Hazard Recognition & Risk Assessment Fundamentals

A hazard is anything with the potential to cause harm — an object, a condition, an activity, or an environment. A risk is the likelihood that hazard actually causes harm, combined with how severe that harm would be. Keeping these two words distinct matters: you control hazards directly, but you manage risk by changing likelihood, severity, or both.

The five common hazard categories

• Physical — noise, heights, machinery, electricity, temperature extremes.
• Chemical — solvents, dust, fumes, anything with a safety data sheet.
• Biological — mould, bacteria, bloodborne pathogens.
• Ergonomic — repetitive motion, awkward postures, manual handling.
• Psychosocial — fatigue, workload, harassment, understaffing.

Most incident investigations find the hazard was visible beforehand — the skill this course builds is noticing it before it becomes a report.

A structured floor walk beats an unstructured one every time, because it gives you a repeatable sequence instead of relying on whatever happens to catch your eye that day.

Look → Ask → Check → Record

• Look — scan the area systematically: floor, eye level, overhead, and behind equipment. Most walks only cover eye level.
• Ask — talk to the people actually doing the task. They know the shortcuts and workarounds that never make it into the procedure.
• Check — verify controls are actually in place and functioning, not just documented as present.
• Record — write it down immediately, in specific terms ("guard missing on band saw #3," not "equipment concerns").

The single biggest failure mode in floor walks isn't missing a hazard — it's noticing one and not recording it before getting distracted by the next task.

Once a hazard is identified, scoring it consistently is what lets you prioritize action instead of treating every finding as equally urgent.

A simple 3×3 risk matrix

Rate likelihood (Low / Medium / High) and severity (Minor / Serious / Major), then combine them:

A corrective action that doesn't specify who, by when, and how it will be verified is a wish, not a plan. Make every corrective action SMART:

• Specific — name the exact hazard and location, not a general theme.
• Measurable — define what "fixed" looks like so there's no ambiguity at sign-off.
• Assigned — one named owner, not "the maintenance team."
• Realistic — a deadline the owner can actually hit given other workload.
• Time-bound + verified — a due date, and a different person confirming it was actually done.

That last part — independent verification — is the step most programs skip, and it's the one that actually closes the loop.