The 6 Types of Workplace Hazards & Identifying Them

It’s easy to limit our understanding of workplace hazards to the hazards faced by construction workers, manufacturers and heavy machinery operators. But loose wires, unguarded machinery and debris don’t begin to cover the variety of hazards workers in all industries encounter. From healthcare workers to teachers and restaurant servers, we all face workplace hazards—some more uncommon than others.

As we run through an overview of the six types of workplace hazards, keep an eye out for the ones most likely to affect you and your organization. After covering all six, we’ll discuss strategies for mitigating them.

Safety hazards?

When we think of workplace hazards, safety hazards are often the first to come to mind. These are tangible workplace conditions—substances, obstacles and environmental factors—that create an unsafe working environment.

These hazards are most likely to affect workers in high-risk industries like construction, manufacturing, agriculture and forestry—and those who work with machinery, like service and maintenance personnel, heavy machinery operators and utility workers.

Safety hazards include spills, obstacles, heights, tools, unguarded machinery, electricity and confined spaces.

Physical hazards?

Physical hazards are similar to safety hazards in that they’re workplace conditions that create an unsafe working environment, but physical hazards can harm the body without touching it. They’re most likely to affect people who work in construction, open air jobs (agriculture, forestry, hunting, etc.), smelting, steel mills, mining and radiology departments.

Common physical hazards can include noise, vibration, extreme temperatures and radiation.?

Ergonomic hazards?

Ergonomic hazards can cause musculoskeletal injuries—injuries that affect our muscles, joints, bones and connective tissue.

They have the capacity to affect anybody in the labor force — for example, those who perform manual handling tasks (i.e., lifting, pushing, lowering, carrying or moving objects), those who work under excessive force, pressure or vibration and those with poor posture or poor workstation setups.

Unlike other hazards, ergonomic hazards can be difficult to identify because their effects may not be noticed for a long time—and even then, it may be hard to figure out where the discomfort or pain is coming from.

Psychosocial hazards?

Psychosocial hazards are workplace stressors that cause mental tension or anxiety. These hazards can affect anyone in the workforce—after all, whether we work remote or in-office, alone or as part of a team, we all interact regularly with other people.

Psychosocial hazards might include a lack of respect, flexibility or social support. They might also include excessive workload demands. Hazards like these can lead to short or long-term stress, tension and low morale. Not only are these effects harmful in themselves—they can also make workers more likely to lose focus, experience fatigue and make mistakes in the workplace.

Chemical hazards?

Chemical hazards are hazardous substances in any form—solid, liquid or gas.

Chemical hazards might include gasoline, cleaning products, solvents, vapors and fumes, carbon monoxide, paint, acids, pesticides, propane, bleach, chlorine and asbestos. They can cause skin irritation, illness, breathing problems and, in rare cases, death.

Biological hazards?

Biological hazards are dangerous substances with a biological origin. They most often affect hospital workers, lab workers, medical workers, vet clinic workers, food processing workers and workers in natural environments. They can cause sudden and long-term adverse effects on human health.

Biological hazards might include blood and other bodily fluids, insects, sewage, animal waste, bacteria, mold, viruses or plants.

Can awareness and training help control workplace hazards?

Both awareness and training are excellent ways to control and mitigate workplace hazards. Through comprehensive, regular safety training, organizations can teach workers how to identify, report and control hazards.

It’s important to remember, however, that for training to be successful, it must be regularly repeated and reviewed. At Evotix, we’re proponents of microlearning: reviewing newly learned knowledge at regular intervals has been shown to improve engagement and retention.

What type of hazard should I be most concerned about????

While it’s true that some hazards are more dangerous than others, organizations shouldn’t choose which hazards to prepare for based on their category. Instead, organizations should consider whether a hazard has serious injury/fatality (SIF) potential.

An incident can be said to have a?SIF potential when it could have reasonably resulted in a serious injury or fatality had any of the circumstances or safety measures changed. If organizations can determine which hazards are most likely to lead to SIFs, they can prioritize mitigating those hazards.

How can a software solution help???

Among a host of other benefits, implementing a software solution to manage health and safety can help you to control workplace hazards.

In particular, software solutions with mobile functions can help boost hazard reporting by making it faster, easier and more convenient for workers to submit a report. Instead of taking the extra time to fill out and submit a physical form, workers can use software to report hazards when they’re spotted.

To learn more about how to choose a software solution for your team, check out our blog, 10 Key Steps When Choosing Software.