EXPECTATIONS:

I’m expecting that we will learn a lot from this training regarding occupational safety and
health. We will be familiarize with the existing and potential safety health hazards in
various working environments.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

I believe that BOSH Training is very important especially to us future Industrial

Engineers because the certificate that we can get in this training can be a great way to
ensure that we can perform our job better and safer. Also, this is not only gain
competence for local employment but it could also be good thing for us if we will be
seeking opportunities overseas.

Occupational safety and health (OSH) is a discipline with a broad scope involving
many specialized fields. In its broadest sense, it aims at

• The promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social
well‐being of workers in all occupations;

• The preparation and preservation of conditions in the workplace that reduce or prevent
the likelihood of persons being injured while performing their work;

• The prevention among workers of departures from health caused by their working
conditions;

• The protection of workers in their places of employment from risks resulting from
factors adverse to their health; and  

• The placing and maintenance of workers in an occupational environment adapted to

their physical and mental capacities.

ROLE OF SAFETY OFFICER:

 supporting the development of OHS policies and programs

 Advising and instructing on various safety-related topics (noise levels, use of
machinery etc.)
 Conducting risk assessment and enforcing preventative measures
 Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Control (HIRAC)

Health hazards usually affect a person’s health and bring about delayed results. For
example, a person working in the coal mines is at an increased health risk of developing
lung related diseases in the future. Safety is slightly different in this regard.

Safety hazards increase the risk level to which a person is exposed and can bring
about immediate effects if not dealt with properly. An example can be of a construction
worker falling from the ladder and injuring his skull since he did not use the advised
safety helmet.

“The unsafe act is a violation of an accepted safe procedure which could permit the
occurrence of an accident.”

 80% of all injuries on duty are the result of unsafe Acts by people.

 More difficult to reduce as they revolve around people and what they do.

 Will never be entirely cured by training or motivation ie How about the person
who has a dizzy spell and collapses onto unguarded drive sprockets?

Some examples of unsafe acts are:

 Speed – operating a machine at a speed it is not designed to run at.

 Working without authority – entering a confined space before it has been

declared safe.

 Adjusting moving machinery – lubricating bearings or changing the drive belts

while the machine is still running.

 Chance taking – Running in front of a fork lift

 PPE not worn – not wearing safety goggles when grinding.

 “The unsafe condition is a hazardous physical condition or circumstance which could
directly permit the occurrence of an accident.”

 Poor guarding – inadequate or inefficient

 Defective Conditions – hand tools, equipment, substances
 Poor Layout – work flow, overcrowding and congestion
 Substandard housekeeping. (A place for everything and everything in its place
always). Eg Waste bins, Aisles, Storage, signs & notices
 Loud noise – can’t hear instructions etc
 Inadequate illumination or ventilation – can’t see clearly or breathe properly

Safety hazards are unsafe working conditions that can cause injury, illness, and death.
Spills on floors or tripping hazards, such as blocked aisles or cords running across the
floor. Working from heights, including ladders, scaffolds, roofs, or any raised work area.
Unguarded machinery and moving machinery parts; guards removed or moving parts
that a worker can accidentally touch.

HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION:

 Poor housekeeping can be a cause of incidents, such as:

 tripping over loose objects on floors, stairs and platforms

 being hit by falling objects
 slipping on greasy, wet or dirty surfaces
 striking against projecting, poorly stacked items or misplaced material
 cutting, puncturing, or tearing the skin of hands or other parts of the body on
projecting nails, wire or steel strapping

To avoid these hazards, a workplace must "maintain" order throughout a workday.

Although this effort requires a great deal of management and planning, the benefits are
many.

Fire hazards are workplace hazards that either involve the presence of a flame,
increase the probability that an uncontrolled fire will occur, or increase the severity of a
fire should one occur.
Fire hazards include:

 Flames
 Sparks
 Hot objects
 Flammable chemicals
 Chemicals accelerants, which can increase a fire’s rate of spread

An electrical hazard is a dangerous condition where a worker can or does make

electrical contact with energized equipment or a conductor.  From that contact, the
person may sustain an injury from shock, and there is a potential for the worker to
receive an arc flash (electrical explosion) burn, thermal burn or blast injury.

 Poor Wiring and Defective Electric Wires:

 Outlets Close to Water
 Covered Electrical Cords and Wires
 Wet Hands

A machine hazard occurs at the point of operation where the actual work is performed,
and can be created by: components which transmit energy, such as pulleys, belts,
chains, gears, couplings, or flywheels; or. other parts which move while the machine is
working, including reciprocating, rotating, and transverse parts.

 Crushing
 Shearing
 Cutting or severing
 Entanglement

Improper handling and storing of materials can result in damage to

the materials being moved, damage to the facility, and employee injuries.

Health hazards are chemical, physical or biological factors in our environment that can
have negative impacts on our short- or long-term health. Exposure can occur through
touch, inhalation, and ingestion. Understanding the risks of these hazards can help us
to take action to avoid or mitigate these risks.

Biological health hazards include bacteria, viruses, parasites and moulds or fungi.
They can pose a threat to human health when they are inhaled, eaten or come in
contact with skin. They can cause illness such as food poisoning, tetanus, respiratory
infections or parasite infection. We provide expertise and resources on monitoring and
controlling biological hazards that are transmitted through food, air or water.

Chemical hazards can cause acute or chronic negative health effects from short- or
long-term exposure. These chemicals are found in outdoor environments, as well as
indoor environments including the home, workplace and schools. Health effects can
range from skin and eye irritation to cancer and chronic diseases affecting the heart,
lung, brain and other organs. We provide expertise and resources on measuring,
monitoring and addressing chemical hazards.

Physical hazards include noise, temperature, vibration and radiation. Exposure to

these hazards can be short- or long-term and can occur at home, school, work and in
the community. We provide expertise to help assess, monitor and address the risk of
physical hazards.
Ergonomic hazards are physical factors in the environment that may cause
musculoskeletal injuries.  This includes repetition, awkward posture, forceful motion,
stationary position, direct pressure, vibration, extreme temperature, noise, and work
stress.

What is a hazard?

The meaning of the word hazard can be confusing. Often dictionaries do not give
specific definitions or combine it with the term "risk". For example, one dictionary
defines hazard as "a danger or risk" which helps explain why many people use the
terms interchangeably.

There are many definitions for hazard but the most common definition when talking
about workplace health and safety is:

A hazard is any source of potential damage, harm or adverse health effects on

something or someone.

Basically, a hazard is the potential for harm or an adverse effect (for example, to people
as health effects, to organizations as property or equipment losses, or to the
environment).

Sometimes the resulting harm is referred to as the hazard instead of the actual source
of the hazard. For example, the disease tuberculosis (TB) might be called a "hazard" by
some but, in general, the TB-causing bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) would be
considered the "hazard" or "hazardous biological agent".

What are examples of a hazard?

Workplace hazards can come from a wide range of sources. General examples include
any substance, material, process, practice, etc. that has the ability to cause harm or
adverse health effect to a person or property. See Table 1.

Table 1
Examples of Hazards and Their Effects
Workplace HazardExample of Hazard Example of Harm Caused
Thing Knife Cut
Substance Benzene Leukemia
Material Mycobacterium tuberculosisTuberculosis
Source of Energy Electricity Shock, electrocution
Condition Wet floor Slips, falls
Process Welding Metal fume fever
Practice Hard rock mining Silicosis
Behaviour Bullying Anxiety, fear, depression

Workplace hazards also include practices or conditions that release uncontrolled energy
like:

 an object that could fall from a height (potential or gravitational energy),

 a run-away chemical reaction (chemical energy),
 the release of compressed gas or steam (pressure; high temperature),
 entanglement of hair or clothing in rotating equipment (kinetic energy), or
 contact with electrodes of a battery or capacitor (electrical energy).

What is risk?

Risk is the chance or probability that a person will be harmed or experience an adverse
health effect if exposed to a hazard. It may also apply to situations with property or
equipment loss, or harmful effects on the environment.

For example: the risk of developing cancer from smoking cigarettes could be expressed
as:
  "cigarette smokers are 12 times (for example) more likely to die of lung cancer
than non-smokers", or
 "the number per 100,000 smokers who will develop lung cancer" (actual number
depends on factors such as their age and how many years they have been
smoking).

These risks are expressed as a probability or likelihood of developing a disease or

getting injured, whereas hazard refers to the agent responsible (i.e. smoking).

Factors that influence the degree or likelihood of risk are:

 the nature of the exposure: how much a person is exposed to a hazardous thing
or condition (e.g., several times a day or once a year),
 how the person is exposed (e.g., breathing in a vapour, skin contact), and
 the severity of the effect. For example, one substance may cause skin cancer,
while another may cause skin irritation. Cancer is a much more serious effect
than irritation.

What is a risk assessment?

Risk assessment is the process where you:

 Identify hazards and risk factors that have the potential to cause harm (hazard
identification).
 Analyze and evaluate the risk associated with that hazard (risk analysis, and risk
evaluation).
  Determine appropriate ways to eliminate the hazard, or control the risk when the
hazard cannot be eliminated (risk control).

The OSH Answers document on Risk Assessment has details on how to conduct an

assessment and establish priorities.

Are there other terms used to describe these processes?

It is common to see the process of identifying hazards and assessing the corresponding
risk to be described in various ways, including “hazard assessment”, “hazard and risk
assessment”, “all hazards risk assessment”, etc.

Regardless of the terminology used, the critical steps are to make sure the workplace
has taken a systematic approach that looks for any hazards (existing or potential), has
take appropriate steps to determine the level of risk of these hazards, and then taken
measures to control the risk or eliminate the hazard.

Documentation from CCOHS will use the terms “hazard identification ” and “risk
assessment ” to describe the process of first looking for hazards, then determining the
level of risk from that hazard. Hazard control describes the steps that can be taken to
protect workers and the workplace.

What is an adverse health effect?

A general definition of adverse health effect is "any change in body function or the
structures of cells that can lead to disease or health problems".

Adverse health effects include:

 bodily injury,
 disease,
 change in the way the body functions, grows, or develops,
 effects on a developing fetus (teratogenic effects, fetotoxic effects),
 effects on children, grandchildren, etc. (inheritable genetic effects)
 decrease in life span,
 change in mental condition resulting from stress, traumatic experiences,
exposure to solvents, and so on, and
 effects on the ability to accommodate additional stress.