How do you identify hazards, assess risks, and apply the hierarchy of hazard control to work safely throughout production?
carrying out risk assessments and applying the hierarchy of hazard control, with safe work procedures and personal protective equipment, to manage risk during production
A VCE Product Design and Technologies Unit 4 answer on managing risk in production: identifying hazards, assessing risk, and applying the hierarchy of hazard control, from elimination through to personal protective equipment, with safe work procedures.
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What this dot point is asking
This dot point treats safety as a discipline, not a slogan. It runs through the whole of Unit 4 production and appears in exam questions on risk assessment and safe working.
Hazard, risk and assessment
A hazard is anything with the potential to cause harm; a risk is the chance that harm actually occurs and how serious it would be. A risk assessment works through each process, names the hazards, judges the likelihood and severity, and specifies controls. Doing this before production, not after an accident, is the point.
The hierarchy in order
The order matters because higher controls are more reliable; lower ones depend on the person remembering and complying every time.
- Elimination. Remove the hazard entirely, for example designing out a dangerous process.
- Substitution. Replace it with something safer, such as a less toxic finish.
- Engineering controls. Isolate people from the hazard with guards, extraction or interlocks.
- Administrative controls. Change how people work, with safe operating procedures, training, signage and supervision.
- Personal protective equipment (PPE). Eyewear, hearing protection, dust masks and gloves, as the final barrier.
Safe work procedures and the work plan
For each piece of equipment you operate, you document a safe work procedure: the correct setup, the operating steps, the guards and PPE required, and what to do if something goes wrong. These procedures are built into the work plan so that every production step names how it will be done safely. Safety is integrated into the plan, not bolted on as an afterthought.
Living risk management
Risk assessment is not a one-off form. As production reveals new hazards (a tool behaving unexpectedly, a material splintering) you reassess and add controls, and you record this. Good housekeeping, knowing where to stop, and asking for supervision on unfamiliar equipment are all part of competent, ongoing risk management.
When you can identify hazards, assess the risk, and apply the hierarchy of hazard control from elimination down to PPE with documented safe work procedures, you have met this dot point and can demonstrate the disciplined, integrated safety the subject demands.