Management of health and safety in workplaces
Introduction
This page is only a very limited introduction to some aspects of health and safety management in the workplace.
Hazard identification
One way of looking at hazard identification and risk assessment in occupational health and safety is as follows. Hazard identification is the art of the possible. In other words one would go about in the following ways:
- Speaking to workers and employers.
- Viewing a workplace and assessing how work is conducted.
- Reading up about the work and possible hazards, and in so doing build up a list of all possible consequences (adverse) to health from a particular work activity in a specified place.
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Consider the image (left) where the walls of a building are being cleaned. It is alleged that this is a dusty job. But is sandblasting involved? |
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An inspection of the 'skip' where waste has been dumped shows that indeed silica sand has been used for sandblasting: For more information, see: Lung diseases caused by dust |
Risk assessment
In contrast, with hazard identification, risk assessment is very much a science of the probable. A separate page discusses the quantitative and qualitative aspects of hazard and risk. Risk assessment involves trying to determine the likelihood and the severity of a specified adverse effect given a certain set of exposure situations. One can then rank these and focus attention on the higher risks.
Control of risks
Some aspects of risk management are considered in a page on control of risks to health from work.
Examples
This learning is supplemented by a number of examples listed below. These are not intended to be a comprehensive or exhaustive account of health hazards, risks and means of risk reduction in the particular types of workplaces, but are intended to exemplify aspects of the Management of Health and Safety in Workplaces, and to assist in education and practical implementation of this.