INTRODUCTION TO SAFETY AND HEALTH 1.

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SAFETY AND HEALTH 1
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MODULE 1

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Safety – is concerned with injury-causing situations. It centers around hazards
to humans that result from sudden, severe conditions.

Health - is concerned with disease – causing conditions. It deals with adverse

reactions to prolonged exposure to dangerous but less intense
hazards.

Hazard – substance, method or action by which damage or destruction can

happen to personnel, equipment, facilities, and/or the environment.

ENGINEERING CONTROLS, ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROLS, AND PERSONAL

PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

Industries use three methods to minimize or eliminate worker exposure to

hazards. These methods are listed below, beginning with the highest priority:

1) Engineering controls – controls that use technological and

engineering improvements to isolate, diminish or remove a hazard from
the workplace (ex: using a non-hazardous material in a process that will
work just as well as a hazardous material; placing a sound reducing
housing around a pump to muffle the noise it makes)

2) Administrative controls –also called as work practice control or

managerial control, this type is used if an engineering control cannot be
used to address a hazard. Administrative controls involve implementing
programs and activities to address a hazard. (ex: writing a procedure to
describe a safe material handling; limiting the amount of time a worker
is exposed to loud noises; training a worker on how to safely perform a
potentially dangerous activity; documenting how a worker should select
and properly wear PPE suited to a specific task.

3) Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – when engineering and

administrative controls are not adequate enough to protect workers,
PPE are used. PPE is specialized gear that provides a barrier between
hazards and the body. (ex: hearing protection; hard hats; flame-
retardant clothing; gloves and shoes)

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ACCIDENT VS INJURY VS ILLNESS

Accident – an unplanned, uncontrolled situation that results in injury to worker

or damage to equipment or facilities.

Injury – a wound or other condition of the body caused by external force.

Injuries at work are common caused by the ff:

• Vehicle accidents
• Falls
• Electricity
• Fire, smoke and explosions
• Exposure to chemical and biological hazards
• Impacts with objects
• Compression
• Temperature extremes
• Overexertion

Illness - a physiological harm or loss of capacity produced by systematic

infection; continued or repeated stress or strain; exposure to toxins, poisons,
and fumes; or other continued and repeated exposures to conditions of the
work environment over a period of time.

FACTORS THAT CAN AFFECT SAFETY

• Encountering a variety of hazards, and combination of hazards

including chemical, physical, biological, and/ or ergonomic

• Working in all types of weather, including extreme conditions

• Participating in a team environment, where everyone is responsible

for safety

• Using tools and lifting some heavy objects

• Working shift work in a facility that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days

per week