Safety Blog

An occupational hazard is a thing or situation with the potential to harm a worker. Occupational hazards can be divided into two categories: safety hazards that cause accidents that physically injure workers, and health hazards which result in the development of disease. It is important to note that a "hazard" only represents a potential to cause harm. Whether it actually does cause harm will depend on circumstances, such as the toxicity of the health hazard, exposure amount, and duration. Hazards can also be rated according to the severity of the harm they cause - a significant hazard being one with the potential to cause a critical injury or death.

Risk is the probability, or chance, that the hazard actually will harm someone. For example, crossing the Atlantic Ocean by plane or rowboat exposes the traveler to the same hazard of drowning, but the risk of drowning is immeasurably higher in the rowboat. It is the risk of drowning, not the hazard, that discourages people from rowing across the Atlantic. Here are some other basic examples of hazards and risks:

 

 

Removing occupational hazards is only one way of improving worker protection. Often, more practical is the control or management of the risks that hazards pose. In addition to the probability of a hazard causing harm, risk includes a consideration of the seriousness of the hazard.

The consequences of exposure to some hazards may be so harmful that, even if there is little chance of a worker being exposed, the risk is so great that extreme precautions must be taken to prevent even that small possibility.

There is a three-step process for dealing with workplace hazards:

1.      they must be recognized

2.      they must be assessed

3.      if necessary, they must be controlled

Recognition involves both identifying a hazard (potential to cause harm) and determining if there is a possibility (risk) of workers being affected by it. If there is such a possibility, it must be assessed and if it is found to be significant, the hazard must be controlled. Control can be applied at the source of the hazard, along the path between the source and the worker, or at the worker. Control at the source is preferred.

Legal requirements governing exposure to various safety hazards can be found in sector-specific regulations under the various provincial Health and Safety Acts.