workplace begins with defining the hazard. However, a challenge for managing risk and creating hazard awareness exists because of differences in your work environment. 

 2. Keep It Simple. 最简法则Regular walk-around inspections by safety personnel, workers, and contractors blend safety expertise with the experience. In many instances, your combined team can find and correct hazards during the walk-around. For example, your team may find that waste materials block an exit and create a fire hazard. 

 3. Get a Headstart with Analysis.集中分析  Your safety team can compile the data from each of the safety walk-arounds and perform an audit analysis. Having this type of analysis indicates if the same conditions persist and if training or procedure changes can improve the conditions. Building your information about hazards—and complying with OSHA standards—also requires documenting injuries, close calls, near misses, incidents, and illnesses that occur in the workplace. 

 4. Use Your Detective Skills. You can combine the data analysis with your investigative skills when looking for the root cause of persistent hazard conditions. Your safety team should question whether hazards exist in normal working conditions or if the hazards only occur during an unusual routine. Specific types of accidents may occur in one area or during a particular shift. Determining the cause of an accident may lead to improved maintenance procedures or prompt additional environmental tests. 

 5. Accumulate Lessons Learned. You and your safety team should take advantage of available resources when assessing workplace hazards. OSHA, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and other agencies publish standards and alerts about possible worksite hazards such as particulates, noise, and toxic materials. Equipment operating and maintenance guides, as well as your own Safety Data Sheets (SDS), accident reports, and audit results can teach workers how to recognize hazards and prevent accidents. Include every part of your company in the training as you build your safety culture. Make safety the priority of operations no matter which department or site to help keep employees safe. 

作者Bob Farrell is Product Sales Manager, Industrial/Safety Products at Motion Industries. He has been in the Industrial Supply Business for forty years, with the last twelve at Motion. Learn more about how to keep your area safe at MotionIndustries.com/ modernmaterialshandling or MiSafetySpecialist.com.