Are You Aware of These 7 Types of Workplace Safety Hazards?
Safety hazards exist in every workplace, but how do you know which ones have the most potential to harm workers? By identifying hazards at your workplace, you will be better prepared to control or eliminate them and prevent accidents, injuries, property damage, and downtime.
First of all, a key step in any safety protocol is to conduct a thorough safety hazard assessment of all types of environments and equipment. Before getting started with the list below, we encourage you to download a copy of our hazard assessment Guide. You can walk through the steps necessary to assess your workplace safety hazards and print out our supplied blank worksheet for your own assessment.
Download our free Hazard Assessment Guide below:
In a safety hazard and risk assessment, it is important to be as thorough as possible because after all, you can’t protect your workers against hazards you are unaware of and unprepared for. Avoid blind spots in your workplace safety procedures by taking into consideration these 6 types of workplace hazards.
What defines a hazard?
According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), a hazard, within the context of workplace health and safety, is “any source of potential damage, harm or adverse health effects on something or someone.” They go on to say that a hazard can include the potential for harm or adverse effect such as to people as health effects, to organizations as property or equipment losses, or to the environment.”
There are general occupational safety hazards such as slips, trips, and falls, however, as you’ll read further, it is up to the employer to conduct regular hazards assessments to identify its own unique hazards and risks.
Hazards and risks
So what’s the difference between safety hazards and safety risks?
What are hazards? A hazard is any source of potential damage, harm, or adverse health effects on something or someone. The CCOHS says, “risk is the chance or probability that a person will be harmed or experience an adverse health effect if exposed to a hazard.”
What are risks? Risks are described as a “probability or likelihood of developing a disease or getting injured, whereas hazard refers to the agent responsible.”
How do we categorize hazards?
Regardless of where you work or which industry you are in, workplace hazards can be categorized into seven sections, making them easier to mitigate and to stay organized when tackling them.
No matter what hazards your team may be facing, they will fall into one of the categories below and we will show you how to identify and mitigate them as a result.
What are 7 common workplace hazards?
The 7 common workplace hazards are:
Safety hazards
Chemical hazards
Work organization hazards
Environmental hazards
1. Safety hazards
Safety hazards are number one on the list of 6 types of workplace hazards. These hazards play an effect on employees who work directly with machinery or on construction sites. Safety hazards are unsafe working conditions that can cause injury, illness, and death. According to the National Safety Council, in 2016, 34,673 people in North America have died in falls at home and at work. Safety hazards are the most common workplace risks. They include:
Anything that can cause spills or trips, such as cords running across the floor or ice
Anything that can cause falls, such as working from heights, including ladders, scaffolds, roofs, or any elevated work area.
Unguarded and moving machinery parts that a worker can accidentally touch.
Electrical hazards like frayed cords, missing ground pins, and improper wiring
Confined spaces.
2. Biological hazards
The definition of biological hazards, commonly known as biohazards, can be any biological substance that could cause harm to humans. Biological hazards include exposure to harm or disease from working with animals, people, or infectious plant materials. Workplaces with these kinds of safety hazards include, but are not limited to, work in schools, daycare facilities, colleges and universities, hospitals, laboratories, emergency response, nursing homes, or various outdoor occupations.
Types of things you may be exposed to for biological hazards:
Blood and other body fluids
Fungi/mold
Bacteria and viruses
Plants
Insect bites
Animal and bird droppings
To learn more about biological hazards, we dive deeper into our other blog articles:
3. Physical hazards
Of all the hazards in your workplace, physical hazards might be the least obvious. Despite their name, physical hazards aren’t always something that you can see or touch. Physical hazards affect workers in extreme weather conditions or harmful working environments. Workers who are exposed outside in the sun for a prolonged period of time can suffer physical hazards which can cause long-term effects to their health. Physical hazards can be any factors within the environment that can harm the body without necessarily touching it.
Physical hazards include:
Radiation: including ionizing and non-ionizing (EMF’s, microwaves, radio waves, etc.) materials
High exposure to sunlight/ultraviolet rays
Gases under pressure
Temperature extremes – hot and cold
Constant loud noise
Read more about physical hazards in our workplace hazard series.
4. Ergonomic hazards
Ergonomic safety hazards occur when the type of work, body positions, and working conditions put a strain on your body. They are the hardest to spot since you don’t always immediately notice the strain on your body or the harm that these hazards pose. Short-term exposure may result in “sore muscles” the next day or in the days following the strain, but extended exposure can result in serious long-term issues.
Ergonomic Hazards include:
Improperly adjusted workstations and chairs
Frequent lifting
Poor posture
Awkward movements, especially if they are repetitive
Having to use too much force, especially if you have to do it frequently
Excessive vibration
To learn more about ergonomic hazards, we dive deeper into our other blog articles:
5. Chemical hazards
Chemical hazards are present when a worker is exposed to any chemical preparation in the workplace in any form (solid, liquid or gas). Some are safer than others, but to some workers who are more sensitive to chemicals, even common solutions can cause illness, skin irritation, or breathing problems.
Chemical hazards can be present in the following:
Liquids like cleaning products, paints, acids, solvents – particularly if hazardous products are in an unlabeled container
Vapors and fumes that come from welding or exposure to solvents
Gases like acetylene, propane, carbon monoxide, helium, h2s gas
Hazardous products and flammable materials like gasoline, solvents, and explosive chemicals
Pesticides
6. Work organization hazards
Safety hazards or stressors that cause stress (short-term effects) and strain (long-term effects). These are hazards associated with workplace issues such as workload, lack of control and/or respect, etc.
Examples include:
Workload demands
Workplace violence
High intensity and/or pace
Respect (or lack thereof)
Flexibility
Control or say about things
Social support or relations
Sexual harassment
7. Environmental hazards
Last but definitely least are environmental hazards which are constantly changing with increasingly unpredictable – and extreme – weather and climate. The bad news is that they are mostly out of our control, but the good news is weather challenges and hazards are somewhat predictable with the change in seasons and advances in meteorology.
Examples include:
Extreme temperatures (dangerous heat and cold)
Extreme precipitation (rain and snow)
Dangerous levels of noise
Dangerous levels of radiation
Pollution (air and chemical)
Unstable infrastructure
Biological hazards
Violent members of the public
Dangerous animals
Conduct regular hazard assessments
Remember that these lists are non-exhaustive. When you are completing a workplace hazard assessment, take into account these six larger categories to think of factors that may affect your workers in their particular circumstances. Remember to download our Hazard Assessment Guide for when you are conducting your own hazard assessment of your workplace. You can download it directly on the form below:
Does your workplace have any people who may work alone or in isolation outside of visual or auditory contact from other workers? These "lone workers" have a unique set of risks and their workplace hazard assessment should be treated differently. If your workplace does have lone workers, call 1-888-WRK-ALNE or contact us by email for a specialized consultation regarding the safety of your lone workers. If you think your workplace may have people working alone, but are not sure on the exact work structure, check out this article on the definitions of lone workers.