Hazard, deficiency and consequence: sort the statements

Give each statement a job

CCOHS distinguishes a source of potential harm from the harm that could result. For this exercise, add a third category: a deficiency is a gap against a stated expectation. The expectation must be identified; a personal preference does not automatically establish a deficiency.

These categories can connect without becoming interchangeable. A report may describe a hazard, compare the condition with a relevant requirement and explain a possible consequence. A good reader can separate those claims and check the evidence for each one.

Use the fictional route-review file

An invented training file contains a site drawing showing a designated pedestrian route. The observation says stored cartons occupy part of that marked route. A separate sentence predicts that someone could leave the route and enter an adjacent activity area. No injury is reported, and no complete risk assessment is supplied.

One learner condenses the file into “The hazard is non-compliance.” That phrase loses the physical condition and assumes a compliance conclusion without identifying the applicable requirement. Another writes “The deficiency is a collision,” treating a possible outcome as though it has already occurred.

Sort and improve the statements

Repair an overconfident conclusion

Replace “The company broke the law and caused an injury” with what the fictional file actually supports: “The observed carton placement appears inconsistent with the supplied route plan. The record describes a potential pedestrian interaction but reports no injury.” The revision does not minimize the concern. It removes claims the evidence does not establish.

If a later question supplies a specific applicable requirement, you can analyze that requirement separately. Do not import one from memory simply because the scenario resembles a familiar workplace. The facts and scope supplied by the question still control the answer.

Read the question before choosing the category

When asked to identify a possible consequence, an answer naming only a document gap may be incomplete. When asked to identify the observed condition, an answer predicting an injury may go beyond the observation. Underline the requested category before reviewing the choices.

For another exercise, take a fictional training-record discrepancy and write three sentences: what is observed, which stated expectation it is compared with, and what concern that gap may create. If a sentence needs evidence you do not have, mark that need explicitly instead of making the sentence sound more certain.