To be effective, the JHSC must be masters of RACE

Used effectively, the Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) can be used as a driving force toward organizational objectives. To be effective, the JHSC must be masters of RACE:
 
R – Recognize
A – Assess
C – Control
E – Evaluate
 
It’s easy to recite the acronym and what it stands for, but what does RACE mean, and why must the JHSC be RACE experts?

RACE
​
Recognize  —  Assess  —  Control  —  Evaluate

The JHSC and RACE

The primary purpose of the JHSC is to serve as an advisory committee. They advise on recommendations to control identified hazards to make the workplace safer. To do this, JHSC members must be able to recognize hazards, assess the severity of the hazard, recommend a control, and then evaluate the effectiveness of the control.  

R - Recognizing Hazards

Hazards are any actions, processes, or conditions that may cause:

• Injury
• Illness
• Damage to property
• Environmental damage
• Other losses

​
To recognize hazards, the JHSC undertakes specialized training to identify the processes and tasks and the hazards within the tasks. 

Each month, the JHSC must conduct workplace inspections and identify hazards. If they don’t know what may be considered a hazard, it is challenging to identify hazards, and even more challenging to put controls in place.
 
For example, a worker member of the JHSC identifies that there is debris blocking an emergency exit, creating a hazard.

A - Assessing Hazards

Once the hazard has been identified, it must be assessed to determine the risk. To assess the risk, consider the likelihood and the severity of an injury, illness, or damage if the hazard were left uncontrolled.
 
The more likely an incident is to occur, and the more severe the resulting injury, illness, or damage, the higher the risk.
 
To continue in our example, the boxes blocking the emergency exit present a hazard. Left uncontrolled, it could result in staff being unable to leave in the event of a fire. The likelihood of a fire is fairly low. However, if anyone were trapped inside during a fire, the results would be catastrophic. The resulting risk of such a hazard is somewhere in the middle between the low likelihood, and the high severity of the risk. 

C - Control

Once the hazard is identified and assessed, a temporary control must be put in place immediately to remedy the hazard and reduce the risk. In some cases, that control will be enough to permanently and effectively control the hazard. However, sometimes a temporary control needs to be replaced with a more effective permanent control. The JHSC can help make recommendations for controls in the workplace.
 
In our example, an immediate control would be to clear the debris blocking the exit. A permanent control would be signage indicated that nothing can be stored in front of the emergency exit, and a policy that clearly states that debris must be stored in specific locations where it isn’t causing a hazard. 

E - Evaluate

​It’s tempting to set a control in place and then forget about it. However, without evaluation, that control may not be as effective as it could be. Be sure to evaluate the controls for effectiveness and that what was meant to be controlled is being controlled. You’ll also want to ensure that the control isn’t causing undesired consequences.
 
To conclude our example, an evaluation of the signage control would be as simple as ensuring that everyone is complying and that the debris hasn’t built up again. If it has, it may be beneficial to consider other controls. When reviewing the policy control, ensure that it didn’t have the unintended consequence of causing debris buildup in other areas causing additional hazards. 

To ensure that your JHSC members are RACE masters,
​they need to be JHSC Certified

RACE Training

​To ensure that your JHSC members are RACE masters, they need to JHSC certified. JHSC certification training covers RACE in great detail so that all certified members have an understanding of RACE and can apply it effectively in the workplace. 

Trust MidSouthWest Training and Consulting

 
Training is key when it comes to having an effective and efficient JHSC. When all members are trained, they have a basic health and safety foundation and can recognize, assess, and control hazards, and then evaluate the effectiveness of those controls.
 
MidSouthWest Training and Consulting provides JHSC training in association with Langlois Safety Training and Consulting Services, an approved CPO Provider. We offer in-house and on-site JHSC Part One, Part Two, and Refresher training. You can trust MidSouthWest Training and Consulting to provide you with cost-effective training solutions tailored to meet your organization’s unique health and safety needs. 

​To learn more, contact us online or call 289.309.1143. Visit us 24/7 on the web at midsouthwest.ca.

​Last updated October 5, 2020