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Hazard Recognition Plus™

In industrial operations, serious incidents often occur not because safeguards are missing — but because hazards are not fully recognized before work begins.

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Have you ever wondered why even the best-laid plans still miss the mark? You aren’t alone.

Global leaders invest millions in HSE systems, yet many still struggle with the missing link: optimizing human performance through rock-solid hazard recognition.

HRP Energy Octagon

At HSE Global, we believe that safety shouldn’t rely on assumptions or hope and the value of informed choices cannot be overstated. We turn “I think I’m safe” into “I know how I’m safe.”

HRP isn’t just an energy wheel or another ‘program of the month’; it is a culture of foresight driven by a rigorous critical thinking process.

How Hazard Recognition Plus™ Works
The Origins

The origins of Hazard Recognition Plus™

Workers need a simple, practical way to recognize hazards before exposure to harm occurs – one that works across all types of operations and tasks, low-risk and high-risk, routine and non-routine alike. Rather than building yet another safety program, Hazard Recognition Plus™ is a true educational approach with a worker-oriented thought process that can be applied universally regardless of industry type or environment.

Hazard Recognition Plus™ was the world’s first energy-based hazard safety education process. Built upon eight energy categories present in virtually every workplace, public space, and home, the system gives workers a consistent, transferable framework for identifying hazardous situations before harm can occur. It’s the culture bridge between awareness and action.

Read More About This Powerful Process

Trusted By Global Leaders

For more than three decades, Hazard Recognition Plus has helped organizations worldwide develop their health, safety and environmental programs.

Why Leading Organizations Choose HRP

HRP is the world’s first and most widely applied safety culture solution designed for people in all types of workplaces and all levels of risk – from minor to serious injury and fatality, and industrial processes. Rather than pushing paperwork, we transform how your team thinks, communicates, and acts.

Engaging & Intuitive

Our “immersion” approach makes learning fun and application immediate.

Scientifically Grounded

Built on a foundation of solid safety engineering, our HRP Thought Process is a systematic, worker-oriented, reliable decision-making approach.

Culturally Transformative

Starting with “why I care” we bridge the gap between senior leadership and the front line, creating a high-performing, active workplace.

Universal Impact

Operationalizing HRP into the workflow has proven to drive measurable improvements across Safety, Health, Environmental and Quality (HSEQ) performance.

HRP in action
From Recognition to Action

Workers cannot manage what they do not recognize.

HRP empowers your workforce with a reliable mental framework to:

  1. 1

    Identify hazards more precisely — beyond slips, trips, and falls.

  2. 2

    Communicate risk and drive critical thinking to reduce risk effectively.

  3. 3

    Execute work with high levels of confidence about HOW they are doing it safely.

HRP isn’t just a training program; it’s a new way of seeing the world. It makes daily safety communication and decisions simple, reliable, and effective.

We call it a Life Skill because it is equally useful at home as it is at work.

Ready to elevate your safety performance to a world-class level?

Contact Our Experts Today
HRP Energy Octagon — Eliminate · Control · Protect

What Is The HRP Thought Process?

The HRP Thought Process™ is a five-question framework designed for systematic task evaluation and risk reduction. By focusing on energy-based safety and actionable “stop-work” awareness, it enables teams to plan and execute work safely without relying on dense paperwork.

Key Components & Benefits

  • HRP Energy Octagon™: Developed in 1993, this iconic image is the global standard for representing energy-based safety and is the genesis of many “energy wheels”. The HRP Energy Octagon remains the most readily recognized symbol in industry that replaces the guesswork in hazard recognition.
  • Practical Application: Training is reinforced by a compact ID-tag reminder card, facilitating real-time safety conversations in any environment.
  • System Foundation: The Octagon serves as the core of the Hazard Recognition Plus™ system, ensuring consistent hazard evaluation across all roles and industries.
Read More About The HRP Thought Process In Action
Proof in Practice

Recognized For Impact

For more than three decades, Hazard Recognition Plus™ has been applied across industries where the consequences of failure are high. Its effectiveness has been documented through industry publications, peer-reviewed research, client experience, and formal recognition.

“Until HRP was introduced here at our site I had never been trained how to identify hazards or energy sources that could hurt me. Since HRP we have 8 energy sources that are identified and mitigated to help us all work more safely. We have grown to use HRP outside of permitted work and to stop and use the thought process for all routine tasks. It has been beneficial in cutting down our injuries for the last few years. We have been using HRP for almost 6 years now and continue to learn new ways to utilize the great tool.”

Chris Dutton

GSP Safety Manager

Ascend Performance Materials

Decatur, Alabama

“Learning about the Hazard Recognition Plus (HRP) Thought Process has completely transformed how I approach safety. Not only did HRP provide me with a systematic and methodical approach to recognize hazards, it gave me a common language to relate what I was seeing with workgroups that I was interacting with. Identifying Specific Stop-the-Job Triggers before work begins is a powerful tool to empower workers to intervene when the energies are not properly managed or understood. I’ve used HRP at several companies since first learning about it and it has truly become a ‘life skill.’ I will continue to promote the HRP Thought Process for the remainder of my career.”

Chet C. Braud, CSP, OHST

Director, Safety

Basic American Foods

Blackfoot, Idaho

“What I value about HRP is that it applies directly to the field and to everyday work, not just tasks traditionally labeled as high risk. It helps crews recognize how energies are present in all work and when changing conditions increase risk. HRP also promotes collaboration by encouraging teams to pause, talk through the job together, and reassess controls before continuing. That mindset, pause, evaluate, and intervene, is critical for managing serious injury and fatality risks.”

Jake Evans

Health & Safety Leader – People Safety

AdvanSix HSE HQ

Chesterfield, Virginia

“Hazard Recognition Plus (HRP) has been effective because it provides a practical, consistent, and repeatable process to identify hazards, verify controls, and reassess hazards as conditions change. It has strengthened pre-job communication, improved change detection, and reinforced STOP work authority use. I would strongly recommend HRP as an effective approach for incident prevention and for strengthening day-to-day safety culture.”

Joshua Westbrook

HSE Leader

AdvanSix Inc.

Parsippany, New Jersey

“We first implemented HRP about seven years ago, driven by our commitment to reduce operational incidents and workplace injuries. One of our early realizations was that, while we expect employees to mitigate hazards, they need the right tools and understanding to actually identify those hazards in the first place. HRP stood out as the only methodology I’ve encountered that truly offers a systematic way for people to recognize potential hazards. This approach empowers our team to take proactive steps toward mitigation and, ultimately, incident prevention. The results spoke for themselves early on. In just the first 12 months after adopting HRP, we saw hazard identification-related incidents drop by roughly 30%. Building on this success, we wove the HRP approach directly into our job safety analysis forms, and it’s now an integral part of our daily processes. The ongoing benefits have reinforced our belief in HRP’s value to our safety culture.”

Peter Sutton

Vice President Safety, Quality & Environment | HOP Coach

Crowley

Jacksonville, Florida

“During my four decades as a safety professional, I have never seen a more effective process for identifying and mitigating hazards. I have used HRP since it was first introduced to me over 15 years ago. HRP provides the roadmap to effectively identify hazards whether you are an experienced worker or new to the job. Operations and maintenance teammates readily embrace HRP because of the value they see it brings to their job’s pre-planning to ensure work gets performed safely. The last step of the HRP thought process, identifying STOP work triggers in advance, reinforces that it is everyone’s responsibility and authority to stop work if they see an unsafe condition or behavior.”

Ana Martin, P.E.

Senior Director, HSE

AdvanSix, Inc.

Parsippany, New Jersey

See If HRP Is A Fit For Your Organization
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