Identifying and Controlling Hazards
Course 101
Safety Certified Supervisor Series

MODULE THREE: IDENTIFYING HAZARDS

There are five basic methods you can use to identify workplace hazards:

• informal observations, and formal observation programs;
• comprehensive company-wide surveys;
• individual interviews;
• walk-around inspections; and
• documentation review.

As we'll learn, observing work each day is extremely important in identifying hazards. Surveys take advantage of employee awareness of the presence of workplace hazards. Interviews are valuable in uncovering hazardous conditions, unsafe work practices, and their root causes. Walk-around inspections are useful to locate hazardous conditions and, to a lesser degree, unsafe work practices in the workplace. Reviewing documentation such as the OSHA 200 Log, safety committee minutes and accident reports also helps to determine workplace hazards. Now, let's take a look at each of these five methods or "tools" to identify hazards.

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