Hazard Recognition

Better (be) safe than sorry.
INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS HAZARD?
“Any thing that has the potential to cause
harm”
A hazard is a situation that poses a level of threat to life,
health, property, or environment. Most hazards are dormant
or potential, with only a theoretical risk of harm; however,
once a hazard becomes "active", it can create an
emergency. A hazardous situation that has come to pass is
called an incident.

EXAMPLES OF HAZARDS
Table 1.
Examples of Hazards and Their Effects
Workplace Hazard Example of Hazard Example of Harm Caused
Thing Knife Cut
Substance Benzene Leukemia
Material Asbestos Mesothelioma
Source of Energy Electricity Shock, electrocution
Condition Wet floor Slips, falls
Process Welding Metal fume fever
Practice Hard rock mining Silicosis

MODES OF HAZARDS
Hazards are sometimes classified into three modes
Dormant : The situation presents a potential hazard, but no people,
property, or environment is currently affected. For instance, a
hillside may be unstable, with the potential for a landslide, but there
is nothing below or on the hillside that could be affected.
Armed : People, property, or environment are in potential harm's
way.
Active : A harmful incident involving the hazard has actually
occurred. Often this is referred to not as an "active hazard" but as an
accident, emergency, incident, or disaster.

TYPES OF HAZARD
Hazards are generally labeled as one of five types:
• Physical Hazards
• Chemical hazards
• Biological hazards
• Psychological hazards
• Ergonomic hazard

Video

PHYSICAL HAZARDS
A factor within the environment that can harm the body
without necessarily touching it. Vibration and noise are
examples of physical hazards.
Physical hazards include but aren't limited to electricity,
radiation, pressure, noise, heights and vibration amongst
many others.

EXAMPLE OF PHYSICAL HAZARDS

ACTIVITY 1:

CHEMICAL HAZARDS
A chemical hazard is any substance that can cause harm,
primarily to people.
Chemicals of all kinds are stored in our homes and work
areas can result in serious injuries if not properly
handled. Household items such as bleach can result in
harmful chlorine gas or hydrochloric acid if carelessly
used.

EXAMPLE OF CHEMICAL HAZARDS

ACTIVITY 2

BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS
Biological hazards, also known as biohazards, refer
to biological substances that pose a threat to the health
of living organisms, primarily that of humans.
This can include medical waste or samples of a
microorganism, virus or toxin (from a biological source)
that can affect human health.

BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS : CONTINUED…
Biological hazards are biological agents that can cause
harm to the human body. These some biological agents
can be viruses, parasites, bacteria, food, fungi, and
foreign toxins.

EXAMPLE OF BIOLOGICAL

PSYCHOLOGICAL HAZARDS
These are created during work related stress or a stressful
environment. A person can be a hazard when he/she is
affected psychological disturbance through stress, shift
patterns and also can be a hazard when a person is under
the influence of alcohol, illness and lack of training.

EXAMPLE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL HAZARDS

ERGONOMIC HAZARDS
An ergonomic hazard is a physical factor within the
environment that harms the musculoskeletal system.
Ergonomic hazards include themes such as repetitive
movement, manual handling, workplace/job/task design,
uncomfortable workstation height and poor body
positioning.

EXAMPLE OF ERGONOMIC HAZARDS

ACTIVITY : FIND OUT THE HAZARDS

THE INCIDENT PYRAMID

CAUSES OF INJURY

ON JOB FATALITIES

ACTIVITY :
Using the pyramid and figures , guess how many unsafe
acts or behavior take place across the work place .

EXAMPLE OF WORKPLACE INCIDENTS

COMMON CAUSES OF WORKPLACE INCIDENTS
• Shortcuts
• Overconfidence
• Poor or lack of house keeping
• Starting a Task Before Getting All Necessary
Information
• Neglecting Safety Procedures
• Mental Distractions
• Lack of Preparation

WHAT IS RISK?
Risk is the likelihood that a hazard will cause harm -
likelihood linked with severity
Risk= Likelihood * severity

RISK MATRIX

IDENTIFYING HAZARDS
In any hazardous condition if someone exposes to it
there will be an incident/accident.
Hazard + Exposure = Accident

WHAT IS “HAZARD RECOGNITION”
• A method to identify workplace hazards.
• An observation tool for understanding how
both unsafe conditions and actions occur.
• Hazard Recognition goes “beneath” the
obvious hazards to their underlying causes.

WHY WE DO HAZARD RECOGNITION?
Facility Inspections
• Focus is mostly on unsafe
conditions.
• However, Unsafe Actions
account for most workplace
hazards.
• Requires an in-depth knowledge.
• Limited by “checklist approach”.
Hazard Recognition
• Universally applicable.
• Uses a questioning format, rather
than a checklist or audit.
• Can be used to augment or better
address other facility inspection
methods.
• Provides a “Pro-active” approach.

HAZARD RECOGNITION CONCEPT…?
Key Concept / Question:
 What hazard Causes exist here?
 Look for Causes in a given work situation:
 General duties of a Job .
 Specific Tasks within the job.
 Workstation or site.
 Work method or process.
Ask “What if…?”

THE BASIC HAZARDS ON WORKPLACE
o Falls
o Struck by
o Striking against
o Caught
o Contact by / with
o Inhalation
o Ingestion
o Over-exertion
o Cumulative Trauma

FALLS
On the Same Level
• Slip due to…
• Trip due to…
• Haste, slope, etc.
To a Lower Level
• Balance / posture
• Slip or Trip due to…
• 3 points of contact?
• While performing
another task.

STRUCK BY
The object provides the force or action, such as the
following:
A Moving Object strikes the worker...
Misdirected Hand Tool; Work piece that is dislodged;
Point of Operation area in a machine.
A Flying Object is projected toward a worker...
Foreign body in the Eye is typical.
A Falling Object drops from above...
Can you give an Example?

STRIKING AGAINST
The Object is stationary and the person provides the force or
motion.
 Hand slips from tool.
 Worker rounds a corner and strikes a stack of boxes.
 Tiger Woods strikes a golf ball.
 Donald Duck’s irate brother attacks a PC!

CAUGHT
In, On or Between - Stationary and / or Moving Objects
Caught In: Worker trapped in confined space.
Caught On: Pant leg snagged by a loose steel cable end, leading to fall.
Note: The Fall might be accident type, but the “underlying cause” is
the Caught On hazard.
Caught Between: Hand crushed between pinch rollers on a conveyor.
 Many machine and equipment accidents involve Caught - type
hazards.

CONTACT BY / WITH
• The substance or object’s composition or
nature is inherently Hazardous.
• The substance or object may be Hazardous
only in certain situations or when specific
conditions are met.

CONTACT BY / WITH
Electricity
• Voltage, amperage, etc.
Cold or Heat
• Skin contact / body.
Chemicals
• Skin contact hazard.
Noise / Vibration /
Shock
• Intensity + Duration

INHALATION / INGESTION
Similar to Contact as the substance has an inherent
hazard.
• However, the substance must be internalized to be
hazardous or toxic.
Some substances are both contact and inhalation /
ingestion hazards.
• Remember, you can be “unexpectedly” exposed to these
hazards (e.g. airborne toxins settle on open beverages or
food).

OVER-EXERTION
Situations or conditions that create or cause the
need for more force, strength or endurance than the
person is capable of performing.
Manual Materials Handling - whole body:
• Lifting, Lowering, Pushing, Pulling, Carrying.
• Underlying Causes of Manual Handling
--Weight or force, Posture & position, Frequency and duration of
task, Location of object handled.

OVER-EXERTION
Other forms of Over-exertion include:
 Hands - type of grasp and grip force.
 Overhead or above - shoulder work.
 Physically demanding work
-Shoveling, carrying long distances.
 Extensive tool use.

CUMULATIVE TRAUMA
Repeated motions
• Every few seconds
• Every couple minutes
• In combination with poor postures, difficult hand grasps, etc.
• Generally involving physical stresses to specific body joints.

USING HAZARD RECOGNITION
When Conducting Facility Inspections
People
• Observe the worker’s motions, postures, sequence of job or task
steps.
Equipment
• How do tools, machines and equipment create or act as a source
for hazards?

USING HAZARD RECOGNITION
Environment
• Floors, work surfaces, lighting, noise, other jobs.
Management
• Does management act to correct, warn or train to minimize
hazards?

HAZARD RECOGNITION
How else is it Valuable?
 When Investigating Accidents.
 To determine the causes of a “Near Miss”
incident.
 For Job Safety Analysis .
 As a part of New Employee Training.
Make it a part of Employee Hazard
Awareness!

Hazard Recognition

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