Workplace hazards

Posted by SkillMaker in Nov, 2014

What are Workplace hazards?

Workplace hazards may be substances, physical agents and working conditions during the course of their work that can cause or contribute to disease and injury either on their own or in combination with other work or non-work risk factors.

What are the causes of Workplace hazards?

These are just some of the most common causes of workplace hazards:

Biomechanical hazards are workplace hazards due to exposure to faulty machinery or workplace equipment.

Noise exposure is a workplace hazard where in a worker are consistently exposed to loud noises which could ultimately damage his hearing and leads to loss of hearing as well.

Sunlight exposure is a workplace hazard where in the worker is exposed to the hazardous rays of the sun for prolonged periods of time.

Chemical exposure is a workplace hazard where in a worker is exposed to various toxic chemicals that could lead to illness or injury.

Airborne substance is a workplace hazard where in a worker is exposed to dangerous air particles that could cause breathing trouble and illnesses of the pulmonary system.

Biological hazards are a workplace hazard where in a worker is exposed to dangerous biological contaminants and microbes that could cause illness.

What are the different types of Workplace hazards?

Psychosocial hazard – Psychosocial factors are workplace hazards that affect the person emotionally and psychologically in a workplace. This impacts the wellbeing and effectiveness at work of an individual. .

Exposure to chemical hazards – are workplace hazards from chemicals that are present in the workplace or Residual chemicals in shipping containers. International research has shown high levels of residual gases may be present in shipping containers prior to opening for unpacking.

What are the components or elements of a Workplace hazard?

The main components of a workplace hazard policy are the following:

Establishing the context – is determining the scope of the policy

Commitment and policy – is a statement that states that the users of the policy are committed to promote safety in a workplace and to eliminate hazards that may occur.

Planning and prioritising – is a collaborative effort of determining how to reduce workplace hazards and how to eradicate existing ones.

Implementation –is implementing the developed policies.

Measurement and evaluation – is determining how the effects of the policies and measuring its effectiveness using a scale or given guidelines.

Review and improvement – is the review of the policies and any possible improvements

Workplace hazards from SkillMaker

What terms are used when identifying Workplace hazards?

Comprehensive system – means a system that is complete, broad, extensive and thorough.

Integrated system – means a system that is logical, structured, ordered, and combined into a whole entity.

Major hazard facility (MHF) – means a facility at which toxic chemicals are present or likely to be present in a quantity that exceeds their threshold quantity.

Major incident – at a major hazard facility is an occurrence that results from an uncontrolled event at the major hazard facility potentially involving Schedule 15 chemicals.

Major incident hazard – means a hazard that could cause, or contribute to causing, a major incident.

Operate– means conducting the business or undertaking of operating the facility. This will include all phases of operation including normal operation, static storage, transfers, shut down, start-up, commissioning, decommissioning and maintenance.

Operator – the person conducting the business or undertaking of operating the facility

Safety assessment is the process by which the operator of a major hazard facility systematically and comprehensively investigates and analyses all aspects of risks to health and safety that could occur in the course of the operation of the major hazard facility.

Safety case is a written presentation of the technical, management and operational information covering the hazards and risks that may lead to a major incident at a major hazard facility and their control.

Safety policy is a statement by the company/business of its commitment, intentions and principles in relation to its overall work health and safety performance, which provides a framework for action and for the setting of its work health and safety objectives and targets.