Risk Hunting in Operations

From Formal Instructions to Real Safety

The traditional approach to occupational safety often faces the problem of formalism: instructions and regulations (JSA) are written without taking into account the actual working conditions. Workers act "out of habit," and a huge amount of documentation remains unread. As practice shows, most severe injuries and micro-injuries occur precisely during the execution of specific operations, and not due to the general condition of the territory. In his presentation, Dmitry Zaitsev, an HSE specialist at SB-STROY, examines the "Risk Hunting in Operations" (RHO) tool, which allows shifting the focus from general territorial risks to targeted improvement of working conditions at a specific workplace.

The Mechanics of "Risk Hunting": 4 Steps to a Safe Process

The speaker examines in detail the algorithm for implementing the tool, which consists of four consecutive stages:

• Planning: Selection of departments (provided that at least 70% of engineering and technical personnel are trained) and team formation. The group must include a risk specialist (as a methodologist), a process owner (site manager or foreman), a specialized expert (e.g., a mechanic or power engineer), and the worker themselves. Frequency: at least twice a month. Priority is given to jobs with a history of incidents, complex operations, and simultaneous work.
• Kick-off meeting: Immersing the process owner in the goals of the event, studying documentation, and preparing to go to the site. It is important to warn the crew in advance about the purpose of the visit and the use of photo/video recording.
• Observation session (field visit): The team chooses a safe place for observation, records the process on photo and video, notes working conditions (lighting, vibration, temperature), and the tools used. If necessary, work is stopped for clarifying questions.
• Documentation and development of measures: Group analysis of identified risks using the Risk Matrix. Control measures are developed according to the hierarchy (from elimination to PPE) and entered into the information system for analytics.

Practical Effect and Personnel Involvement

Dmitry shows by example how this approach works: a turner used homemade but convenient and safe tools (a scraper and a squeegee) instead of the chisel and hammer prescribed by the routing card, which led to micro-injuries. The result of RHO was the legalization of convenient tools and changes to the documentation. This approach not only reduces injury rates (according to the speaker's statistics, the risk of severe injuries decreased by 89% over 10 months) but also radically changes the attitude of workers. About 60% of suggestions for improvement come from the personnel themselves, who see the real interest of management and receive motivation (including corporate gifts) for their initiative.

What you will learn from this webinar:

• How to overcome worker resistance and involve them in the risk identification process?
• How to properly form a team for "Risk Hunting" and distribute roles?
• How to use the "Job Criticality Calculator" to select priority areas?
• How to make Job Safety Analysis (JSA) a truly working tool, rather than a formal paper?
• How to justify the allocation of a budget for eliminating identified risks to management?