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POWRA = Point of work Risk assessment - their use and training tips

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TWDB
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POWRA = Point of work Risk assessment - their use and training tips

Post by TWDB »

Hi all

POWRA = Point of work Risk assessment - their use and training tips

Does anyone actively use these in their operations? - we do but do it very badly so want to retrain the staff and re-communicate how to do them , and use them,

they have been introduced at my work, but I think maybe not in a very good way and the basic's of RA can be poor in some teams - which i believe need to be improved before POWRA can be successfully used - basics essential for RA and hazard awareness.
any tips or best practice? and any good training materials people have used i could look at maybe ?

any help would be appreciated

thanks

T
Update: taken a new job :D hopefully confidence and positivity will return with new challenge - scary though leaving current place after 16 years (6 years H&S !) :shock:
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Re: POWRA = Point of work Risk assessment - their use and training tips

Post by billinom8s »

Funnily enough we were talking about this in the office today. i've not dealt with it yet as the RA i've been doing haver been accepted by customers. I think it's a rabbit hole i will be disappearing down very soon.
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Re: POWRA = Point of work Risk assessment - their use and training tips

Post by ddlh »

We did POWRA or - Take 5 - as we called them.

The risk assessment was completed and by the team supervisors and approved by management team before a permit was raised and issued. It was likely that the first the work party would see the risk assessments and permit would be at the toolbox talk at the worksite immediately prior to start of work.
This was the time that we took 5 minutes to inspect the worksite and see that all hazards mentioned in the permit were covered and that no other hazards had developed (poor weather, other work parties in the are etc.
Another take 5 would be completed by the team after lunch break or muster call - or when the work site had been left unattended for a while.

Our teams all had Risk assessment training and work permit training and refreshed regularly. Some poor contractors working for one client for a few months would have to redo the PTW training relevant to the new client before he got offshore - so the training part was not an issue.

Hope this helps?
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Re: POWRA = Point of work Risk assessment - their use and training tips

Post by Woodie »

Quite common in the power industry and use them everyday. Training can be done very easily along with coaching along the way.
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Re: POWRA = Point of work Risk assessment - their use and training tips

Post by stretch3144 »

We call it a DRA - Dynamic Risk Assessment. PM sent.
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Re: POWRA = Point of work Risk assessment - their use and training tips

Post by joaorosa80 »

A Risk Assessment is a process of identifying, measuring and evaluating risk for individuals, organisations, assets, and the environment as a result of a particular activity, role or undertaking. The goal of a risk assessment is to understand the potential risks, measure what we are doing to prevent that risk, and decide whether we need to do more.
Risk assessments are a legal requirement.

A Dynamic Risk Assessment or POWRA accounts for risk in a live environment that has factors that may not have been possible to account for in a standard risk assessment.

Regular Risk Assessments will always be a valuable and legally required law. A dynamic risk assessment allows teams to go further and be prepared to assess developing situations as they arise.
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Re: POWRA = Point of work Risk assessment - their use and training tips

Post by andybz »

This is another example where terminology get used interchangeably, which in my opinion, is unfortunate (see forum post "hazardous vs high risk.")

I do not believe that a POWRA is intended to address a dynamic situation. It is a last minute assessment made at the job site before work starts. The intention is to confirm that the hazards, risks and controls covered by the procedure/RAMS are correct and to raise awareness of the work party to any local issues that could affect their job (i.e. other work taking place nearby). Many companies have implemented effective POWRA systems, with a simple check-list to be completed before every piece of work. The key thing is getting the message across that time shall be taken to do this, and checking this happens in practice. I don't think people need much training in how to do a POWRA if they are given a simple checklist.

My understanding is that DRA came from emergency services and military. It requires people to observe what is happening during a job and are continually re-evaluating the plan. It is partly a mindset, but probably requires a command or supervisory structure so that someone continuously has an overview role, and avoids getting too involved with the hands on work. This is probably quite difficult in most companies where people work in small teams of one or two.

I guess there are no issues with you using the terms POWRA and DRA interchangeably within your own company, but just be aware that there are different issues to consider. To be honest, I would say most POWRA should really be called Point of Work Hazard Assessments, because they rarely result in an evaluation of consequence vs likelihood.
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Re: POWRA = Point of work Risk assessment - their use and training tips

Post by joaorosa80 »

IF we think about this @andybz, DRA are almost impossible to be recorded, because they are assessed at the time of the event, but I believe that people call dynamic, because simple, a site is dynamic, something is being built, and it changes daily. What you access yesterday from the office, may be different on the next day.
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