Far too often we see people getting confused between hazards and risks which can and does cause a major issue in terms of safety.
So…what is the difference between hazards and risks?
Every workplace (including commercial vessels) has hazards and depending on the operations being undertaken the number of hazards varies considerably.
A hazard is anything that can cause harm to a person.
The best way to manage a hazard is to remove it or if it can not be removed, you need to manage the risks associated with the hazard the crew are exposed to.
Here’s a few examples of hazards on commercial vessels:
These are just a few of the hazards that exist on commercial vessels.
A risk is not a hazard, a risk is the likelihood of a hazard causing harm!
Risk is the possibility that harm (injury, illness or death) might occur when exposed to a hazard. Risk control means taking action to either eliminate or mitigate health and safety risks as far as reasonably practicable.
Bunkering or refuelling is something all operators undertake, and it can be on of the most dangerous procedures to be conducted depending on the fuel (petrol or diesel) used.
Here’s a number of risks involved with bunkering.
This is just a list as an example of what risks are associated with the hazard of bunkering!
So….as you can see a single hazard can have multiple risks associated with it so it’s critical that when you identify a hazard you look carefully at all the associated risk involved.
If you are not fully conversant with hazard identification and risk assessment we highly recommended that you seek professional help. While you may have a lot of experience in your field it’s common not to be able to identify hazards.
In fact, we have reviewed a hazard identification undertaken by the vessels engineer and identified 27 hazards that were not identified, some of which were regarded as potentially catastrophic!
Our best tip is to ensure you have identified potential hazards, undertaken a detailed risk assessment of each associated risk and then have a professional review and assess for you.
This way you are assured that you have covered all the hazards and associated risk which will greatly assist in the event of an incident.
If you need assistance with hazard identification and/or risk assessments contact our office as safety is our business!
