Examples of types of workplace safety hazards.

Safety hazards exist in every workplace. By identifying hazards at your

workplace, you will be better prepared to control or eliminate them and
prevent accidents, injuries, property damage, and downtime.

First of all, a key step in any safety protocol is to conduct a thorough

safety hazard assessment of all types of environments and equipment,
and there is usually a printout supplied for you or for your own
assessment.

Avoid blind spots in your workplace safety procedures by taking into

consideration these e.g. 6 types of workplace hazards.

What defines a hazard?

A hazard, within the context of workplace health and safety, is “any

source of potential damage, harm or adverse health effects on
something or someone.” They go on to say that a hazard can include
the potential for harm or adverse effect such as to people as health
effects, to organizations as property or equipment losses, or to the
environment.”

There are general occupational safety hazards such as slips, trips, and
falls, however, as you’ll read further, it is up to the employer to conduct
regular hazards assessments to identify its own unique hazards and
risks.

Hazards and risks

So what’s the difference between safety hazards and safety risks?

What are hazards? A hazard is any source of potential damage

(anything that increases dander or a loss), harm, or adverse health
effects on something or someone and a “risk is the chance or probability
that a person will be harmed or experience an adverse health effect if
exposed to a hazard.” A hazard therefore is an agent responsible for
establishing a risk.

What are risks? Risks are described as a “probability or likelihood of

developing a disease or getting injured, whereas hazard refers to the
agent responsible.”
How do we categorize hazards?

Regardless of where you work or which industry you are in, workplace
hazards can be categorized into seven sections, making them easier to
mitigate and to stay organized when tackling them.

Most hazards in a workplace fall under the following 7 categories as

below:

What are 7 common workplace hazards?

The 7 common workplace hazards are:

1. Safety hazards
2. Biological hazards
3. Physical hazards
4. Ergonomic hazards
5. Chemical hazards
6. Work organization hazards
7. Environmental hazards

1. Safety hazards

Safety hazards are number one on the list of 6 types of workplace

hazards. These hazards play an effect on employees who work directly
with machinery or on construction sites. Safety hazards are unsafe
working conditions that can cause injury, illness, and death. Safety
hazards are the most common workplace risks. 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 elevated work area.
 Unguarded and moving machinery parts that a worker can
accidentally touch.
 Electrical hazards like frayed cords, missing ground pins, and
improper wiring
 Confined spaces.

2. Biological hazards
The definition of biological hazards, commonly known as biohazards,
can be any biological substance that could cause harm to humans.
Biological hazards include exposure to harm or disease from working
with animals, people, or infectious plant materials.

Workplaces with these kinds of safety hazards include, but are not
limited to, work in schools, daycare facilities, colleges and universities,
hospitals, laboratories, emergency response, nursing homes, or various
outdoor occupations.

Types of things you may be exposed to for biological hazards:

 Blood and other body fluids

 Fungi/rot/mold
 Bacteria and viruses
 Plants
 Insect bites
 Animal and bird droppings

3. Physical hazards

Of all the hazards in your workplace, physical hazards might be the least
obvious. Despite their name, physical hazards aren’t always something
that you can see or touch.

Physical hazards affect workers in extreme weather conditions or

harmful working environments. Workers who are exposed outside in the
sun for a prolonged period of time can suffer physical hazards which can
cause long-term effects to their health.

Physical hazards can be any factors within the environment that can
harm the body without necessarily touching it.

Physical hazards include:

 Radiation: including ionizing and non-ionizing (EMF’s, microwaves,

radio waves, etc.) materials
 High exposure to sunlight/ultraviolet rays
 Gases under pressure
 Temperature extremes – hot and cold
 Constant loud noise
4. Ergonomic hazards

Ergonomic safety hazards occur when the type of work, body positions,
and working conditions put a strain on your body. They are the hardest
to spot since you don’t always immediately notice the strain on your
body or the harm that these hazards pose.

Short-term exposure may result in “sore muscles” the next day or in the
days following the strain, but extended exposure can result in serious
long-term issues.

Ergonomic Hazards include:

 Improperly adjusted workstations and chairs

 Frequent lifting
 Poor posture
 Awkward movements, especially if they are repetitive
 Having to use too much force, especially if you have to do it
frequently
 Excessive vibration

5. Chemical hazards

Chemical hazards are present when a worker is exposed to any

chemical preparation in the workplace in any form (solid, liquid or gas).
Some are safer than others, but to some workers who are more
sensitive to chemicals, even common solutions can cause illness, skin
irritation, or breathing problems.

Chemical hazards can be present in the following:

 Liquids like cleaning products, paints, acids, solvents – particularly

if hazardous products are in an unlabeled container
 Vapors and fumes that come from welding or exposure to solvents
 Gases like acetylene, propane, carbon monoxide, helium,
 Hazardous products and flammable materials like gasoline, solvents,
and explosive chemicals
 Pesticides

6. Work organization hazards

Safety hazards or stressors that cause stress (short-term effects) and
strain (long-term effects). These are hazards associated with workplace
issues such as workload, lack of control and/or respect, etc.

Examples include:

 Workload demands
 Workplace violence
 High intensity and/or pace
 Respect (or lack thereof)
 Flexibility
 Control or say about things
 Social support or relations
 Sexual harassment

7. Environmental hazards

Last but definitely least are environmental hazards which are constantly
changing with increasingly unpredictable – and
extreme – weather and climate. The bad news is that they are mostly out
of our control, but the good news is weather challenges and hazards are
somewhat predictable with the change in seasons and advances in
meteorology.

Examples include:

 Extreme temperatures (dangerous heat and cold)

 Extreme precipitation (rain and snow)
 Dangerous levels of noise
 Dangerous levels of radiation
 Pollution (air and chemical)
 Unstable infrastructure
 Biological hazards
 Violent members of the public
 Dangerous animals
A risk is normally caused by exposure to a hazard, so the logical solution is to
remove or minimise that hazard, which will remove the risk. Three main control
measures can effectively reduce risk. They are:

1. Substituting the hazard for something safer. As an example, this could mean
swapping out a toxic paint for a non-toxic paint.
2. Isolating people from the hazard. This could involve setting up a safety
barrier to prevent people from going near the hazard.
3. Removing the hazard using engineering controls. This means using
something physical like an electrical safety switch to control the hazard.
But, if this isn’t enough, administrative controls, including further training and an
overhaul of work practices and processes, may be required.

Ultimately, the goal with risk management is to ensure your business is legally
protected under the WHS Act and your people can go home at the end of the work
day feeling both physically and mentally cared for. Being familiar with the Code of
Practice and the Act itself will stand you in good stead to work in and operate an
extremely low-risk work environment.

Therefore, preventing injury and harm at work includes: -

 Understanding information on biological, chemical, ergonomic, physical, etc.

hazards and how to manage risks in the workplace.
 A continuing mechanism for work health and safety management system
monitoring and evaluation.
 Safety performance criteria are identified and monitored, and data is collected
and analysed.

what is an adverse health effect?

A general definition of adverse health effect is "any change in body function or the
structures of cells that can lead to disease or health problems".
Adverse health effects include:

 bodily injury,
 disease,
 change in the way the body functions, grows, or develops,
 effects on a developing fetus (teratogenic effects, fetotoxic effects),
 effects on children, grandchildren, etc. (inheritable genetic effects)
 decrease in life span,
 change in mental condition resulting from stress, traumatic experiences,
exposure to solvents, and so on, and
 effects on the ability to accommodate additional stress.