Hazard Identification & Risk Assessment (HIRA)
Hazard identification and risk assessment (HIRA) study offers the systematic approach to assess hazards and their associated risks that may offer an objective measure of an identified hazard as well as provide a technique to manage the risk.
Why HIRA Study
- To identify all the factors which may cause harm to workers.
- Consider the probability of incidents and assessing their severity
- Identify the existing safeguards and controls.
- Assess the risks and to make sure they are within acceptable limits.
- Recommendation to effectively counter the possibility of hazards
Inputs Needed
HIRA id highly dependent on the availability and accuracy of the input data, with more complete input data providing a higher confidence on the validity and robustness of the results obtained. The example of data collection will be specific to operations, building design, personnel / population occupancy levels.
HAZID Methodology
The study method is a combination of identification, analysis and brain storming based on the hazards identified which is divided into four main sections containing several categories. The generally applicable categories are;
- Section 1 External and Environmental Hazard;
- Section 2 Facility Hazards;
- Section 3 Health Hazards and
- Section 4 Assess Risks to:
- People
- Asset /Production
- Environment
The known hazards will be listed and checked within the risk matrix to grasp the importance of risk, the safeguarding controls / measures will be described based on the risk ranks and at last the recommendation shall be provided to prevent / eliminate the potential hazards. The risk matrix used for the study is given below,
Likelihood rating
| Likelihood | Description | Rating |
| Most Likely | The presumably result of the hazard/event being realized | 5 |
| Possible | Has a good probability of occurring and is not unusual | 4 |
| Conceivable | Might occur at some time in future | 3 |
| Remote | Has not been identified to occur after several years | 2 |
| Inconceivable | Is practically not possible and has never occurred | 1 |
Severity Rating
| Severity | Description | Rating |
| Catastrophic | Numerous fatalities, irretrievable property damage and productivity | 5 |
| Fatal | Approximately one single fatality or major property damage if hazard is realized | 4 |
| Serious | Non-fatal injury, permanent disability | 3 |
| Minor | Disabling however permanent injury | 2 |
| Negligible | Minor abrasions, bruises, cut, first aid type injury | 1 |
Risk Matrix
Risk Rating
| Risk | Description | Action |
| 15 – 25 | HIGH | A HIGH risk needs immediate action to manage the hazard as detailed within the hierarchy of control. Actions taken to be documented on the risk assessment form as well as date for completion. |
| 5 - 12 | MEDIUM | A MEDIUM risk needs a planned approach to manage the hazard and applies temporary measure if needed. Action to be documented on the risk assessment form as well as date of completion. |
| 1 – 4 | LOW | A LOW risk could also be considered as acceptable and any reduction might not be necessary. However, if risk can be resolved quickly and expeditiously, control measures got to be enforced and recorded. |
LSIR
Location specific Individual risk (LSIR) is that the risk for a hypothetical individual positioned at particular location for 24 hours on a daily basis 365 days per year. The LSIR criteria are employed in order to produce an over view of the long run industrial land use planning and developments. This individual risk is acquired directly from the risk software’s. The LSIR derived from risk software shall be supplied with the unit of Individual / societal Risk Frequency per year.
Risk Assessment Methodology
Risk Assessment is employed for risk management and safety improvement in several industries. It provides a quantitative assessment of potential risks known and provides a basis for evaluating process safety with reference to a planned risk acceptance criterion.
Approach to Risk Assessment
- Facility design, function, location, capacity and layout.
- Site environmental weather data.
- Process engineering / plant operational details of every equipment at the location
- Work force deployment, calculable occupancy and exposure.