Overview
Identifying hazards is the first step in the risk management process and involves finding things and situations that could potentially cause harm to people. Harm can be physical, psychological or both. Even if you’ve already got a risk register, it’s important to regularly review it to see if anything has changed.
You can identify hazards by getting out and inspecting the workplace, talking to your workers and their health and safety representatives, reviewing documents like leave forms and incident reports, and learning from what’s happening more generally in the industry. This goes beyond physical things you can see – you can use this approach to identify mental health hazards too. For example, workers might talk about feeling burned out or stressed because of their job. That’s a sign that mental health hazards might be present.
Activities for this week
Download our activity kit to access templates, guidance and more to use this National Safe Work Month!
Inspect the workplace for hazards
Regularly inspecting the workplace and observing how things are done can help you identify what could or might go wrong. This week, take the opportunity to walk around the workplace, or review the online working environment, and use the list on the right to consider what to look out for.
Additional resources:
- Model Code of Practice: How to manage work health and safety risks
- Hazards
- Good work design
- Safe design
- Principles that apply to WHS duties – Principle 4: Management of risks: Factsheet
- The interactive safe work method statement (SWMS) tool provides information on preparing, using and reviewing SWMS for high risk construction work.
Review Safe Work Australia’s data for your industry
Safe Work Australia compiles data to analyse and research WHS and workers' compensation trends across Australia. Our Data. Your Stories has a range of interactive dashboards you can use to explore to learn what injuries and illnesses are occurring in your industry or location. This can be a helpful way of identifying potential hazards, and the harm they could cause, in your own workplace.
Consult your workers
Consult your workers and their health and safety representatives about any health and safety concerns or problems they have encountered in doing their work, and any near misses or incidents that have not been reported.
Additional resources:
- Model Code of Practice: Work health and safety consultation, cooperation and coordination
- Worker representation and participation guide
- Duty to consult, cooperate and coordinate with other duty holders: Factsheet
- Consultation checklist
- Infographic: Consultation duties for PCBUs
- Infographic: How to consult with workers
- Infographic: Health and safety representatives
Fill out your risk register
Use our template or update your existing risk register with the hazards identified this week.
Check what’s on with your WHS regulator
There’s a range of events and activities run by WHS regulators as part of National Safe Work Month – so take the opportunity to see what’s on and get involved.