The category of occupational hazards refers to all the potential risks associated with working in a particular work field. They include physical, ergonomic, biological, and chemical dangers, with the injuries varying in severity from the very mild to the potentially life-threatening.
The type of hazards you’re more likely to be exposed to will naturally depend on the kind of job you’re doing as well. For example, if you work in manufacturing, you’re more likely to be exposed to dangerous substances or materials that will irritate your skin and eyes or cause severe damage to your organs;
if you work in an office, poor ergonomics can cause you to develop chronic damage to your bones and joints, while being a veterinarian exposes you to animal bites and zoonotic pathogens.
With that in mind, let’s have a look at some of the most common occupational hazards, what you can do to protect yourself against them, and what steps you need to take to recover if you become injured.
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Manual handling
Manual handling is a broad category of activities and tasks that include lifting, pushing, pulling, moving, carrying, and placing down loads of any kind, including objects, animals, or other people. Workers from very different environments can be involved in this type of work, from office employees to those operating in emergency medicine.
The law dictates that hazardous handling should be avoided as far as it is reasonably practicable and that a thorough assessment of risky handling operations that can’t be avoided must be completed.
Reducing the risk associated with manual handling should always be a top priority as well. If employers don’t take all these aspects into consideration, then they are failing in their duty of care towards you, and you are well within your rights to sue for compensation if you end up injured as a result of their negligence.
It is the responsibility and obligation of any employer to ensure you don’t handle loads that are too heavy so as to minimise the likelihood of injury as much as possible.
The layout of each procedure must be adequately and comprehensively designed to avoid unnecessary movement, and features such as chutes, pallet trucks, and automatic mechanisms must be introduced in order to make things more efficient.
Electrical safety
Electrical shock can occur if you work with electrical equipment or if you don’t but end up being exposed to old or damaged electrical wiring, get water on outlets, or interact with a faulty appliance. Electric shock should always be assessed by a physician, even if it is fairly mild.
The complications resulting from it can include irregular heartbeat, personality changes, anxiety, burns, respiratory arrest, and amnesia. In very serious cases, burns can occur, and you may also end up with bone fractures if you fall or are thrown as a result of the shock.
The most common cause of death in people who are hospitalized after electric shock is infection, with cardiac arrest and coma occurring as well.
The tests you will need may include an EKG to test your heart functions, blood tests to see the state of your muscle enzymes and determine if there are any internal injuries, as well as CT scans, MRI, or Z-rays to check for broken or dislocated joints. Treatment will depend on the type and severity of your injuries and can range from pain medication to surgical skin grafts in the case of extreme burns.
Dangerous substances
The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 is a UK Statutory Instrument, a piece of delegated legislation that states the typical requirements employers must follow in order to protect both their workers and the community from the threat of high-risk chemicals or materials. Many of these substances can be harmful to your health.
The category includes fumes, dust, gases, or other materials that can become aerosolised and end up inhaled, as well as liquids, gels, and powders that come into contact with your skin. Dangerous substances and microorganisms can cause infections and allergic reactions, and prolonged exposure may cause them to build up in your tissues and lead to chronic illness that significantly impacts your quality of life.
Proper equipment usage and employing preventive measures can ensure that none of these hazardous materials, whether they result from blood, waste, or manufacturing fumes, can impact your well-being. Some of the most dangerous materials an employee can interact with include radioactive substances and asbestos, both of which can cause irreparable damage even after very short exposure.
The latter is a leading cause of mesothelioma, an aggressive type of cancer that can occur as much as four decades following exposure to asbestos and has a five-year survival rate of roughly 12%.
Finding out what the hazards are, providing stringent control measures, educating employees about the risks, keeping all procedures in good working order, ensuring everyone has access to the proper equipment, guaranteeing health surveillance and monitoring, as well as having a plan for emergencies are among the measures all employers must take into account.
Stress
Work-related stress is unfortunately exceedingly common among workers of all ages, regardless of how long they’ve been employed. The effects of prolonged stress on the human psyche can range from anxiety and burnout to debilitating clinical depression.
The effects of stress can also make you feel physically ill by inducing tiredness, digestive issues, and chronic pain. It’s essential to tackle the problem as early as possible to prevent it from spiralling out of control. If you’ve been struggling under the weight of growing pressure and emotional stress, you need to reach out and talk to a therapist.
However, you should also address your concerns with someone from your workplace who could help, whether it’s a trade union representative, a manager, or a supervisor. Some of the policies in your work environment might need to be changed, and the only way to do that is to discuss the subject directly.
To sum up, many issues could occur in a work environment. It’s crucial to be aware of them and their effects, as well as what to do if you are directly affected by them.
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