Field Work Risk Assessment Tool Guidelines

FIELD WORK RISK ASSESSMENT TOOL (FIELD R.A.T.
)
GUIDELINES
WHAT IS A RISK ASSESSMENT TOOL?
Prevention of workplace and field research injuries and incidents begins with identifying
hazards. A risk assessment tool is one practical approach recommended to identify
hazards and ways to reduce or eliminate hazards. It focuses on the relationship between
the researcher, the experiment, the tools, and the work environment. Ideally, after you
identify uncontrolled hazards, you will take steps to eliminate or reduce them to an
acceptable risk level.
WHAT IS A HAZARD?
A hazard is the potential for harm. In practical terms, a hazard often is associated with a
material, condition, or activity that, if left uncontrolled, can result in an injury, illness,
environmental release, property damage, and/or an interruption in work.
WHAT IS RISK?
A risk is the probability or likelihood that that a hazard will cause harm. In practical terms,
risk is the product of the likelihood of a hazard causing harm and the severity of that harm.
WHEN DO YOU USE THIS TOOL?

Use a risk assessment when you are developing a new field project, experiment, or
procedure. In Phase 1 of your assessment you will identify the question you are trying to
answer, the approach you want to use, and the general hazards associated with the field
environment as well as the materials, chemicals, equipment, and processes you intend to
use.
A risk assessment focuses on hazard identification at each step or task level of the
experiment. When conducting an assessment, always consider the full range of safety,
health, and environmental hazards, including but not limited to field conditions, machine
safety, high noise levels, as well as chemical and biological exposures.
For Phase 2 of your assessment:
• outline each step/task of your field project and/or experiment;
• talk with your PI and peers about routine and infrequent tasks, near misses, and
safety concerns;
• learn more about the hazards of the environment as well as all materials and
chemicals involved in the experiment/project.
March 9, 2021 ￜ Field Work Risk Assessment Tool (Field R.A.T.) Guidelines ￜ www.ehs.washington.edu ￜ Page 1 of 4
A risk assessment tool can provide essential information for enhancing safety practices,
establishing proper procedures, and ensuring all team members are properly trained. You
may need to get assistance from experts about certain hazards involved. Consult EH&S if
you have questions.
HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY HAZARDS IN THE FIELD?

Your goal is to discover the following information before starting your experiment or
project:
• What are the inherent hazards of the field environment?
• What are the inherent hazards of transportation?
• What are the inherent hazards of the materials, equipment, and activity?
• What can go wrong?
• How could it happen?
• What are the worst-case credible consequences?
• What are the contributing factors?
Documenting the answers to these questions in your risk assessment tool form in a
consistent manner will help to ensure that efforts to eliminate hazards and implement
controls will target the most important contributors to risk. Rarely is a hazard a simple case
of one singular cause resulting in one singular effect.
Good descriptions of hazards include:
• Where it would happen (environment)
• Who or what it would happen to (exposure)
• What precipitates it (trigger)
• The outcome that would occur (consequence)
• Any other contributing factors
HOW DO YOU REDUCE OR ELIMINATE HAZARDS?

After reviewing your list of hazards, use the Hierarchy of Controls to consider what
methods will eliminate or reduce them. Think about the controls that need to be in place to
address the severity of the worst-case credible consequence. The higher the severity, the
higher level or number of controls needed to reduce the risk to an acceptable level.
Document the existing controls and ask yourself, “How likely is it that the accident scenario
will occur with these controls in place?”
For Phase 3 of the assessment, you should review your choices and question the methods
you intend to use. Discuss your decisions with your PI, supervisor, and any peers who
perform the experiments or tasks being considered. Review incident data or information
from co-workers on the likelihood that the accident scenario would occur with controls in
place. It may be that additional controls are required based on experience.
If you plan to travel to a new location and/or introduce new or modified procedures, be
sure everyone understands what is involved, what new risks are introduced, and the
reasons for the changes.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR RISK ASSESSMENT?

When conducting a risk assessment, be sure to consult the Field Operations Safety Manual
and Laboratory Safety Manual for standards in field research practices. Compliance with
these standards is mandatory, and by incorporating these standards in your risk
assessment, you can be sure that you are meeting UW policies and state regulations.
HOW DO YOU ASSIGN RISK?

First ask, “If a person is exposed to this hazard or accident scenario, how bad would the
outcome or consequence be?” Consider the worst-case credible consequence without
regard to having controls in place. The purpose of this exercise is not to imagine the worst
outcome, but to evaluate the most probable level of severity. It is based on your judgment,
experience and knowledge of the subject matter. Consult with your PI, supervisors and
peers for input. Assign the severity level defined on the Risk Matrix.
The next question, “How likely is this?” refers to the likelihood of a malfunction or accident
occurring with the existing controls in place. It is impossible to try to predict when and
under what circumstances a system will fail. In this step, you should assume that the
system will fail and assume that the researcher is exposed to the hazardous environment,
motion, or process. Your question is not, “When will the equipment or process fail
unexpectedly?” Your question is, “When the equipment or process fails unexpectedly or
there is a potential injury and/or exposure during a hazardous process, how likely is it that
the researcher will be injured given the controls currently in place?” Review accident data
or lessons learned from both inside and outside of the University to help determine the
likelihood the hazard will result in the severity of the harm defined.
The answers to these questions and the risk rating matrix will help you determine the risk
rating level for your experiment or project. The risk rating is subjective and based on the
knowledge and experience that you and your co-workers have. The primary goal is for field
researchers to analyze and evaluate risks, mitigate them effectively, and differentiate
unacceptable and high-level risk steps from those with a lower level risk. This will help drive
additional consultation and control measures where needed. You and the PI should decide
if the risk level is acceptable before proceeding with a test run. If the risk level is not
acceptable, then return to Phase 2 of the risk assessment tool and use the hierarchy of
controls to design a safer process.
HOW DO YOU TEST YOUR PROCESS?

Think of how you can test your field research in a similar environment test your
experimental design by doing a dry run, doing a run with less hazardous materials, or
testing the design on a smaller scale. It is particularly important to review your assessment
if an accident or incident occurs. Based on the circumstances, you may determine that you
need to change the procedure to prevent similar incidents or near misses in the future.
Record notes from any trial runs and evaluations of the field experiment or procedure in
Phase 4 of the risk assessment tool.
WHEN IS YOUR RISK ASSESSMENT COMPLETE?

When it is time to run your experiment or new procedure, be sure to use the appropriate
controls you’ve identified. Evaluate and critique all the controls and hazards as you work.
If changes are needed, update your risk assessment tool and re-evaluate the process. Do
this whenever there are changes in location, scale, reagent, equipment, or conditions that
affect the hazard/risk level. Share the new version of your assessment with your PI and
peers for the next iteration of the field experiment.
Periodically reviewing your risk assessment ensures that it remains current and continues
to help reduce accidents and injuries. Even if the field experiment or procedure has not
changed, it is possible that you will identify hazards during runs that were not identified
initially. These findings should be documented and managed.
HOW CAN YOU START DOING YOUR RISK ASSESSMENT?

Start your risk assessment by downloading the Field Work Risk Assessment Tool (Field
R.A.T.) at www.ehs.washington.edu/system/files/resources/field-work-risk-assessment-
tool.docx.

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FIELD WORK RISK ASSESSMENT TOOL (FIELD R.A.T.

WHEN DO YOU USE THIS TOOL?

HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY HAZARDS IN THE FIELD?

• What are the inherent hazards of transportation?

• What can go wrong?

• How could it happen?

• What are the worst-case credible consequences?

• What are the contributing factors?

• Who or what it would happen to (exposure)

• What precipitates it (trigger)

• The outcome that would occur (consequence)

• Any other contributing factors

HOW DO YOU REDUCE OR ELIMINATE HAZARDS?

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR RISK ASSESSMENT?

HOW DO YOU ASSIGN RISK?

HOW DO YOU TEST YOUR PROCESS?

WHEN IS YOUR RISK ASSESSMENT COMPLETE?

HOW CAN YOU START DOING YOUR RISK ASSESSMENT?

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