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Concept
Physical hazard
Summary
A physical hazard is an agent, factor or circumstance that can cause harm with contact. They can be classified as type of occupational hazard or environmental hazard. Physical hazards include ergonomic hazards, radiation, heat and cold stress, vibration hazards, and noise hazards. Engineering controls are often used to mitigate physical hazards.
Physical hazards are a common source of injuries in many industries. They are perhaps unavoidable in certain industries, such as construction and mining, but over time people have developed safety methods and procedures to manage the risks of physical danger in the workplace. Employment of children may pose special problems.
An engineering workshop specialising in the fabrication and welding of components has to follow the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at work regulations 1992. It is an employers duty to provide ‘all equipment (including clothing affording protection against the weather) which is intended to be worn or held by a person at work which protects him against one or more risks to his health and safety’. In a fabrication and welding workshop an employer would be required to provide face and eye protection, safety footwear, overalls and other necessary PPE.
Falls are a common cause of occupational injuries and fatalities, especially in construction, extraction, transportation, healthcare, and building cleaning and maintenance. Circumstances like floor holes and wall opening, misused fall protection, slippery, cluttered, or unstable walking surfaces, unprotected edges and unsafely situated ladders are associated with occupational fall injuries.
According to 2014 published data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 261,930 private industry and government workers lost one or more days of work and around 798 workers died as a result of fall injuries in the workplace. There was a general upward trend in fatal fall injuries which increased 25 percent overall from 2011 to 2016. For carpenters, heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, tree trimmers and pruners, and roofers, fall injuries increased by more than 25 percent in 2016.
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