Hazards and Risks in the Workplace PDF

## Hazards and risks ### Potential sources of hazards in the workplace - A hazard is a source or situation with the potential for harm in terms of human injury or ill health, damage to property, the environment or a combination of these. - The Work Health and Safety Regulation (2011) defines a haz...

## Hazards and risks ### Potential sources of hazards in the workplace - A hazard is a source or situation with the potential for harm in terms of human injury or ill health, damage to property, the environment or a combination of these. - The Work Health and Safety Regulation (2011) defines a hazard as ‘anything (including work practices or procedures) that has the potential to harm the health or safety of a person’. - Remember that hazards are not always related to the physical environment. They can relate to the way we do things or how people interact. - It is everyone's responsibility to be aware of hazards and assessment of risks in their job role. ### Identification of risks and hazards - Identification of risks and hazards is the first step in risk management. - Risks can be divided into groups for ease of identification: - physical like noise, radiation, light, vibration - ergonomic like lifting heavy equipment, incorrect desk and chair height - biological like viruses, plants, parasites - chemical like poisons, dust - mechanical/electrical like trips and falls due to loose cables, faulty tools and electrical equipment - psychological like fatigue, violence, bullying. ### 1. Physical/Environmental hazards - Physical hazards include electricity, noise, temperature, lighting and vibration. - For example, excessive noise causes noise-induced hearing loss, fine work done in poor lighting can cause eye strain and the excessive heat can cause a range of health effects, like heat stress. - Physical hazards are related to the working environment. - Imagine that you have a job that involves a large number of computer hours. You are allocated a poorly lit, small room with little airflow, a desk, and a chair that are at inappropriate heights. - Eventually, your body and mind will feel the effects of these adverse conditions. - Your environment directly affects your health and safety. - Seemingly simple factors such as insufficient lighting can cause many potential problems, for example, difficulty reading instructions causing errors, eye strain, headaches, and tripping over or standing on unseen objects. - One of the most common physical/environmental hazards in the workplace is air quality. - While we must encourage natural airflow when indoors, wherever air conditioners are used, the filters must be cleaned regularly, and the heating cooling systems must be maintained regularly. - There is a vast potential for hazards in the physical environment. - For example, untidy work areas, protruding objects, falling objects, rugs to trip on, slippery floors, broken or old equipment. - Even the basic requirements of sufficient heating, cooling, lighting, and ventilation will make a difference in your health. - SafeWork NSW provides strict regulations on workplace climate controls, lighting, heating, noise levels and air quality. - All workplaces must be sufficiently lit to enable workers to work safely without glare or reflection. Flickering or broken lights should be fixed immediately. - Adequate air movement is necessary to ensure the environment does not become too hot and stuffy by using fans, opening windows or utilising air conditioners. In the winter sufficient adjustable heating is necessary to ensure comfort. - If a worker is to be exposed to loud noises, such as using lawnmowers or leaf blowers, particularly over a length of time, it is essential that ear protection be provided and used. However, this does not include general noise such as conversation. - Physical hazards can be easily missed in environments where there are large volumes of people or where it is very busy. - Time is not always taken to fix or even to notice a potential hazard. - When the workplace is busy, replacing a bulb or turning down the heating is not a priority. Objects and equipment are not always placed in the correct places and potentially can be trip hazards or fall on workers causing injury. - To lessen these hazards arising, employers must ensure: - there are routine checks of the physical environment - the work environment is organized and controlled - staff must be aware of the importance of hazard identification. ### 2. Ergonomic hazards - Ergonomic hazards are those related to the physical workplace tasks that workers are required to perform such as lifting, carrying and other manual handling tasks, data entry, putting away stores, emptying bins or sweeping floors. - All of these tasks can cause accidents or injuries if: - unsuitable equipment is provided to undertake tasks, for example, there is no adjustable ladder to reach equipment on high shelves - tasks are performed in an unsuitable environment, for example, you have very little space to maneuver heavy equipment causing you to lift improperly. - Manual handling tasks such as lifting and moving heavy equipment can cause back injuries and other strain or sprain injuries. - Occupational overuse syndrome (OOS) can result from work practices that involve people working in postures that are uncomfortable or that do not involve enough variety. - Refer to the appendix section of this workbook for more information on safe manual handling. - To reduce ergonomic hazards the employer must certify that: - the equipment used in the workplace is appropriate for that particular workplace - the design of the workplace is safe and operational - work procedures/practices are safe. ### 3. Biological hazards - Biological hazards, such as infectious diseases, can also be present in workplaces. - For example, workers in early childhood or school settings could quite easily acquire an infection or illness from a child or young person if infection control policies and standards were not upheld. - Our bodies come in contact with many different germs every day. - Traveling to work by public transport, interacting with children, families and other workers, cleaning a spill, or doing first aid, put us all at risk of becoming ill. - Health hazards arise from: - poor hygiene techniques - dealing with body fluids - lack of protective clothing such as gloves - lack of handwashing facilities - poor ventilation - poor cleaning - insect infestation - poor waste disposal. ### 4. Chemical hazards - Chemical hazards are substances that can harm people's health when they are breathed in or absorbed through the skin, or when they irritate the skin. Examples include specific types of dust, vapors, fumes, cigarette smoke, and asbestos fibres in the air. - Chemical hazards can poison people or make them ill if enough is absorbed into the body. - Chemicals are used daily in kitchens, laundries, gardens, workplaces, etc. - Every-day products used for cleaning can pose a health hazard if used improperly or without the manufacturer's instructions. - Chemicals must be stored safely and out of reach of children in a high, locked, and labelled cupboard. - Chemicals should be clearly labelled including its contents, potential risk to health, precautions, first aid and expiry. - These details should also be kept on a chemical register along with the manufacture's details. - It is important that all chemicals be clearly labelled and preferably kept in their original container/packaging. - A Chemical Safety Checklist is also advisable. - It should include: - The chemical type - Name of product kept on the premises - What the chemical is used for - Potential hazards to children - Effect of the hazard - Storage information - Existence and location of Safety Data Sheet (SDS) - First Aid information ### 5. Electrical or mechanical hazards - In all workplaces, there is electrical or mechanical equipment that requires care while being used. This equipment includes dishwashers, light switches, toasters, photocopiers, heaters etc. - Even the simple task of using a photocopier must be done with some care, for example, ensuring that there is adequate access to the photocopier, the room is well ventilated, and care is taken when repairing paper jams or replacing cartridges. - All pieces of useable equipment should have operation and maintenance instructions either attached to the machine or in an accessible storage file. - Any equipment in the workplace must to be used according to the manufacturers' instructions and only for the purposes stated by the manufacturer. - All electrical circuitry or appliances must be checked, fitted, and maintained by properly qualified electricians. - Equipment must be checked and tagged at least every twelve months, with some equipment required to be checked and tagged more frequently, usually every six months. - In workplaces where children attend or may visit, all power points must have safety plugs inserted, ensuring there is no access to the electrical circuitry. - Cables and wires must not create a trip hazard. The use of cable ties or underground cables is essential. - Electrical points cannot be overloaded. - It is very tempting to use an adaptor or power board to allow more electrical items to run off one circuit, however, this can lead to dangerous overloading of the socket. - Each workplace must be fitted with a safety cut-out switch that will be of significant assistance should any power problem occur. ### 6. Psychological hazards - Psychological hazards include stress, violence, discrimination and aggression. These hazards are less easy to predict and more difficult to control. - The violent/aggressive staff member, client or visitor, and the busy, understaffed, workplace often arise with little warning. - Stressful events can be increased by lack of training, lack of supervision, lack of staff support and staff liaison. - Colleagues and management may not always work harmoniously together to achieve a common goal. - There may be a worker who clashes with another or a worker whose nature makes working as part of a team difficult. - This may create a communication breakdown. - Thought to add: What are some of the provisions that you could put into place to manage these situations? - Workplace stress is a potential hazard in all workplaces although some are more susceptible than others due to the fluctuating workload, the demanding nature of working with children and young people and the unpredictability of the work. - However, all people in the workplace are subject to workplace stress at some point in time and each person's ability to cope with certain stressful events is very different. ### Hazard management - What to do about hazards? - Depending on your role in an organization and your training, there may be varying expectations from your ‘Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking' (PCBU) or management concerning your involvement with hazard and risk management. - However, concerning WHS practices, there are mandatory and definite expectations regarding a basic level of common sense and correct behaviour in any work environment. - For example, it is always necessary to place a 'wet floor' sign out when a floor is being mopped or something has been spilled. That is, we identify that a wet floor may cause someone to slip and fall. - We make an assessment and control the potential for an accident by warning people of the problem. - Although you may play a junior role in your workplace it is still your responsibility to identify, assess, and control workplace hazards. - Workers need to be aware of hazards. - Your Health and safety committee may recommend hazard-specific training. - Hazard management plans can be developed after hazards have been classified e.g. a physical hazard management plan. - Hazard identification, risk assessment, and elimination (as far as is reasonable and practicable) or control, offer the best opportunity for reducing workplace injury or illness.