What does HIRADC mean in UNCLASSIFIED

Hazard Identification Risk Assessment and Determination of Controls (HIRADC) is an overall risk management process used to identify hazards, assess the associated risks and develop a plan to control any potential risks identified. The process helps organizations identify, understand, prioritize and manage their safety, health, environmental and other organizational risks.

HIRADC provides organizations with an understanding of their risks and how they can be managed in order to ensure safety, health, environmental protection, and improved operational performance. It also allows for the systematic implementation of controls based on accepted standards that can mitigate those risks.

HIRADC should involve personnel from all levels of the organization. This means not only management but all workers who are likely to encounter identified hazards in their daily work. Furthermore, external stakeholders such as consultants, service providers or government representatives may need to be consulted depending on the risk assessment scenario.

Depending on the size and complexity of an organization's operations, there may be different steps taken during the risk assessment process. Generally speaking however, common steps include hazard identification; risk evaluation; determination of appropriate control measures; implementation plan; review process; communication & training; monitoring & measuring compliance; record keeping & reporting.

There are many tools available for conducting a hazard identification risk assessment both online and offline. These include checklists, questionnaires or surveys filled out by personnel most familiar with each workplace task or operation; root cause analysis techniques like fishbone diagrams which identify causes leading to an incident or undesirable outcome; fault tree analysis which documents potential faults leading up to an incident or undesirable outcome; job safety analysis worksheets which break down a job into its component parts for assessment purposes and failure mode effects analysis which predict possible consequences when a system fails due to flaws or design shortcomings.

Each country or region may have its own laws regulating occupational health & safety so it is important to ensure that any hazard identification risk assessments conducted comply with any applicable legislation governing workplaces prior its completion. Additionally, it may be prudent to reference any nationally recognized standards relative your type of operation during the course of your review for further guidance.

The frequency with which hazard identification risk assessments should be conducted will depend on several factors including but not limited too changes in workplace conditions, processes/procedures changes within your operations etc.. It is recommended that they are reviewed at least annually however more frequent reviews can provide deeper insight into the level of control being exercised over activities within your operations.