Wednesday, September 24, 2008

HAZARD part III

In my previous posting Hazard Part I, I have given the definition of HAZARD. To refresh our understanding, I state again here, the definition of hazard. 
HAZARDS is anything that has potential to cause HARM to PEOPLE, ASSET, ENVRIONMENT and REPUTATION (PAER). 
HAZARDS can be classified as Safety or Health Hazards; it can be Continuous (inherited in the system) or Non-Continuous (due to system failure)
Hazards can be divided further as:
1. Obvious Hazards which is apparent to the senses
2. Concealed Hazards which is not-apparent to the senses
3. Developing Hazards which cannot be recognised immediately but will develop over time
4. Transient Hazards which is intermittent or temporary hazards
(Refer Queensland Risk Management Code Practice 2007 Supplement I)
But for the purpose of this posting and my next few postings I will touch on Hazards as a potential harm to people in term of their health. 
Health Hazards can be classified as :
1. Biological 2. Chemical 3. Ergonomics 4. Physical and 5. Psychosocial
To memorise it, you can use this  mnemonic: BioChemist Examine Plumbum Poisoning.
By using this classification, it will help you to Identify Health Hazards at your workplace systematically.
Hazards Identification is the first step to Health Risk Assessment (HRA). Amongst Safety Professional in Malaysia, this is commonly known as HIRARC - Hazard Identification,Risk Assessment and Risk Control. DOSH just released the Guideline on HIRARC which you can download here
or you can download HSE UK 5 steps to Risk assessment here. 
So in HRA, identify the health hazards at your workplace is the first and important task. After you have identified the hazards, you need to register it in Health Hazard Inventory (HHI). The concept is similar to CSDS/MSDS. In another word HHI of workplace is as CSDS to chemical. Health Hazards also need to be rating according to its consequences.
To be continue in next posting : Hazards Rating

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

can i know the example of obvious, concealed, developing and transient hazards?

Dr AINI BIN Hj. MURNI said...

Thanks for the questions:
1. Obvious : Unguarded machinery, building defects
2. Concealed : Electricity, high frequency noise
3. Developing : a worn tyre on a mobile crane
4. Transient: intermittent electrical or mechanical defect
Reference: Workplace Health & safety Queensland Hazard Odentification Supplement 1 : RISK MANAGEMENT CODE OF PRACTICE 2007