What you will learn
Distinguish hazards from risks; apply the hierarchy of controls; understand permit-to-work and LOTO; recognise critical process-safety barriers.
Course syllabus
- 1. Risk thinking
Hazards, risks and the hierarchy of controls
- 2. Control of work
Permit to work, LOTO and simultaneous operations
- 3. Process safety
Barriers, alarms and learning from weak signals
Free lesson · 17m
Hazards, risks and the hierarchy of controls
A hazard is a source of potential harm; risk combines the likelihood and severity of that harm in a specific situation. A useful risk assessment names the task, people exposed, credible consequences, existing controls and additional actions with owners.
Controls are strongest when they remove exposure: eliminate, substitute, engineer, administrate, then use PPE. Choosing PPE first leaves the hazard unchanged. Stop-work authority applies when conditions differ from the assessment or a critical control is missing.
Hazard is the source; risk depends on exposure, likelihood and severity; prefer elimination and engineering controls; stop when critical controls are absent.