Hazard Identification and Risk

Assessment (HIRA)

1. Purpose

Provide guidelines on the Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment technique, for
application in all activities controlled by Alpha TND.

References
 ISO 45001: 2018
 ISO 14001:2015
 OSHA standards

2. Objectives

The objective of this document is to provide instructions on how to perform a HIRA

to minimize residual risk in all activities controlled by Alpha TND.

3. Scope

The scope encompasses all activities controlled by Alpha TND and carried out by
employees, associates, or contractors. However, this may not be sufficient to classify
hazards or determine risks associated with specialized areas such as process safety,
fire safety, ergonomics, and occupational health. These areas may require additional
inputs from competent authorities approved by local legislation. It is important to note
that the application of the HIRA methodology differs from that of Job Safety Analysis
(JSA), as explained below:

 The purpose of HIRA is to analyse the business risks that are associated with certain
activity and suggests measure to make the activity intrinsically safe whereas the JSA
is conducted to carry out activity with minimum risk.
 HIRA is carried out at the beginning of a process and project or major change in the
process or defined timelines, whereas JSA is carried out every time the task is
performed on ground.
 HIRA is carried out by Subject Matter Experts or external consultants whereas JSA is
carried out by executing team.
 HIRA is carried out for routine activities whereas JSA is carried out for both routine
and nonroutine activities.
 HIRA is a quantitative analysis whereas JSA is qualitative analysis.
 Output of HIRA process is risk register for the organization / business/department,
where as for JSA risk register is an input to decide where JSA should be carried out.

4. Responsibilities
Line management in businesses, regions, and functions has the responsibility to
implement this standard. The site management must ensure that all work activities
over which they have supervisory or operational control is subjected to a systematic
assessment of risks and that safe systems of work are in place to control any residual
risks that have not been completely eliminated.
 Hazard Identification and Risk
Assessment (HIRA)

5. Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed (RACI chart)

The roles and responsibilities in this procedure

HSE /
Functional Process
Site In-
Employee/ Business Experts
charge/
Work Team /Cluster Head or (e.g.
Project Lead
Manager Electrical
Safety)
Task and Sub-Task
R A I I
Description
Identification of people
R A I I
exposed
Identification of
R A I C
hazards
Assessment of actual
C A/R I C
risk
Assigning priorities to
the I A/R I C
control measures
Description of control
R A C C/R
measures
Assessment of the
C A/R I C/R
residual risk

R – Responsible; People who are expected to actively participate in the activity and
contribute to the best of their abilities.
A – Accountable; The person who is ultimately responsible for the results.
C – Consulted; People who have a particular expertise and can contribute to specific
decisions.
I – Informed: People who are affected by the activity/decision and therefore need to be kept
informed, but do not participate in the effort.

6. Definitions
I. Hazard: A condition or a set of circumstances that are present and have a potential to
cause harm.
Hazard = Exposure * Severity
II. Risk: Risk is the likelihood that a person may be harmed or suffers adverse health
effects if exposed to a hazard. Example: Unsafe Act and Unsafe Condition
Risk = Exposure * Severity * Probability
III. Exposure/Danger: Being exposed to a hazard / Subject to the influence or
vulnerability of an adverse condition (how often and how long a person is subjected to
the hazard)
 Hazard Identification and Risk
Assessment (HIRA)

IV. Risk Assessment - A systematic and structured process whereby hazards present in a
workplace, or arising from workplace activity, are identified, risks evaluated, and
decisions prioritized in order to reduce risks to acceptable levels.
V. Unsafe Act - It is an action where something exists that varies from a normal
accepted safe action and can result in injury, death, or property damage, if not
corrected properly
VI. Unsafe condition: It is a condition where something exists that varies from a normal
accepted safe condition and can result in injury, death, or property damage, if not
corrected properly
VII. Competency - For the purposes of this Standard, is a blend of such knowledge, skill,
training, and experience that allows a person to give quality input to, and participate
in, the risk assessment process.
VIII. Control Measures - The protective and preventive measures, including the safe
systems of work, which are put in place because of a Risk Assessment to either
eliminate a hazard, or control the risk, to acceptable levels.
IX. Severity of Injury - Significant hazards are those that have the potential to cause the
following classes of injury or illness.

 Fatality
 Lost Time Injury
 Medical Treatment Case
 First Aid Case

7. Procedure
I. Circumstances for Conducting HIRA

HIRA shall be carried out/reviewed in the below given circumstances.

 When New job, task, chemical, and/or machine has been introduced.
 Existing task has been changed significantly.
 Significant Changes in technology
 Existing procedures are not adequate/ non existing.
 Before start-up of work after a major incident or injury has occurred
 Change in specific Regulatory or Alpha TND ESHS Standards
 Any unforeseen external risks as perceived
 Latest two years after the last review

II. Sequential Steps to Conduct HIRA

The HIRA is based on the following 7 steps:

 Step 1: description of tasks and subtasks

 Step 2: identification of people exposed.
 Step 3: identification of hazards.
 Step 4: assessment of the actual risk (Kinney & Fine method)
 Step 5: assigning priorities and responsibilities to the control measures.
 Step 6: description of the control measures
 Step 7: assessment of the residual risk (Kinney & Fine method)
 Hazard Identification and Risk
Assessment (HIRA)

Sequential execution of risk assessment

Risk assessment should be carried out based on the seven-step sequence
mentioned above:
III. Task and Sub-Task Description
The Main activity and the sub-activities associated with the main activity are
listed for which risk is required to be Assessed. Refer HIRA Format - 1
IV. Identification of people exposed.
This information is required to identify if the exposure of hazards is limited to
point of activity or other contractual employees/people working nearby or
community is also affected. Refer HIRA Format -1
V. Identification of the Hazards
Identification of the hazards with respect to physical, chemical, ergonomic,
biological and environmental background refer HIRA Format -1 (HIRA).
which may be applicable.
VI. Assessment of the Actual risk
Assess the actual risk using Kinney & Fine method, considering no control
measures in place HIRA Format - 1. This assessment would indicate the actual
level of risk, that we want to manage via all our procedures, rules or other
controls …
Results of identification and assessment of risks would indicate risk score:
Table - 4

Risk Score = Exposure X Severity X Probability

Exposure

The frequency of exposure indicates how often a dangerous situation can arise.
It could be an exposure to a toxic chemical or working and handling of a
dangerous machine.

Table - 1
EXPOSURE FACTOR
Very Rarely (less than one per year) 0.5

Rarely (few times per year) 1

Sometimes (1-2 times per month) 2

Now and then (one per week) 3

Frequently (daily) 6

Continuous (more than two times per day) 10

 Hazard Identification and Risk
Assessment (HIRA)

For example, lifting a load of more than 25 kg might not be very risky if done once, but
multiply this activity by numerous people making several lifts per day and you get a different
perspective on risk.

Severity
The apparent effect indicates the seriousness of the arising situation.

Table - 2
SEVERITY (*) FACTOR

Low: Minor Injury 1

Minor: Injury which requires medical attention / 1–3-

4
day loss time

Medium: Potentially life-threatening Injury causing

7
temporary disability

Major: Life threatening injury or causing permanent

15
disability
Critical: Fatality or multiple fatalities, or multiple
life-threatening injuries causing permanent 40
disabilities

Probability
The probability indicates how big the chances are that the effect (as defined in the Severity
table) might indeed occur. This is a subjective judgment, the most difficult assessment to
make.

Table - 3
PROBABILITY FACTOR

Virtually impossible (>20y, once in a lifetime, only

0.2
theoretical case)

Conceivable but improbable (once in a career (1/20y) 0.5

Improbable/borderline case, (1/10y) 1

Unusual (one can think of a (unusual) scenario (1/3y) 3

Possible (once every 6 months) 6

To be expected (once per week) 10

 For the actual Risk, do not take the effect of PPE, SOPs and technical precautions
(engineering control) into account. For the Actual – Risk, take the effect of PPE,
SOPs, and technical precautions into account.
 Hazard Identification and Risk
Assessment (HIRA)

 As a guideline, if you can think of a scenario, where the considered effect will occur
once in 3 years, the probability factor typically equal 3.

VII. Assigning priorities and responsibilities to the control measures

Having identified the risk score, the priority of measures to be taken is

established as well. Priority 1 (see attachment 2) means work must be stopped
and immediate action is required. The risk assessment needs to be documented
and should be kept readily available for employees which are affected by the
analysed task. Risk Score Interpretation- Classify into Risk Category By
calculating the hazard score it is then possible to classify it into the correct risk
score category and thereby determining which possible urgent plan of action is
to be taken.

Table - 4
Priority for the
Risk Score (R) Interpretation (1)
measures to be taken

<20 Very limited risk - acceptable 4

20-70 Measures required (in 6 months) 3

70-200 Immediate measures required 2

>200 Stop work until measures are taken 1

 Hazard Identification and Risk
Assessment (HIRA)

VIII. Risk matrix.

IX. Description of the measures

Eliminate or minimize the risk, measures are proposed that should be
implemented in an action-plan or job-plan. Both routine and none-routine
measures need to be listed.

When defining these measures, the prevention hierarchy needs to be taken into
account. First try to eliminate the risk. Highest priority is given to elimination.
 Hazard Identification and Risk
Assessment (HIRA)

1. Elimination: Eliminate Risk

2. Substitution: Reduce Risk at source or remove source
3. Engineering Control: Take corrective actions
4. Administrative Control: Training + procedures + instructions
5. PPE: Make people wear PPE
Assessment of the residual risk
Assessment of the residual risk is carried out by using Kinney & Fine method
HIRA Format – 1 (HIRA). The outcome of the risk assessment determines the
measures to be implemented. Additional measures to be implemented in case
where residual risk is not in the zone of acceptable even after implementation
of actual measures.

8. Documentation

All documented information shall be maintained at corporate and sites either

in hard copy or soft copy.
9. Audit Requirements

Each site or region should audit compliance with this standard as part of its
HSE audit program.

10. Training

Each business and site should provide training as appropriate.

11. Standard Review

This standard shall be review at least once in two years by the Policies and Procedure
sub-committee.

12. HIRA Format-1