Basic Occupational Safety and Health

1. Unsafe/Unhealthy
Conditions

2. Unsafe/unhealthy Condition
ANSI defines this as the physical or chemical property of a material, machine or
the environment which could possibly cause injury to people, damage to property,
disrupt operations in a plant or office or other forms of losses. These conditions
could be guarded or prevented.
• slippery and wet floors
• dusty work area
• congested plant lay-out
• octopus wiring
• scattered objects on the floor/work area
• poor storage system
• protruding nails and sharp objects
• unguarded rotating machines/equipment

3. • The term “poor housekeeping” is a very general and vague term that
does not tell you the real condition/situation of the workplace that needs
to be addressed. You should avoid using general terms when citing for
unsafe/unhealthy acts and conditions. Rather, you must state
specifically what you are referring to, like: dusty workplace and
improper storage of paints.
• The term “Non-wearing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)” is
another generalized statement of an unsafe act. To be more specific,
you must cite the kind of PPE that is not used or improperly worn by the
worker. In this case, your observation should be: not wearing gloves
and mask while mixing chemicals, not wearing goggles while welding,
or not wearing safety shoes while walking on slippery surface.

4. Can accidents be
prevented?
Herbert William Heinrich
After reviewing thousands of accident reports
completed by supervisors:
98% of workplace accidents are preventable
( 88% is due to unsafe/unhealthy acts or “man
failure” and 10% is due to unsafe/unhealthy
conditions )
2% are nonpreventable
This study explains the rationale for focusing
interventions on changing the behaviors and
attitudes of workers and management towards
safety and health.

5. It is important to raise everybody’s consciousness to such a
degree that we all begin to realize that our actions affect
other people in the workplace, even if these appear to have
nothing to do with them. If you agree that we are part of the
problem, then, probably we can be part of the solution, too.
OSHC believes that Filipinos are inherently responsible
workers. Given the proper education, training, and the right
motivation, we can do our part in making a safe and a
healthy workplace. That is why we are conducting this
BOSH Training Course
How do you prevent yourself from performing
unsafe/unhealthy acts that will cause unsafe/unhealthy
conditions at work?