Health and Safety

Of the considerable literature on the subject. Managing the Health and Safety Impacts of Orga- nizational Change (CSChE, 2004) is cited because it fits closely with the intent of some examples provided. Types of organizational and personnel changes that can negatively affect operations risk management are:

Figure 1

Risk Assessment Matrix Severity levels and values

Catastrophic (5)

Critical (4) Marginal (3) Negligible (2) Insignificant (1)

Occurrence probabilities and values Unlikely (1)

5

4 3 2 1

Seldom (2) 10

8 6 4 2

Occasional (3) 15

12 9 6 3

Likely (4) 20

16 12 8 4

Frequent (5) 25

20 15 10 5

Note. Numbers were intuitively derived. They are qualitative, not quantitative. They have meaning only in relation to each other.

Incident or Exposure Severity Descriptions Catastrophic: One or more fatalifies, total system loss and major business down time, environ-

mental release with lasting effect on others with respect to health, property damage or business interrupfion.

Critical: Disabling injury or illness, major property damage and business down time, envi- ronmental release with temporary impact on others with respect to health, property damage or business interruption.

Marginal: Medical treatment or restricted work, minor subsystem loss or property damage, environmental release triggering external reporting requirements.

Negligible: First-aid or minor medical treatment only, nonserious equipment or facuity dam- age, environmental release requiring routine cleanup without reporting.

Insignificant: Inconsequential with respect to injuries or illnesses, system loss or downtime, or environmental release.

Incident or Exposure Probability Descriptions Unlikely: Improbable, unrealistically perceivable. Seldom: Could occur but hardly ever. Occasional: Could occur intermittently. Likely: Probably will occur several fimes. Frequent: Likely to occur repeatedly.

Risk Levels: Combining the severity and occurrence probability values yields a risk score in the matrb<. The risks and the acfion levels are categorized below.

Risk Categories, Scoring & Action Levels Action level Remedial acfion discrefionary. Remedial acfion to be taken at appropriate fime. Remedial acfion to be given high priority. Immediate acfion necessary. Operafion not permissible except in

‘ an unusual circumstance or as a closely monitored and limited exception with approval of the person having authority to accept the risk.

Category Low risk Moderate risk Serious risk High risk

Risk score I t o 5 6 to 9 10 tol4 15 or greater

www.asse.org JULY 2012 ProfessionalSafety 3 9

The culture change necessary to imple-

ment a successful MOC system is

impossible without a training program that

helps supervisors and workers understand

the concepts to be applied.

•reorgamzmg or reengmeenng; •workforce downsizing; •attrition and workforce aging; •outsourcing of critical services; •changes affecting the compe-

tence or performance of contrac- tors that provide critical services (e.g., equipment. design, process control software, hazard and risk assessment);

•loss of skills, knowledge or attitudes as a result of the cited changes.

According to CSChE (2004), such changes are not as well-addressed

in applicable guidelines as changes in equipment, tools, work methods and processes.

More emphasis must be given to the effect of orga- nizational changes on operational risk management because incident reports on some serious injuries and fatalities indicate that staffing reductions were a significant contributing facfor to unacceptable risk situations such as inadequate maintenance; inad- equate competency; workers being stressed beyond their mental and physical capabilities (e.g., two persons doing the work for which three had been previously assigned; a person working alone in a high-hazard situation for which the standard oper- ating procedure calls for a work buddy).