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Hazard Communication

For consumer products, people are more likely to adhere to the warning statements when the consequence of the hazard is included in the safety statement (Wogalter, 1999). However, this has not been verified for workers and procedures.

For consumer products, people are more likely to comply with the mitigation for the hazard if the mitigation action is provided with the hazard and the consequence (Wogalter, 1999). However, this has not be validated for procedure use.

Many regulatory and standards organizations require procedures to include information on the precautions necessary to prevent environmental, health, and safety (EH&S) hazards as well as the control of and response to adverse exposure (OSHA 1910.119(f)(1)(iii)(B,C); EPA 40 CFR § 68.69, 1999; API RP 75 § 5.2, 2004).

With this information, workers are:

  • Able to prevent hazards or avoid exposure to them if possible
  • Able to take the appropriate steps to control or eliminate hazards if they occur
  • More likely to take proper precautions when needed (Trommelen, 1997)

Without this information, workers may:

  • Be unable to respond to hazards properly or sufficiently ensure the safety of themselves, other employees in the area, equipment, product quality, and the environment
  • Take more time to properly control a hazard, increasing the risks of injury and equipment damage (Trommelen, 1997)
Guideline 1: Hazard Information Conciseness
Only information required by workers to perform the task safely should be included as hazard precautions.

Support
Too much, time-consuming, and redundant information can result in neglect of written procedures and thus more incidents/near-misses (Scholtz & Maher, 2014).
Example
correct
Guideline 2: Precautions Inclusion
Precautions necessary to control or prevent EH&S hazards must be included.

Support
Precautions necessary to prevent exposure will be stated and provided, including engineering controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment (OSHA 1910.119(f)(1)(iii)(B); EPA 40 CFR § 68.69, 1999; API RP 75 § 5.2, 2004).
Example
correct
Guideline 3: Use of Signal Words
“Danger” should be used to indicate severe hazards. Either “warning” or “caution” can be used to indicate mild or moderate hazards.

Support
Workers reliably understand what the signal word “danger” refers to (Wogalter et al., 2002). However, workers have been shown to not distinguish between the terms “caution” and “warning” within procedures (Tharpe et al., 2017; Wogalter et al., 2002).
Example
correct