The objective of Risk Assessment is to identify high-risk situations and determine prevention and mitigation measures to reduce the risks to an acceptable level.
In basic terms, Risk Assessment is a process of:
- Hazard Identification.
- Analysis of the probability of the harmful event occurring, giving an assessment of the frequency with which the identified scenario might be expected to occur.
- Analysis of the consequences of that identified event, giving an estimate of the likely harmful effects.
It should be noted that more than one scenario may be applicable to a given hazard .
You may also know when to carry out risk assessment. When to carry out a Risk Assessment
Risk Assessments are to be conducted whenever an activity which is:
- Known to be hazardous, from your experience, training or plain common sense.
- Unusual, abnormal or requires significant departure from normal routines.
List of Work that requires risk assessment, which by no means is exhaustive:
- Hot Work in enclosed space/ deck
- Entry into enclosed spaces
- The malfunctioning of (or any work which requires disabling of) critical systems, such as steering, inert gas, alarm systems, firefighting or lifesaving appliances, etc.
- Working on live electrical circuits
- Working on piping or systems, sections of which contain stored energy (pneumatic, hydraulic or spring loaded pressure)
- Working on piping or systems, sections of which contain potentially harmful or hazardous fluids.
- Undertaking major maintenance / repair / renewal jobs
- Movement, removal or replacement of heavy items such as cylinder heads, pistons, liners, large pumps or motors, pipelines, etc
- Diving (or internal work) on underwater shipside connections (e.g. pipelines & valves).
- Critical areas of navigation, including shallow water, Sensitive Areas and difficult night passages.
- Loading unusual cargoes (may be detrimental to health or the ship).
- Inadequate berthing / mooring / terminal facilities.
- Discovery of cracks, cargo ingress into non-cargo spaces, etc.
- Rescue and Salvage operations.
- At any other time or operation considered appropriate by Shipboard Management.
- When directed by Shore Management.
It should also be noted that many of these events would require input and assistance from Shore Management.
Since Risk Assessments depend on the individual ship type, the nature and frequency of the operation concerned, and the competency of the crew involved, even for seemingly similar tasks, a risk assessment carried out on one vessel may not be wholly applicable to another.
From a practical point of view, Risk Assessments are best commenced well before the job is to be carried out, and then reviewed and improved upon, prior taking up the task concerned.
Once made out, the risk assessment for the particular task should be maintained in a Risk Assessment File and revisited before and after taking up the named task. Any new hazards identified and/or any fresh mitigation developed, should be added to the original listing. Maintaining a soft copy of Risk Assessments will allow easy editing and quick accessibility. In this manner, the risk assessment for a particular job will be updated and improved upon, and readily available for the crew’s reference.