Last Minute Risk Assessment is the most important step of the preventive management system of SABIC SHEMs 08.10. The receiver must evaluate the Last Minute Risk Assessment to guarantee the safety and health of workers and avoid accidents at work. Once the Last Minute Risk Assessment of the workplace and activities carried out in it have been evaluated, they may take the most appropriate actions to eliminate, control or reduce risk.
The Last Minute Risk Assessment is undoubtedly the essential document of any occupational risk management system. Throughout this article, answers are given to certain questions regarding its preparation or conservation. In this blog, we will clarify the concept of what is Last Minute Risk Assessment (LMRA) in SABIC. Before LMRA is called ‘take two’.
Last Minute Risk Assessment Checklist
A Last Minute Risk Assessment (LMRA) is a brief assessment carried out immediately before the start of work to identify and exclude all potential safety, health and environmental risks in the workplace. Any previously unknown hazards can then be recognized, and incidents prevented. The focus of the LMRA is ‘hazards at the workplace‘ with direct influences from the surroundings and current conditions.
The LMRA supplements existing risk assessments but is not a replacement. One moment! Are you aware that your work has risks? We want to work with you to reduce those risks. It will only be a few minutes, on the back side of the permit, you will see seven questions:
If you answer “Yes” to all of them? In that case, you can continue!
If ‘no’, don’t start yet. Contact your superior to resolve the problem and, if necessary, write a report of incidents. Take a minute to think through a job before the job is started–
- Is the access/egress and lighting provided?
- Is the weather conditions good for work?
- Together with the rest of the team, have an understanding of the task, hazards and mitigation.
- Do the workers know the location of the assembly point, manual call point and eyewash station?
- LOTO applied? (if required)
- Tools and equipment inspected and colour-coded and in good condition to work safely?
- Are the risks controlled by formal job safety analysis or hazard assessment control form and implemented?
Last Minute Risk Assessment Examples
Access, egress and lighting
Appropriate measures must be taken for the protection of workers regarding access and egress in workplaces where the safety of workers may be affected by risks of slip, trip and fall and contact or exposure to aggressive elements. Likewise, a system that prevents unauthorized workers from gaining access to said areas must be in place, as far as possible.
The floors of the workplaces must be fixed, stable and not slippery, without irregularities or dangerous slopes. Openings or unevenness that pose a risk of people falling will be protected by railings or other equivalent safety protection systems.
The railings will be made of rigid materials, will have a minimum height of 90 centimetres and will have protection that prevents the passage or sliding under them or objects falling on people.
Traffic routes intended for vehicles must pass at a sufficient distance from doors, gates, pedestrian circulation areas, corridors and stairs. The circulation routes of workplaces, safety for pedestrians or vehicles that circulate through them and for the personnel that work in their vicinity.
The lighting in workplaces must allow workers to have adequate visibility conditions to circulate through them and carry out their activities without risk to their safety and health. A minimum of 100 lux lighting is required for construction work.
Weather conditions
Rain wind, and temperature are weather conditions that affect the normal development of outdoor work. What are the risks workers face and how can they be avoided?
Winter is one of the seasons of the year most feared by workers who carry out their work outdoors. In addition to exposure to heat in summer. They also face other adverse weather conditions such as rain and wind. We are going to show you the risks to which these types of workers are exposed and how to deal with them safely.
In the case of outdoor work, in adverse weather conditions, as a general rule, it is necessary to:
- Stop work in case of heavy rain or strong winds when visibility is difficult.
- Suspend the manipulation of machinery if the weather affects your safety conditions.
- Avoid working at height.
- Suspend work near electrical lines or transformers.
Effects of Precipitation and Wind on working conditions
Ground stability: heavy rain can cause a cave-in during excavation.
Reduced visibility: making it difficult to perceive signals from workers. For this, it is necessary to use a high visibility vest, which avoids risks such as being run over and other accidents.
The danger of slipping on the walking surface: risk of falling on slippery surfaces. As a preventive measure, it is advisable to use safety shoes with non-slip soles.
Electrical equipment: we have already seen electrical risks at work. Thus, in case of rain and strong wind, the regulations state that the work must be prohibited or suspended.
Work at height: adverse weather conditions can pose a danger for work on scaffolding, stairs or roofs, so as we explained in the general recommendations they should be avoided and even suspended. In the case of wind, it is advisable not to work on
- Roofs with speeds greater than 50 km/h.
- Crane with speeds greater than 32 Km/h
- Manlift with speeds greater than 45 Km/h
- Man basket with speeds greater than 25 Km/h
- Scaffold work with speeds greater than 60 Km/h
Temperature
If WBGT is more than 25.0-degree centigrade, take necessary precautions and make sure:
- Heat stress rest shelter (mist fan in place? and working?
- Potable cold water
- Employees working are trained on heat stress control measures.
- Cooling vest (if required)
- Are employees aware of the work rest schedule?
- Supervisors are trained to detect heat stress symptoms.
Workers should fully understand the task, hazards and control measures
Companies must conduct a formal job safety analysis or hazard assessment control form for each activity. Workers shall be known what the hazards and risks are in their workplaces, and take measures to control them effectively. So that workers ensure that these hazards and risks do not cause harm to them.
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Each worker must ensure, according to their possibilities and by complying with the prevention measures adopted in each case, for their safety and health at work and for that of other people who may be affected by their professional activity (colleagues, clients or third parties outside the company that may be related to the work activity).
In this way, workers must, by their training and the instructions received by the employer.
Location of the assembly point, manual call point and eyewash station
Emergency eyewash, also known as safety showers, are safety devices capable of acting quickly and efficiently when a person is affected by contamination by dust, gases or other substances. Safety eyewashes irrigate the person’s eyes with copious amounts of water to quickly decontaminate any possible infection or contamination.
For this, all workers should know the exact location of the eyewash station before work starts and the permit receiver is obliged to clearly explain the location of the eyewash station.
An assembly point or muster point is considered to be “a predetermined and safe place from the effects of the incident, where all evacuees will be transferred. In case of emergency, to get to that point, you have to follow the evacuation route, that is, the route that offers greater safety to people who travel in the shortest possible time.
It is convenient to take into account that the route or emergency exit must have good lighting, and be free of obstacles. Therefore, the objective of the assembly point is to achieve a safe and efficient evacuation and to appear as a place where it can be verified if all the personnel who were in the working area have been evacuated.
A manual call point was installed in the plant. When people confirm that the fire occurred, by pressing the button on the glass sheet, a signal will be sent to the fire alarm control panel, after the fire alarm control panel receives the signal of alarm, it will display the number or location of the alarm button and the alarm sound.
A telephone booth is also installed in the plant, from where people can contact to emergency response team in case of an emergency. An emergency contact number must be displayed at the site.
LOTO (if required)
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) helps protect workers who perform routine maintenance on equipment in the workplace. Legally, it came into effect in 1989. Since then, the lockout standard has played an indispensable role in keeping employees safe on the job.
Lockout/tagout is the de-energization and protection of equipment, machinery, or processes from reactivation of hazardous energy during service or repair. This includes closing valves and electrical circuits, neutralizing extreme temperatures, securing moving parts, and more.
Tools and equipment inspection and colour-coding
Ensure that the colour code of the month is known by all the workers of your company and verify compliance with the Program designated to higher responsibilities. Daily inspection of all work tools and equipment before use. Verify that the tools and equipment under your control have been inspected and that they are coded (with the colour code corresponding month).
Immediately inform the Supervisor in case the tools or equipment are not in optimal safety conditions for their use and that also do not have their respective colour coding per month.
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Tools and equipment inspections must be documented in the corresponding formats to then be filed and recorded. The designated and trained person who performs the inspection will install a self-adhesive tape with the colour code of the month in each element inspected, (the first days of each month). The person designated will remove from the work areas any tools that are out of standard.
Do the risks are controlled by formal job safety analysis or hazard assessment control form and implemented?
The job safety analysis or hazard assessment control form is an evaluative model used to review all aspects of each of the tasks that make up a job, with the specific purpose of identifying causes, circumstances or conditions that can cause an accident or affect safety and workers’ health.
The job safety analysis or hazard assessment control form is on the relationship between the worker, the machines and tools he uses, the work environment, and the actions he must take to complete his tasks.
Conclusion
After familiarizing yourself with the work you are about to perform and the relevant documentation (for example, work permit, formal job safety analysis or hazard assessment control form), you should take some time to check that all risks have been identified and that have been mitigated considerably.
Ask yourself the questions found in the LMRA checklist. If you can answer “Yes” to all the questions, you can start working. If you have answered “No” to any question, you must stop. In that case, you must inform your superior and together you will have to take the necessary measures to work safely. If necessary, you will need to submit an incident report.
