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Articles Occupational Safety Risks

Occupational Safety Risks

Principal Author / Publisher:Safetyhow Admin
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The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) classify workplace hazards as occupational risks. These conditions can cause injury, illness, or death to workers. In 1970, Congress authorized OSHA to regulate and enforce workplace safety. OSHA guarantees workers the right to a safe workplace by placing the responsibility on employers to identify occupational risks. In the workplace, employers protect employees through job task analysis.

Job task analysis means examining each employee's work tasks and working environment to identify risks or hazards. When employers examine the jobs in their organization, they may find different of types potential hazards, such as airborne risks, chemical risks, disease risks, mechanical risks, and special risks. Employers develop standardized policies and procedures to manage these risks in the workplace.

Airborne Risks
A broad group of risks concerns employee exposure to airborne toxins. For example, employees can get sick from exposure to asbestos, carbon monoxide, latex, lead, silica, and mold. Employers must provide protective equipment to prevent employees from inhaling airborne toxins. Employers also clean up airborne risks through processes such as asbestos mitigation and removal of lead-based paint.

Chemical Risks
Chemical risks are potentially injurious or fatal to employees when they are not properly contained. Examples of chemical risks are industrial cleaning agents without proper labels, oil, nuclear waste, and mercury in light bulbs. For prevention of exposure to chemicals and other types of risks, employers prevent harm to employees by providing information, training, and personal protective equipment.

Disease Risks
In addition to environmental risks such as airborne chemicals, workers may also contract diseases through the air, through contact with contaminated surfaces, or through direct exposure to human body fluids. These risks are particularly prevalent in health care settings. For example, health care employees may encounter blood-borne pathogens by accidentally sticking themselves with needles containing infected blood.



Mechanical Risks
When employees work with machinery, tools and equipment, they encounter another category of risks. Examples of such risks are electrical hazards, fires, mechanical failures, and forklift accidents. As is the case for other types of risks, employees who use machines rely on training and the compliance of all employees with safety protocols to prevent injuries.

Special Risks
Other risks that do not fall under the first four categories also occur in workplaces. Examples of special risks are workplace violence, psychological risks and ergonomics risks. A psychological risk may occur over the long-term, such as repeated job strain or job stress. An ergonomics risk may occur by not practicing ergonomics principles, such as developing carpal tunnel syndrome from improper keyboarding.

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