Health, Safety, and Environmental Practice
What to master
Know hazard identification and risk assessment (likelihood × consequence), the hierarchy of controls, permit-to-work systems, isolation/lockout-tagout, confined space and hot work controls, personal protective equipment, and environmental management (waste, emissions, spills, environmental impact assessment). Understand incident causation models (e.g., Swiss-cheese model), near-miss reporting, and the engineer's duty to stop unsafe work.
Traps
- PPE as first resort: PPE is the last line of defence, not the primary control.
- Ignoring latent conditions: most incidents stem from organisational factors, not just the front-line act.
- Underestimating likelihood: low-probability, high-consequence events still require controls.
- Skipping isolation verification: always test for dead and prove isolation.
- Overlooking environmental pathways: spills travel via soil, water, and air - contain at source.
Worked example
Risk scoring: likelihood 4 (likely) × consequence 3 (moderate injury) = 12 (high). Apply controls to reduce likelihood to 2 → risk 6 (medium). Document residual risk and review. If residual risk remains high, work must not proceed without senior authorisation.
Rule of thumb
If you cannot describe the control in one sentence and name who owns it, the control does not exist.