Top 5 Workplace Hazards Every Employer Must Address

The safety and health of your employees hold great importance. It will have them feeling reassured, knowing their well-being is in good hands and lead to better work productivity.

While improved work efficiency is essential in smoother operations, at the end of the day, it’s the prevention of human injuries and loss, which is of greater significance.

Even if there may be an appointed person for pinpointing and eliminating these workplace hazards, the responsibility still lies in everyone to pay heed to such hazards within the workplace and reduce the risk of harm.

It can be as simple as spotting a fault in a generator and calling your engineer for generator overhauling to find the exact issue and have it solved at once. This will help in avoiding problems like power outages and harm towards your staff.

However, hazards will differ from workplace to workplace and may not be that easy to spot immediately. Henceforth, to assist you in creating a safe workplace to avoid accidents – here are six common hazards to be aware of.

Safety

Known to be the most common workplace hazard out of the rest, safety hazards are generally just unsafe working conditions which can result in illnesses, injuries, or even death in the worst-case scenario.

Possible dangers involved:

• Objects or environments which may result in trips or spills, such as unorganised cords.
• Objects or environments which result in falls, particularly working from heights on a roof, ladder, scaffold, or any other elevated work area.
• Constricted spaces.
• Moving and unsupervised equipment which a worker may have contact with on accident and sustain injuries from.
• Electrical hazards such as missing ground pins, frayed cords, and improper wiring.

Precautionary measures:

• When not in use, ensure each one of your equipment and items are accounted for and kept properly.
• Carry out a detailed risk assessment to search for any solutions.
• Find any suitable first aid training courses and classes for employees to keep them prepared at all times.
• Always make it a must to install guardrails, particularly in elevated work areas.

Biological

Exposure to disease or from working or coming into contact with people, animals, or infectious plant materials. Basically, anything which results in adverse health impacts.

Possible dangers involved:

• Insect bites
• Blood and other types of body fluids
• Mould/fungi
• Plants
• Animal and bird droppings
• Viruses and bacteria

Precautionary measures:

• Purchase the appropriate working attire.
• Provide training and educate employees regarding the best sanitation and cleanliness practices.
• Implement a procedure for isolating animals, individuals, and objects that are infected or ill.
• Put in place an effective disease prevention plan.
• Encourage the staff to have a healthy diet and lifestyle.

Chemical

Any workplace with handles chemical preparation may or will employees to chemical hazards – be it in the form of liquid, solid, or gas. Some chemicals aren’t as dangerous, but some of your employees may be more sensitive to such chemicals, resulting in cases of skin irritation, illnesses, or breathing issues.

Possible dangers involved:

• Sources include paints, cleaning products, solvents, acids, gases like helium and carbon monoxide, as well as flammable materials such as pesticides, gasoline, and welding fumes.

Precautionary measures:

• Purchase protective attire, and if necessary, gas masks as well.
• Ensure that equipment onsite are maintained regularly. For instance, if you notice an issue or any unusual behaviour in your electric motor – consider opting for electric motor overhauling to get a clear idea of the problem and address it.
• Educate and convey to workers the effects of hazardous chemicals.
• Hang up labels or signs to indicate dangerous work areas or substances.

Work organisation

Equipment and substances aside, any environment which creates stress is known as a work organisation hazard. And this includes both short-term and long-term effects.

Possible dangers involved:

• Flexibility
• High pace and/or intensity
• Workplace violence
• Workplace demands
• Lack of control or say about things
• Sexual harassment
• Social relations or support

Precautionary measures:

• Practice workplace equality.
• Put in place a discreet method whereby employees can easily report issues within the workplace.
• Ensure that employees the consequences involved for matters such as sexual harassment and physical abuse.
• Regularly host team bonding activities or retreats to foster deeper bonds among employees.
• Encourage open and healthy communication between employees from different departments.

Ergonomic

This type of safety hazards include any strain on your body as a result of the kind of work one does, working conditions, or body positions. Taking part in heavy-duty tasks or repeating the same movements over and over again can cause issues like musculoskeletal injuries to rise.

Possible dangers involved:

• Awkward or uncomfortable movements, particularly those that are repetitive.
• Frequent lifting
• Terrible posture
• Excessive vibration
• The need to exert too much force, particularly in cases where high frequency of the task applies.

Precautionary measures:

• Purchase assistive devices with ergonomic functionality.
• Lower the number of repetitive tasks or remove them entirely.
• Invest in better prevention through training and awareness – be it through courses, talks, and the like.
• Work out a flexible schedule in which employees will have rotating shifts and be able to take a break from handing the repetitive activities.

Physical

Without necessarily involving contact, physical hazards are basically environmental facts which can inflict harm upon an employee.

Possible dangers involved:

• Consistent loud noise
• High exposure to ultraviolet/sunlight rays
• Radiation: consisting of both ionising and non-ionising (microwaves, EMF’s, radio waves, and the like) materials

Precautionary measures

• Educate employees on how to properly operate and care for equipment.
• Avoid isolating workers and have them work with at least one other person.
• Provide employees with ample breaks to recharge from any physical hazards.
• Lower the amount of the environmental hazard managed or lower the time spent exposed to the recognised hazard.
• Train employees to pinpoint physical hazards and avoid them.
• Make sure there is proper ventilation in place within enclosed areas.
• Putting up barriers between physical hazards and employees, like radiation.
• Insulating in areas where temperature extremes may occur.

All in all, while this list is not exhaustive in telling you which workplace hazards you should look out for and implement the necessary prevention methods – they act as a good headstart in telling you what to be aware of. Keep an eye out for them and create a safer and healthier workplace for your employees.