Certificate in Safety Risk Engineering: Tools & Techniques

Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment - HIRA

Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment is the cornerstone of workplace safety. If you’ve ever wondered how organizations systematically prevent accidents and protect their most valuable assets, their people, this is where the journey begins.

This lecture is designed to give you a clear, actionable framework. We will explore:

The 5-Step HIRA Process: We will break down a simplified, practical 5-step approach that you can apply immediately. You will learn how to:

Identify hazards with a critical eye.

Assess the associated risks by evaluating both likelihood and potential severity.

Control risks using the "Hierarchy of Controls," including:

1. Elimination & Substitution: The most effective ways to remove the hazard entirely.

2. Engineering Barriers: Using physical safeguards to isolate people from danger.

3. Administrative Controls: The power of procedures, training, and warning systems.

4. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): The last line of defence for worker safety.

Document the entire process to ensure accountability and create a valuable reference for the future.

By the end of this lecture, you will have a solid grasp of how to compile a Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment.

Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment - HIRA

Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment is the cornerstone of workplace safety. If you’ve ever wondered how organizations systematically prevent accidents and protect their most valuable assets, their people, this is where the journey begins.

This lecture is designed to give you a clear, actionable framework. We will explore:

The 5-Step HIRA Process: We will break down a simplified, practical 5-step approach that you can apply immediately. You will learn how to:

Identify hazards with a critical eye.

Assess the associated risks by evaluating both likelihood and potential severity.

Control risks using the "Hierarchy of Controls," including:

1. Elimination & Substitution: The most effective ways to remove the hazard entirely.

2. Engineering Barriers: Using physical safeguards to isolate people from danger.

3. Administrative Controls: The power of procedures, training, and warning systems.

4. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): The last line of defence for worker safety.

Document the entire process to ensure accountability and create a valuable reference for the future.

By the end of this lecture, you will have a solid grasp of how to compile a Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment.

Lecture Description: Incident Investigations – A Guide for Employers

This lecture explains how employers should respond effectively after a workplace incident involving injury, illness, or a near-miss. It introduces a structured four-step systems approach to incident investigation that helps identify root causes, not just surface problems, so organisations can prevent recurrence and strengthen their safety and health management programs.

Learners will understand:

• Why all incidents and close calls must be investigated

• The importance of focusing on program failures rather than individual behaviour

• How to establish a clear incident investigation program before incidents occur

• Legal and reporting responsibilities for serious workplace incidents

• The benefits of conducting investigations using a team-based approach

The lecture also introduces the four key investigation steps:

1. Preserve and document the incident scene

2. Collect accurate and relevant information

3. Determine underlying root causes

4. Implement corrective actions to prevent future incidents

Practical tools such as investigation forms, interview techniques, documentation methods, and checklists are highlighted to support a systematic and effective investigation process.

By the end of this lecture, participants will understand how planned investigations demonstrate organisational commitment to workplace safety and contribute to continuous improvement in health and safety performance.

Incident Investigation Step-by-Step

In this practical demonstration, you will learn how to conduct an effective incident investigation using a four-step systems approach. We will walk through a real-world scenario—a worker injured while cleaning a conveyor system—and apply six key forms to document the process.

You will see how to:

• Preserve and document the scene to secure evidence.

• Collect information through witness interviews and document reviews.

• Determine root causes using the "Why" technique to uncover system failures.

• Implement corrective actions that address root causes, not just symptoms.

By the end of this lecture, you will understand how to move beyond blaming individuals and instead strengthen safety management systems to prevent future incidents.

Frank Bird introduced the safety triangle as part of his work on accident prevention.

A renowned American safety management pioneer, Bird analyzed more than 75,000 industrial accident reports, uncovering clear patterns in how injuries occurred and what preceded them.

His work gave rise to a widely recognized concept in industrial accident prevention: the idea that accidents in the workplace are the result of a chain of events, similar to a line of falling dominoes.

Bird’s safety triangle stated that for every severe accident, one involving serious injury or fatality, there were 29 minor accidents and 300 near misses.

This 1, 29, 300 ratio is often depicted in the form of a triangle, serving as a visual representation of the relative frequency of different accident types.

The triangle illustrates the connections between various levels of safety incidents, showing the relationship between serious accidents, minor injuries, and near misses.

Consider for a moment the underlying message here.

Serious injuries rarely happen out of nowhere.

They are almost always preceded by minor incidents, near misses, and unsafe conditions.

Frank Bird’s Triangle teaches us that if we want fewer catastrophic injuries, we must pay attention to the warning signs at the base of the pyramid, the near misses.

A Last Minute Risk Assessment is a quick, personal safety check done just before starting any task. It helps identify immediate hazards in the work area that may have been missed or appeared since the initial assessment. The main goal is to make sure the task can be done safely.

Most incidents don't come from rare or complex hazards, they happen during routine work when people assume everything is safe. Conditions in workplaces like construction sites, factories, or warehouses change constantly.

Last Minute Risk Assessment puts responsibility in the hands of the worker. It builds a mindset where safety is not just a management rule, but a personal decision made before every task. That small pause can prevent injuries, damage, and costly downtime.

Even with the best safety plans in place, work conditions can shift in an instant. A wet floor, a missing guard, or an unexpected cable across a path can turn a routine job into a hazard.

That's where Last Minute Risk Assessment comes in. It is a quick pause before starting a task, giving workers a chance to scan their surroundings, spot new risks, and act before something goes wrong.

The HAZOP examines the replacement of a centrifugal pump transferring flammable solvent from a storage tank to a reactor.

Scenario and HAZOP Setup.

Node. Pump P-101, the solvent transfer pump.

Focus. Safely isolate, replace, and restart the pump while preventing leaks, injuries, and ignition sources.

Team. HAZOP facilitator, scribe, safety officer, process engineer, mechanical lead, operations supervisor, and electrician.

Guide Words and Parameters.

The team divides the task into three key steps and applies guide words such as No, More, Less, and Reverse to parameters such as flow, pressure, isolation, and procedures to identify possible deviations from normal conditions.

The HAZOP examines the replacement of a centrifugal pump transferring flammable solvent from a storage tank to a reactor.

Scenario and HAZOP Setup.

Node. Pump P-101, the solvent transfer pump.

Focus. Safely isolate, replace, and restart the pump while preventing leaks, injuries, and ignition sources.

Team. HAZOP facilitator, scribe, safety officer, process engineer, mechanical lead, operations supervisor, and electrician.

Guide Words and Parameters.

The team divides the task into three key steps and applies guide words such as No, More, Less, and Reverse to parameters such as flow, pressure, isolation, and procedures to identify possible deviations from normal conditions.

Disabling Injury Frequency Rate.

I would like us to explore together what this term really means and why it matters for your business operations.

At first glance, an injury frequency rate might seem complex, but once we break it down, you’ll see how it directly connects to safety performance and decision-making.

Think of it this way: an injury frequency rate is a metric that reflects the number of injuries sustained by workers over a period of time.

Employers use this to measure their own safety standards, lower rates usually suggest more rigorous accident prevention policies. It also serves as a tool for industry comparisons, helping to identify which areas within specific industries need the most improvement.

Understanding this metric and taking control of potential hazards are essential for long-term success for everyone involved.

Let's start by understanding what we mean by Simultaneous Operations, or SIMOPS. Simply put, it is when two or more tasks that could interfere with each other, such as maintenance, construction, or drilling, are carried out at the same time and in the same area of a facility.

This requires careful planning, teamwork, and safety rules to prevent risks.

Let's Explore How SIMOPS Can Be Managed Safely.

Despite these challenges, SIMOPS allows activities such as production and drilling to take place at the same time without putting safety at risk. How is that achieved? This is often done by setting up no-go zones, using environmental controls, or staggering schedules.

Now, Let's Discuss Where SIMOPS Fits in Risk Assessment.

So, what does a SIMOPS review actually do? Let's look at it this way. A SIMOPS review identifies possible interactions between activities that could harm people, damage property, or hurt the environment.

Despite strict regulations, advanced technology, automation, safety management systems, and thorough accident investigations, workplace accidents still occur and are often repeated.

This is because people are involved in every stage of a workplace safety, they design, build, operate, inspect, maintain, and manage machinery.

As a result, human decisions and actions can either prevent accidents or contribute to them.

By addressing the human factors that influence behaviour, organisations can reduce incidents.

A review of causes of many major global disasters had revealed that Human error was a key factor that had triggered the incident.

A safety culture refers to the shared values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours that determine how seriously an organisation and its employees prioritise health and safety.

A strong safety culture is built on effective hazard identification, risk prevention, clear safety policies, ongoing training, open communication, and a shared commitment by both management and employees to comply with health and safety standards.

Organisations that cultivate a proactive safety culture not only protect their employees from harm but also improve productivity, reduce operational costs, strengthen legal compliance, and enhance employee morale.

Let’s begin by turning our attention to the Swiss Cheese Model to understand how accidents happen.

To start with, consider the image of Swiss cheese, which consists of randomly placed holes, each randomly sized.

The model depicts slices of cheese, that are stacked side by side.

Now, let’s think about what each slice represents.

Every slice, stands for the defences, that are part of the design of a system.

For example, a cheese slice could be culture, education, or training.

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