How to reduce the risk of flammable liquids in the workplace

Control

After you have assessed the risk level for each location where ammable liquids are present in your workplace, you must then develop a plan to reduce the risks by implementing the necessary controls. Risk reduction can often consume a lot of resources, which makes it important to prioritise which risks must be reduced rst. The hazards that pose the greatest amount of risk upon the people, property and environment of your organisation must be controlled rst and then the hazard with the next greatest risk. This process must be followed until all risks have been mitigated.

The controls that you use to mitigate the risks associated with ammable liquids will depend on the nature of the risk. In all cases the control measures must be implemented in a strict order. This order is shown below:

1 2 3

• • •

Discontinuing the use of the ammable liquid. Substituting the ammable liquid with a less hazardous substance Engineering controls to enclose or isolate the hazard eg. Flammable liquid storage cabinets Safe working procedures Use of personal protective equipment such as gloves and respiratory equipment

Elimination Substitution Engineering controls

4 5

• •

Administrative controls Personal Protective equipment

Hierarchy Of Controls

Most Effective

Elimination

Physically remove the hazard

Replace the hazard

Substitution

Isolate people from the hazard

Engineering Controls

Administrative Controls

Change the way people work

Least Effective

PPE

Protect the worker with Personal Protective Equipment

After you have implemented all the controls to reduce the risk associated with ammable liquids, it is a good practice to carry out another risk assessment to analyse the success of the controls. This risk assessment can be recorded on the same risk management matrix that you used for the rst risk assessment so that you can identify the improvement.

How to Reduce the Risk of Flammable Liquids in the Workplace

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