WORK
PLACE HAZARDS
World
Health Organization (WHO) defined as a “Occupational health deals
with all aspects of health & safety in the work place and has a
strong focus on primary prevention of Hazards”. Every workplace may
consist of different types of hazards. Every employer may have a
legal responsibility to provide healthy & safe work place for
their employees.
Every
employee has the right to know, or right to be informed about actual
and potential dangers in the work place. Employer need to set of
rules to provide high standard of safety & health at the work
place and ensure that employee not injured or harmed at the work
place. As per the “Occupational Safety & Health Act 1984”
circulated by WHO . This id called “Duty Of Care” and this
applies all employees including casual workers.
Hazards
can be identified as
1.Physical
Hazards
2.Biological
Hazards
3.
Chemical Hazards
4.Psychosocial
Hazards
5.Ergonomic
Hazards
Physical
Hazards are the factors that
are in environment and can harm the body without touching and
many people face physical hazards in their work places . Some
examples are Slippery floor, unguarded machinery, heavy
loads,vibration, noise , heat and many more. As per the records of
WHO estimated spend billions of US dollar per annually for workers
who are facing hearing loss disability in world wide.
To
prevent and control Physical Hazards , when identified each of them
it’s important to set engineering & administrative controls to
reduce the risk for employees. Such as providing safety equipment,
Reduce vibrations & noises in the work places , consider about
proper air conditioning & ventilation system and provide training
for employees for recognize and how to avoid from Physical Hazards.
Biological
hazards can be happened through the viruses, bacteria, fungi and
protein. There are some ways to enter this microorganism in to our
body.
-Through
our respiratory system.
-Through
our blood transfusion
-Exposure
to some contaminated objects and effects may cause infections,
allergy and poisoning.
Mainly
people work in health services, cleaning services agriculture,
fishery, veterinary services and some manufacturing industries such
as textile, leather & paper products may expose to this king of
hazards.
To
prevent & control of Biological Hazards can use protective equipments including face masks, safety goggles, protective cloths,
shoe covers and gloves….etc. As well as need to practice personal
hygiene.
To
Chemical Hazards may cause to exposing to the chemicals in the
work place. This is effecting for short term and long term diseases.
Some chemicals such as tobacco smoke, silicon dust may cause to
increase heart diseases,high blood pressure and cancers.
All
chemicals may consist of one of three types. That are solid, liquid,
or gas. It is an important for understanding how chemicals enter the
body. For instance, by inhaling gas may enter the body and by
absorbing to the skin liquids may enter the body.
To
prevent & controlling chemical hazards , employer should be
ensured that they have set engineering and administrative controls.
Employee must concern about Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) are
suitable for their work schedules.
Psychosocial
Hazards may affect to the employee well being. Occupational
stress and workplace violence are recognized as major challenges in
the workplace under the psychosocial hazard. Employees face some
difficulties in the workplace. That may cause to Psychosocial
Hazards. Such as feeling of job insecurity, long hours working
schedules, poor balancing of work and life, high emotional
demands...etc. Those all reasons may impact to psychological by
individuals as well as organization’s well being.
Employers
should get appropriate methods to prevent and control Psychosocial
Hazards from their organization. Basically organization can do
training programs to improve work related skills as well as can do
motivational programs. Also employer can conduct some psychological
counseling programs which are useful for stress employees.
An
Ergonomic Hazards may happened for our musculoskeletal system,
due to uncomfortable workplaces, repetitive movements and poor body
positions. Employer need to provide comfort, safety and efficiency
work environment.
To
prevent and controlling of an Ergonomic Hazards can educate employees
to use proper lifting & handling techniques and employer need to
improve workplace with engineering controls to reduce or eliminate
Ergonomic Hazards. In addition job rotations may help to adding
variety to the job as well as enlarging physical demands.
References
Fit For Work. (2019). Identifying workplace hazards | Fit For Work. [online] Available at: https://fitforwork.org/blog/identifying-workplace-hazards/ [Accessed 23 May 2019].
SafetyLine. (2019). Are you aware of these 6 types of workplace hazards?. [online] Available at: https://safetylineloneworker.com/blog/workplace-hazards/ [Accessed 23 May 2019].
Most of the organisations pay their attention on prevention of physical hazards, but less for others. This will implement employer side and also need to monitor by rules and regulations and independent body. Also need to regular train and educate employees for prevention of work place hazards.
ReplyDeleteHow can a victim employee of any sort of occupational health can get a relief or consulting in Sri Lanka? what are the regulations set for this?
ReplyDeleteLook for these common hazards in your office:
ReplyDeletepoor or inadequate lighting;
ergonomic hazards;
extremes of temperature;
manual handling hazards;
slip, trip and fall hazards;
electrical hazards (e.g. appliances, power sockets, etc.);
contagious illnesses spread by sick workers;
fire hazards.
They include: Anything that can cause spills or trips such as cords running across the floor or ice. Anything that can cause falls such as working from heights, including ladders, scaffolds, roofs, or any raised work area. Unguarded machinery and moving machinery parts that a worker can accidentally
ReplyDeleteA workplace hazard is defined as a situation that has the potential to harm life, health or equipment at work. Identifying and reducing the risks of hazards in the workplace is a very important task that needs to be carried out thoroughly to stop workplace hazards becoming an issue. There are many different types of workplace hazards, many won't be relevant to every type of workplace, but here are the 5 most common hazards that will be relevant to most places.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who uses electrical equipment at work is at risk of injury. Whether it's working directly with electricity, or just working on a computer. To reduce the risk of injury, make sure that only one extension cord is used at a time. Stringing many together or 'daisy chaining' can cause electrical faults.
ReplyDeleteEvery workplace has hazards. As an employer, you have a legal responsibility to look after your employees’ safety and protect them against health and safety hazards at work. In order to manage workplace health and safety and help prevent accidents and sickness absence, it’s important to identify, monitor and reduce the risk associated with workplace hazards.
ReplyDeleteA work environment danger is characterized as a circumstance that can possibly hurt life, wellbeing or hardware at work. Distinguishing and diminishing the dangers of perils in the working environment is a significant undertaking that should be done completely to stop working environment risks turning into an issue. There are a wide range of kinds of work environment dangers, many won't be pertinent to each sort of working environment, yet here are the 5 most basic perils that will be applicable to generally puts.
ReplyDeleteThreats that employees face physically or emotionally in the organization can be termed workplace hazards. An important role of the organization is to identify and reduce workplace hazards.
ReplyDeleteWhat is a good way to identify a workplace hazard? 👀👀👀👀
ReplyDeleteThe importance of ensuring employee health and safety was legally adopted jointly by the International Labour Organization and World Health Organization in1950, to promote the physical, mental and social well being of workers in all occupations. Workplace hazards mean the situation, exercise, behavior or anything that has the potential to cause harmful incidents such as injuries, deaths, damages to properties and , etc.
ReplyDeleteAn injury or accident that can be caused as a result of various hazards as mentioned above.There should be a genuine top manage commitment to reduce these risks.
ReplyDelete