CIT - Insulation Installation - Hazards and Risks

1. Insulation Installation
WHS Risk Management: Hazards,
risks and controls

2. Introduction
WHS Risk Management procedures are documented
throughout WHS Legislation and Codes of Practice.
Regardless of the hazard the process of risk
management is the same.
This topic outlines the Risk Management procedure
used in the Construction Industry and when
installing insulation.
Risk
management

3. Managing risks
• PCBU, suppliers, installers, officers, workers are
all responsible for managing risks.
• Workers must be provided with information,
training, instruction and supervision
• Workers must comply with all WHS requirements

4. Managing risk
Risk
management
1. Identify hazards (See or find) – use checklists
2. Assess the risks involved (think and talk about these
how likely / how dangerous)
3. Consult and report ensuring the involvement of relevant
people (talk and tell at any stage)
4. Control the hazard (prevent or minimise it)
5. Review to identify change or improvements
(continually check and reflect)
5 basic principles of risk management:

5. Common hazards in insulation installation that will be
explored in greater detail include:
 Electrical
 Working at heights
 Presence of Hazardous substances such as asbestos,
synthetic mineral fibres, dust
 Presence of pests / vermin
 Working at heights (falls and falling objects)
 Restricted access spaces
 Hot and cold working environments
Hazards
Risk
management
Hazard: any thing (including an intrinsic property of a
thing) or situation with the potential to cause injury or harm

6. Identifying hazards
Risk
management
Be observant and aware, ie:
 Frequent inspections of your workplace – using checklists
 Talk to people to find out about hazards, or let them know about
hazards you have found
 Check workplace records of previous hazards, injuries and accidents to
give you ideas about potential hazards
 Report hazards or dangerous situations you have identified so that all
workers can be safe!

7. Risk
Risk
management
Risk assessment: means gathering information so that you
can make a clear and educated decision about what needs to be
done to lower the risk as far as possible
Risk assessment is based on 3 factors to think about and check:
The “likelihood” that it will do harm (probability)
The “severity” of the harm it could do (consequence)
The “number” of times people could be affected by it (frequency)
Risk: the chances of a hazard causing injury or harm

8. Assessing Risk
Risk
management
A Risk Matrix is a tool to quickly assess the impact of a hazard. They may differ
across organisations however they generally have 2 axes for allowing the
estimation of the Consequence (How bad could it be) and the Likelihood (how
likely is the incident to occur).
The following is an example of the Risk Matrix used by CIT.
When discussing hazards in more depth you will get an opportunity
to apply this Matrix to assess the risk of the hazard.
Risk matrix:

9.  Limiting the dangers of a hazard
 Risk management, ie identifying the best way to reduce the risk
posed by a hazard
 Elimination is always best if
reasonably practicable
 If elimination is not possible,
use the hierarchy of control
A good way to remember the order of this
is
Every
Saturday
I
Eat
A
Pizza
Controlling hazards
Risk
management
What is hazard control?

10. Control Measures
Substituting: replacing the hazard causing
the risk with something that causes less risk
(eg using safer equipment)
Isolating: isolating the hazard from any
person exposed to it (eg erecting a physical barrier)
Engineering: creating a safer
environment by making improvements to
equipment or processes
Controlling hazards
Risk
management
Hierarchy of control

11. If the risk remains,
Administrative control: measures used to
limit risk (eg providing training, warning
signs etc)
If the risk remains,
PPE: used to minimise remaining risk so
far as is reasonably practicable by
providing extra protection
Controlling hazards
Risk
management
Hierarchy of control