The main purpose for organisations to establish a strong occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS) is to prevent work-related hazards and injuries from taking place. A key requirement for implementing the OHSMS in your organisation is the evaluation of risks and measuring their severity and frequency of recurrence. When you know the risks, potential hazards, and their nature, you can deploy the right measures and practices through your OHSMS, but for that, you need to define your specific occupational risks. An occupational risk is the possibility for workers to suffer an injury or any adverse health effects due to their exposure to hazardous substances or dangerous situations. There are many types of occupational risks.
5 Types of Occupational Risks that a Health and Management System Helps to Prevent
Physical Risks
Physical risks are typically the risks that workers face when they have inappropriate and unhygienic work conditions. Excessive heat, cold or humid, dark place, excessive noise, high or low air pressure, too much vibration, excessive height, presence of high volt electricity, lack of ventilation, dangerous radiation, etc. are some of the workplace conditions that pose severe health and safety risks for the workers. Most of these unfavourable conditions are seen in mining, construction, power generation, and heavy manufacturing industries.
Biological Risks
These are the risks that workers in the healthcare sector are mostly exposed to. These risks come from waste generated by hospitals and medical institutions and are extremely dangerous to the health of the workers. Medical waste, which includes blood samples, organs, and other biological specimens, are the perfect environment for microbes, bacteria, viruses, or fungi to grow and multiply. Hence, they can be easily transmitted to the workers in the sectors through various modes.
Chemical Risks
As the name suggests, these risks arise when workers are exposed to heavy chemicals which may be hazardous and toxic in nature. These risks are common in chemical manufacturing, plastic manufacturing, cement, asbestos, acid, and many other heavy material manufacturing industries. Chemical wastes may exist in solid, liquid, or gaseous states and they can get through the worker’s bodies through inhalation, absorption (through skin or eyes), and ingestion.
Accidental Hazards
These are sudden hazards or risks that any organisation can face anytime due to sheer negligence, natural calamities, disaster, or external influences. Some of the common risks are fire, building wreckage, electrical danger, mechanical failures, outburst of smoke or spillage, and infrastructure breakdown. These risks can be of any type and are hard to predict. The best ways to deal with accidental hazards include having an organised work environment, running periodic assessments of the workplaces, and having emergency plans for recovery.
Workplace Violence or Harassment
These are intentionally created risks that result from the tensions among the workers due to dissimilarity in views, origin, religion, race, sex, and languages. Apart from these, too much work pressure, extended work hours, partiality, or discrimination are some of the workplace conditions that directly create stress and affect the health of workers. All these can be easily prevented by communicating a code of official conduct and establishing a strict OHS policy that includes the punishment/charges for any act of violence or harassment.
Key Takeaway: Do You Need an OHSMS?
The occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS) is formed by considering the specific risks of your workplace. It promotes safety practices and preventive measures to control them. Therefore, an OHSMS is like a strong fence that protects your workers and improves their wellbeing.
The above risks are just a layout or glimpse of the overall risk scenario of the workplaces. There are many more, some of which can even cause fatalities! It is for this reason organisations must have an effective OHSMS that helps them to lay down a stringent OHS policy, raise awareness among the workers, carry out risk assessments, and prevent all types of potential risks.
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Also Read: Understanding the Role of Risk Management in Businesses
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