Risk Management Strategy in Perspective
of Chemical Industry
Author’s Name
Affiliation
1) In this paper I have selected a non-routine task of tank cleaning in the chemical industry. This cleaning task normally does not perform by an employee and at the same time considers as an extremely hazardous activity (Palmisano, 2016). While performing this task an employee may face following potential hazards-
So, for conducting a safe operating procedure the safety manager should adopt the following steps-
2)
Job Title: |
Analyst Name: |
Date: |
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Task Description: |
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This tank cleaning task in the chemical industry is selected for its inclusion of severe risk types, like the existence of physical hazards, exposure to chemical hazards, presence of flammable vapors, and sources of ignition (Popov, Lyon, & Hollcroft, 2016). Further, it is a non-routine task and as such performance of the same should follow a progressive written plan as well as OSHA training procedures, to assure the safety of the employees. |
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# |
Task Steps |
Hazard and Effect |
Initial Risk |
Risk Reduction Tactics |
Residual Risk |
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Basic description of task steps recorded in sequence |
Description and effect of existing and potential hazards based on observation and experience |
Severity |
Likelihood |
Risk Rating |
Description of risk reduction tactics for each hazard using the Hierarchy of Controls method |
Severity |
Likelihood |
Risk Rating |
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1 |
Pre-task survey |
Physical hazards, Chemical exposure, Oxygen deficiency, Flammable vapor (Scott, 2003) |
Critical |
Likely |
16 |
Substitution, Elimination, and Administrative Controls |
Marginal |
Likely |
12 |
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2 |
Pre-task safety team meeting |
Monitoring and assessment of safety control to avoid the potential hazards, including PPE (Palmisano, 2016) |
Critical |
Frequent |
20 |
Engineering Controls, Administrative Controls, and PPE |
Marginal |
Likely |
12 |
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3 |
Pre-task written plan |
Step-by-step instructions to avoid possible sources of ignition in and around the work area, as well as create awareness of toxic dusts, sludge or scale, and oxygen levels (Palmisano, 2016) |
Critical |
Likely |
16 |
Elimination, Substitution, and Engineering Controls |
Marginal |
Occasional |
9 |
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4 |
Pre-task training |
Following the guidance of OSHA apart from adopting the effective PPE for avoiding fall protection, immediate and long-term toxic effect, oxygen deficiency, and microbiological reactions (Scott, 2003) |
Critical |
Occasional |
12 |
Administrative Controls. Engineering Controls, and PPE |
Negligible |
Seldom |
4 |
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5 |
Performance of the task |
Optimize employee safety on the basis of the size and complexity of jobs, including obtaining approval from the management for outside task (Palmisano, 2016) |
Critical |
Seldom |
8 |
Elimination, Substitution, Engineering Controls, and PPE |
Marginal |
Occasional |
9 |
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6 |
Post-task review |
Review the situation frequently to improve the safety procedure during post-task period (Scott, 2003) |
Marginal |
Frequent |
15 |
Administrative Controls |
Negligible |
Seldom |
4 |
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Comment/Discussion (300-word minimum) |
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While assigning severity and likelihood for each hazard before and after the implementation of controls, critical nature of each stage is considered with a foremost priority. Before implementation of control pre-task survey, pre-task safety team meeting, pre-task written plan, and pre-task training are falling in the first level of importance. On the basis of their significance, severity, likelihood, and risk rating have been done (Scott, 2003). After the assessment, the task is performed according to instruction and written plan to complete the tank cleaning task with optimum safety. Hence the severity, likelihood, and risk-rating are also varied according to their risk priority. However, the risk rating of each hazard involved in the tank cleaning task can be segregated into pre- and post-implementation of controls stages to make a comparison of the two phases (Ostrowski & Keim, 2010). During the post-implementation control phase, the task is dealing with residual risk and for that reason the severity of risk is much less than the pre - implementation of control phase. Further, risk reduction tactics are also implemented for which post-implementation stage faces less severity. While comparing the pre-task survey, pre-task safety team meeting, pre-task written plan, and pre-task training phases of post-implementation stage it can be observed that risk severity is much reduced. Similarly, the performance of the task and post-task review have also experienced marginal risk severity (Palmisano, 2016). In this context, it can be stated that after implementation of the risk reduction techniques some risks are reduced to acceptable levels while others require additional controls. Although the risk severity of the pre - task survey, pre-task safety team meeting, pre-task written plan, and performance of the task are adequately controlled, yet to reduce the risk to a negligible level additional controls require to be implemented. The additional controls may be in the form of administrative control, engineering control, elimination or substitution which either are not implemented in one phase or the other (Ostrowski & Keim, 2010). Further, the risk severity is reduced to a negligible / acceptable level in pre-task training and post-task review phases after implementation of the risk reduction tactics. On the basis of above analyses, it can be stated that the organization, during its future course of activity, should adopt proper assessment strategies to consistently maintain its risk-taking attitude. Before commencing any hazardous activity, past experience should be analyzed to assure optimal safety for its employees. Besides, ‘Hierarchy of Controls’ should be implemented properly to reduce the risk severity. |
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Works Cited
Ostrowski, S. W., & Keim, K. K. (2010, June 23). “Tame Your Transient Operations.” Chemical Processing. Retrieved from https://www.chemicalprocessing.com/articles/2010/123/
Palmisano, C. (2016, January 28). “The Dangers of Non Routine Task.” LinkedIn. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dangers-non-routine-tasks-chris-palmisano
Popov, G., Lyon, B. K., & Hollcroft, B. (2016). “Risk assessment: A practical guide to assessing operational risks.” Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Scott, S. (2003, January 22). “Hazards related to tank cleaning.” ORECO. Retrieved from https://www.oreco.com/solutions/downloads/industry-articles/hazards-related-to-tank-cleaning/
Appendix
Fig 1: Hierarchy of Controls
Source: https://www.oreco.com/solutions/downloads/industry-articles/hazards-related-to-tank-cleaning/
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