Spot, Evaluate and Control Workplace Hazards
Risks are everywhere. In fact, simply sitting in a chair can involve risk. The problem is when the risk becomes an actual hazard.
A hazard is anything that could cause an accident or incident. A successful safety management program depends on spotting these hazards early, evaluating the risk, and removing or controlling hazards before they can do harm.
Four basic types of workplace hazards exist: chemical, physical, biological and ergonomic.
Chemical hazards
Chemical hazards result from chemicals that enter the body through inhalation, skin contact, absorption, injection and ingestion.
A chemical is not harmful if it does not have a route of entry into the body. Therefore, preventing a chemical hazard incident can be achieved by controlling routes of entry into the body.
Physical hazards
Physical hazards affect the body. Such hazards—including excessive noise levels, vibration, radiation, fire, slips, falls and temperature extremes—can have immediate and cumulative health effects.
Biological hazards
Biological hazards result when a living organism or its properties causes an adverse response in humans. Biological hazards in the workplace come from agents such as infectious microorganisms, allergens and toxins.
Health care institutions are seemingly at the highest risk for biological hazards such as bloodborne pathogens and tuberculosis. However, even an office building can have biological hazards such as mold or building-related illness.
Ergonomic hazards
Ergonomic hazards generally refer to a mismatch between a worker’s physical capacity and the design of a work area, equipment or tools; or the physical demands of a job. The physical injury resulting from repetition, exertions, awkward postures and vibration is a muskoskeletal disorder. The solution requires fitting the job to the worker.
Spot hazards
Hazards arise from many sources, including management practices, equipment and materials, the physical work environment, and employee attitudes and behavior. Identifying all hazards and potential hazards at a workplace requires planning and commitment.
Job safety analyses
The most commonly used hazard analysis technique is the job safety analysis. A JSA is a systematic analysis of each task involved in performing a job. This analysis specifies a step-by-step procedure for workers to follow and identifies potential hazards and outlines how to avoid them.
How to perform a job safety analysis
The basic steps in performing a job safety analysis:
- Take inventory of occupations and jobs.
- Select a job to be analyzed.
- Outline each taks of the job.
- Divide the task into steps.
- Observe each step.
- Identify hazards.
- Develop solutions and procedures to eliminate each hazard.
- Review the job safety analysis.
- Implement the job safety analysis.
