You often conduct a manufacturing risk assessment (MRA) at your facility to ensure work is done safely. And that’s great! But are you sure you’re covering all the bases efficiently and effectively? In this article, we’ll talk about how you can rest easy knowing that your manufacturing risk assessment is thorough enough.
Signs of an inadequate risk assessment process
A key giveaway of inadequate MRA is not considering every risk and hazard. Whether it’s a safety, compliance, or operational hazard, you must be confident that your process considers each element in detail.
Data is also an important factor in an MRA. If you have no access to a collection of the risk assessments you’ve conducted or a way to analyze previous learnings, you’ll be less likely to continuously improve your current process.
Do you consider new regulations and operational best practices when conducting an MRA? This also will cause processes to fall through the cracks and leave you vulnerable to noncompliance.
One more thing you can look at is whether or not you’re including other departments that have their unique expertise such as operations, maintenance, and safety. If you’re not getting the purview of other teams, you might be making yourself more susceptible to overlooked risks.
How to ensure your risk assessment is thorough
Start approaching your risk assessment by looking at all the potential hazards. Encourage employee input and the recording of on-site observations not just from your safety team, but also whoever comes across them at your facility. This way, you’ll have help uncovering and identifying all hazards.
Then, implement a process for evaluating and analyzing each risk. Assess how likely the risk is to occur and how severe it can get. Use qualitative data alongside your judgment to make the best, data-driven decision for your team and operations.
Consider your risks and establish corresponding control measures to minimize and eliminate as much as possible. Control measures come in the form of eliminating, substituting, isolating and engineering the risks while also creating administrative policies or using personal protective equipment. Ensure each risk has a sensible control measure to keep your team and facility safe.
Now you have your thorough risk assessment process in place; you need to document it and store it for future reference and accountability. This will help in emergencies, incidents, and audits while helping you make better, informed decisions.
All that’s left to do is communicate the process with your team and ensure they’re trained on the risks and controls you’ve implemented.
Manufacturing risk assessment best practices
A systematic process like JSAs (Job Safety Analysis), SWOT Analysis, or FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) can be a simple way to ensure consistent quality in your risk assessments.
Leveraging technology like EHS software or an incident management system can also help collect and track data. This will provide an easy, searchable audit trail, helping you eliminate another layer of noncompliance risks.
An additional MRA best practice is implementing a feedback loop for employees. Allow and encourage them to report any gaps they see in the process.
Lastly, always evaluate the effectiveness of your risk assessment. You can regularly review your current process and see if there’s room for improvement. You can also benchmark against industry standards like ISO 45001 or OHSAS 18001.
So, is your MRA as effective as it can be? A thorough MRA isn’t just a regulatory checkbox—it’s the cornerstone of a safer, more efficient facility. Take the steps we’ve mentioned, refine your approach, and protect your team and facility from preventable risks.