Risks and Risk Management.

[Guy_Incognito]

I've searched all over and while I can find plenty of topics that mention safety in passing , the only real one that even begins to present the risks involved is Guy_Fawke's "How to kill yourself with a listeroid", and that sort of went to pieces pretty quick.

But it's something that needs to be addressed. There are a lot of people - like me - that are new to the game. There are a lot of people who have - after years of working around listers - become a bit jaded about the safety issues. Please, if you think I'm preaching to the choir, don't say anything at all here unless you're here to help. I'm really trying to keep this one focused.

Quite a few posts about the place seem to hint that people have never done anything like this type of risk analysis before. I want you guys to post any questions you've got as we go along.

So, I'll start the ball rolling. This is a thread that will be used to help you identify hazards and courses of action to reduce the likelyhood and consequences of them. I'll work over the common hazards, but by no means is this the definitive list of hazards on a machine. You're machine will vary from mine, and you might have some nast hazards that I don't. So keep an open mind , and an eye out.

I've lifted bits of this verbatim from our training manual here at work, so take that in mind when it talks about "Business interruption"

Ok, what the heck is Risk Management?
It's the process of

1.    Identifying hazards in the work area
2.     Assessing the risk posed by them
3.     Implementing effective controls to reduce the risk posed by them
4.     Reviewing the effectiveness of the controls on a continual basis

Ok, so what the heck is a hazard?

A hazard is something that has the potential to cause injury, damage to equipment, environmental impact or business interruption.

Ooook, so what the heck is a control?

A control is something that reduces the exposure to the hazard. On the one extreme, you can get rid of the hazard completely by some method, that's the most effective control . On the other extreme, you could put up a sign that says "anyone going near those spinning flywheels will be reprimanded". That's a poor control because it depends on the person. And you can never depend on the person.

I'll now post this:


Normal copy here: http://listerengine.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10075/risk%20card.jpg
Yes, I lifted it from work and yes, I have permission from our safety manager there to use this image.

This card can be used not only for risk of injury, but machinery damage and environmental risks as well.
Now, how to control all these hazards that we've identified as big risks?
Use this :

Normal copy here: http://listerengine.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10075/Controls.jpg

This lists the controls from most effective to least effective. I'll give examples:
Eliminate: The best choice, obviously. Remove the hazard... no hazard.
Substitution: Can we do something some other way, or can we get a part that doesn't have that hazard with it?
Engineering/Isolation: Engineering - Making something strong enough that it doesn't fly off and come to you. Isolation- Keep you away from the moving bits by guards.
Administration/Training: Procedures to do something, training on how to do it.
Personal Protective Equipment: Safety hats, gloves, glasses , aprons, earmuffs.
Behaviour Management: "Keep away , or you'll be reprimanded"

Now, posting the list of hazards from Guy_Fawke's thread, and a few more:

1) Large stored energy in rapidly moving open flywheels.
2) Massive and top heavy. Obvious handling issues, in whole, or in parts.
3) Exposed Belts.
4) AC power.
5) Hot bits. Coolant, Oil, Exhaust
6) Bits that pinch , as opposed to rip off. Exposed valve train, internal gears and parts.
7) Stored fuel in the area, fuel near hot surfaces. Inevitable leaks. Risk of fire.
8 ) Exhaust issues. Noisy and dangerous gasses.
9) High pressure from injection pump.

The way we do it at work is two-fold :
 - an assessment method where we just look at the whole machine and see what the dangers are. I'd use that list above as a start.
 - an assessment method that's task-based.

I'll use the task-base method as an example.

So today's task to work on reducing the hazards is starting the machine.

What can go wrong? We'll go through the steps in the task.
Reduce each step down to a single action or actions in a similar area. Don't combine actions (eg. setting the fuel rack/decompression and winding it over). Setting the fuel rack/decompression can be considered as a "Setting up for cranking" action as they're in a similar place on the machine.

Ok, Step 1 in starting the engine:

1. I grab the crank-handle and walk to the machine.

STOP. Have a look at your surroundings? Is it dark? Wet? Full of junk? My areas well lit and dry, but it's full of junk.

Could I trip over some piece of junk in my cluttered workshop? Yes. That's a hazard then.
So I get out my little chart and work out a risk score.

Likelyhood? For my place, about once a month. There's crap everywhere. I look up the chart, and thats a "B"

Consequence? I go arse-up and knock my head. That could be a lost time injury - a "3" (ie. Hospital and a day off work)

Risk score? Where B and 3 intersect - 17.

That's a high risk. What to do about it?  Looking at the control pyramid, the top one is to eliminate the hazard ie. tidy up the damn shop. I could use some of the other methods from the pyramid, but eliminating is the best one as there's no hazard after that. I could wear a crash helemet (personal protective equipment) , but that doesn't reduce the likelyhood of it happening, only the consequence that I'll get hurt.

So anyway, I tidy the shop. An hour later and the place is a lot better. Now to double check.

Likelyhood? For my tidied-up place, it's unlikely. So I'll make it "D".

Consequence? I could still hit my head. If I lined the place with pillows or wore a crash helmet, the consqeuence would be reduced. Don't get fooled on this bit. I've cleaned the workshop and reduced the likelyhood of going arse up, but the consequence of me going arse up is still there - a sore head. Still a "3" then.

Now people have differing ideas about likelyhood and consquence, but it's really up to you. You should really do this with a couple of other people to get a consensus, and to stop you becoming blinded to hazards.


Looking that up again gives me a risk score of 9 - it's been reduced to a moderate risk.
So I've reduced the risk of walking over to the machine. Good. That's a start.

I'm going to pause here, because I've got things to do elsewhere, but I'll leave the next step in the task out in the open, if anyone wants to give this a go :

Step 2. Checking fuel/oil/water and engine settings (eg fuel and decompression).
What are the hazards associated with those tasks, what is each hazard's risk score and what can you do to reduce that risk score?

[Billy Wood]

Excellent topic.  I keep a pair of earmuffs on my disconnect for when I am working around my chinese 1115.  I also make sure my guards are in place.  Looks cool without them but one misstep.....

[Doug]

Cool charts guy. Thats the same SUPA ( See Understand Pan Act ) Risk management and reduction card we use. Its great to see many others think and aproach a job using the same Supa, Neil George safety and Risk managment systems.

Safety improves productivity and reduces cost thats a fact, but it also improves ones quality of life.

In my great grandfathers day we killed kids. Infact the first fatality where I work was a 12 year old boy pick scrap in the rock house ( 1907 )

In my Grandfathers day we killed men all the time. But the company bought you a coffin.

In my Fathers day we injured and crippled men all the time. You sat in the dry swept floors and generaly stayed out of sight untill fit to work again.

Today these things are unacceptable. "All accidents are preventable"  is the goal, its just a matter of identifying risk and modifying the job to move the task from the red to the green.

Doug

[Guy_Incognito]

Amen to everything in your post Doug. Getting injured is not acceptable any more.

The beauty of this system (and all the similar ones) is that there's a set of steps that you go through to identify , calculate and reduce the hazards. Even if you find you can't reduce a hazard , just by sitting down , going over everything and being aware of the hazards helps tremendously.

I've got a bit of time so I'll move on to step two and start writing these out in shorthand:

Step 2. Checking fuel/oil/water and engine settings (eg fuel and decompression).
What are the hazards associated with those tasks, what is each hazard's risk score and what can you do to reduce that risk score?

 - Hot engine from a prior run. Burns from Oil/water/metal. I'd probably rate it a "occasional - C / medical - 2" which makes it a moderate risk of 8. If you were using a pressurised cooling system, I might raise the consequence to "LTI - 3" due to possible scalding.

 - Pinching of fingers , etc in linkages  - "occasional - C / minor - 1" = score of "4 - Low"

 - Incorrect governor speed or linkage issues - "Unlikely - D / Fatality 5" = score of "19 - Extreme"

 - Spillage of fuel or oil on hot components causing fire during checking levels/refueling - "Unlikely - D / Permanent Disability - 4" = score of "14 - High"

 - Anything else? Even if it sounds silly, we can assess the likelyhood and consequence of it.

I'll deal with the ones we've got so far :

Burns from hot engine -  Risk score of "Moderate - 8".  Controls for this?
  -  Use gloves. Still touching a hot engine, but as we're using gloves, we don't get burned. Still an occasional exposure to the hazard - the hot engine - but we're wearing gloves, so the most it might do now is a minor singe through the glove lining, so I'll make the consequence "1 - Minor" - risk score of 1.
 - Another control might be to wait until it cools off before restarting , but that might be unworkable if you're sitting in the dark. If it's just used for casual use, you might be able to use this control instead of having to wear gloves.
So with those controls, we've taken a risk score of 8 and reduced it to 1

Pinching of fingers - Risk score of "4 - low" Controls :
  - Gloves , perhaps. Probably won't help much with anything more than a minor pinch though (as opposed to crush)
  - Training. That is, learning not to stick your fingers in places where they might pinch. Or pointing out to new people using it where not to stick your fingers.  Seeing that training trumps PPE on the control pyramid, go with training. Say to people "Hey! Don't stick your finger in there!  ". Or go the proper approach and go over the engine with another person before they start using it , pointing out all the bits that nibble your fingers.
Doing that reduces the likelyhood to "E - rare" and the consequence still at "1 - Minor", so the risk score is taken from 4 to 1.

Incorrect governor speed or linkage issues. This is a serious one with a score of 19 - people can get killed. What to do?
   - Check the governor setting to make sure some fool hasn't meddled with it, and check the linkages to make sure that they're operational. If you do this, the likelyhood of an overspeed are now rare. The consequences are still there though ,which still makes it a risk score of "15 - high". Better, but maybe some other options can be used to limit the consequences of an overspeed.
   - Heavy guarding? That might reduce the consequences of a flywheel explosion a little bit. If you keep people out of the direct line of the flywheel, they are much less likely to be struck and killed by a big bit of cast steel.
   - How about we put a rule in place: "Never stand in line with the flywheel as the engine spins up?" Not much, but it might help.

Perhaps with heavy guarding and the rules, you're only seriously injured instead of killed. That would take the risk score from 19 to 10. 10's better than 19, but still pretty high and needs a bit of work. Suggestions anyone?

Spillage of hot oil or fuel onto engine during checking of levels/ refueling, causing a fire, with a risk score of "14- High".
   Ok , first and most obvious control is not to check and refuel when hot. That would make it "Rare - E/ Permanent Disability - 4" = 10. Still a bit high. How about some engineering?
 - A remote fuel tank that's not on the engine?
 - An oil sight glass?
 - A decent set of funnels so you don't slop fuel everywhere?
These reduce the likelyhood of it happening, but not the consequences. Hmmm. How about:
 - A good fire extingusher nearby? 
 - Clothing that doesn't melt to your skin (eg cotton instead of synthetic?)

Those two will reduce the consequences a little. Maybe enough to drop it down to a stay in hospital for a few burns, taking the risk score from 14 to 6.

As you can see, there's a number of big hazards there from that step alone. But we have reduced their impact considerably. Anyone want to add anything to the hazards and controls for this one single step  - "Checking fuel/oil/water and engine settings (eg fuel and decompression)" ?

[Guy_Incognito]

Ok, I'll carry on to the end of this task for completeness.

We've got to the machine without killing ourselves. We've checked all the machine settings, fuel/oil/coolant's ok, so now we just spin 'er up and let it fly!

So the basic steps are:

1. Put crankhandle on machine.
2. Crank engine up to a bit'o'speed.
3. Flick decompression lever.
4. As engine accelerates to speed, remove crank handle.
5. Engine's now running.

Ok.

1. Putting crankhandle on machine.
Not really too much drama there, is there? Shouldn't be. We make sure it engages properly on the shaft. If it's not, it could possibly come off while we're cranking and that would be bad. Ok, I'll make it "occasional - C" and "LTI -3" (a strain or sprain/ injuries from going arse up).  For a score of 13. Looks like we should do something about it. How about training to make sure we do this bit right? Engineering - clean shaft surfaces as necessary?. We do that, and it becomes "Rare -E" and still an "LTI -3" if it does happen. So that's a score of 6 now, instead of 13. Not bad.

2. Crank engine up to a bit'o'speed.
Fair chance of a back injury here if you're not carefull, especially on the bigger engines. So that's "Occasional -C" and "Perm. Disability-4". Back injuries sometimes never come good, you know. That's a score of 18. Something needs to be done there. Ok. Engineering - set the engine at a convenient cranking height, as opposed to being down on the floor. Consider a longer crank-handle to reduce the effort a bit. Learning how to push and pull so you don't put your back out. Ok, all these things can be implemented easily enough, so we'll make it "Unlikely -D" and "LTI-3" (as you should cause less damage to your back if you know the proper techniques.) for a score of 9

3. Flick decompression lever.
Ok doesn't sound too bad except for the fact that you're hanging onto the crank handle and leaning over a spinning flywheel to do it.
So the hazard is a slightly awkward body position in close proximity to spinning mass. The consequences are that you could get tangled up in that -if you did it after you flick the lever and the engine fires, that would be really messy. So I'll make it "unlikely-D" and "Perm. Disability - 4" for a score of 14, which is a bit high. What to do? How about making sure you're on a good footing, ensure you've got no dangling clothes or things that could get caught up. Doing that would make it "Rare" and still "Perm Disability - 4" for a score of 10. Better, but still something that needs to be addressed. Proper guarding around the flywheels would eliminate the hazard pretty well. Do that and all you might do is get bruised if you fall against the guard. So "Unlikely - D" and "Medical - 2" for a score of 5.

4. As engine accelerates to speed , remove crank handle.
Well the obvious one is it gets stuck on there, or you lose your grip and it flies off and whacks you in the head.
So I'll put "Unlikely - D" and "Fatality-5" for a score of 19. Cleaning the shaft to ensure the handle doesn't stick is a good one, cleaning the handle so it doesn't slip out of your fingers is another. With those two, it'd probably be "Rare-E" and "Fatality-5" now, for a score of 15. Better, anyway. How about a procedure that says kill fuel as soon as you find an issue with crankhandle? Less chance of it flying off at great speed then , I suppose. I'll reduce the injury side of things to "LTI-3" with a score of 6.

5. Let engine get to speed.
One hazard is that it overspeeds and rips itself to bits. If you next to it and it does that, you'll be seriously injured. But we've checked the governor settings earlier, so it should be ok. Should be, that is. I'll make it "Unlikely-D" , and "Fatality-5" for a score of 19. What to do with this? I'd suggest a remote fuel cutoff away from the machine, and evacuation of the area as soon as you realise that it's in serious overspeed. If there's a way to apply a load to the engine without being next to it to engage it , apply that. With all these factors - especially the fuel shutoff and evacuate bit - the likelyhood of it ripping itself to bits and injuring you is lowered. I'll call it "Rare-E" and "LTI-3" for a score of 6.

So after all that, we've gone through the hazards of starting an engine. I'll list all the ones that were originally scored "High" or extreme , that we've managed to lower.

Tripping over junk in the shop - 17 down to 9
Incorrect governor speed or linkage issues - 19 to 10
Fire from refuelling - 14 to 6
Incorrect positioning of crankhandle 13 to 6
Back injury while cranking - 18 to 9
Getting hung up in something when flicking decompression - 14 to 5
Getting whacked by a stuck crankhandle -  19 to 6
Engine overspeed due to other issues not picked up earlier - 19 to 6


So just by spending a half hour sitting down and looking at everything, we've reduced all these hazards from something severe to something much more moderate. But don't relax and say, "Well , that's done now, I'll never have to do it again." - you need to keep an eye on things. Hazards develop over time. Your governor linkages might wear and jam, you might rearrange your workshop. Something else completely unrelated might occur and because you never check over your list of hazards again, you never realise that it has a big impact on what you do on your engine.

So keep an eye out, print those two charts out and stick them on the wall of the workshop. Keep it in the back of your mind, all the time, "what could go wrong?" If you hear a little warning note in your head when you're doing something out of the ordinary, stop and check out all the hazards and risks involved. Before you get hurt or killed.