There is a likelihood for employees and entrepreneurs to underestimate the number of occupational hazards occurring around the world and how they affect workers' health and organisational productivity.
A joint report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that about 2 million people died from work-related causes in 2016.
A more recent report from United Nations Global Impact shows approximately 2.7 million people die annually from work-related causes, exceeding the average annual deaths caused by violence (563,000), HIV/AIDS (312,000), road accidents (999,000) and war (502,000), respectively.
Although accidents cannot be completely avoided, their incidence can be minimised if attention is paid to preventing them rather than responding to every incident.
Even in working environments where occupational accidents are rare, a single occurrence could be severely catastrophic and attract unwanted scrutiny to the organisation concerned.
Accordingly, this article outlines the impact of occupational hazards on organisations, types of occupational hazards and 8 tips that can help you enhance occupational safety in your organisation.
What are occupational hazards?
Occupational hazards are working conditions that increase employees' risk of illness, death or disability. It is noteworthy that occupational hazards may not necessarily be instant, disastrous occurrences as some workplace conditions may expose employees to long-term health issues.
How occupational hazards can affect your organisation
1. Poor safety performance ratings
2. Reduced productivity resulting from lost time and safety concerns among employees
3. Difficulty in attracting and retaining talents
4. Dealing with unwanted legal issues relating to safety and accidents
5. Damage to reputation and brand
6. Paying expensive compensations to employees
7. Difficulty in attracting new contracts and clients
Types of occupational hazards
Occupational hazards can be grouped as follows:
1. Physical hazards: These are hazards that can have adverse bodily effects, even without bodily contact. They include prolonged exposure to the sun, radiation, extreme temperatures, vibrations and noise.
2. Chemical hazards: These are hazards that result from exposure to chemicals. They are common in manufacturing companies and industries that produce fumes and wastes in the form of gas, vapours and chemicals like pesticides and acids. They mostly result in serious, long-term health issues, including organ failure and heart disease.
3. Biological hazards: This refers to exposure to biological substances that pose health risks, including viruses, fungi, insect bites, animal droppings, blood, mucus, bacteria and other micro-organisms.
4. Emotional and psychosocial hazards: They result from toxic social interactions in the workplace with negative effects on collaboration, self-esteem and efficiency. They may assume the form of sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination, preferential treatment and other demeaning or derogatory practices.
5. Others: Falls from heights; slips and trips; spills on floors; amputation caused by machinery with moving parts; confined spaces; fire outbreak; falls from steep stairs and exposure to electrical wiring.
How to prevent occupational hazards
1. Risk identification
Carry out regular checks on mechanical and electrical equipment and fix whatever can potentially harm workers. Also, assess the working environment for other defects and practices that can jeopardise the health and lives of employees.
2. Minimize noise pollution
Frequent exposure to extremely loud noise or sounds emanating from the working environment endangers the health of workers.
Hearing defects may occur as a result of prolonged exposure to extremely loud sounds. Therefore, noise should be reduced to the barest minimum at work. Employers are advised to provide protective gear for workers.
3. Conduct regular drills
You may not be able to prevent all kinds of occurrences. But you can simulate certain incidents and prepare workers for emergencies. Regular drills provide employees with a rule of thumb to survive disasters.
4. Prioritize employee safety
In order to meet deadlines and targets or outperform other employees, workers may engage in risky behaviour. It is the responsibility of employers to give primacy to the safety of employees and discourage risky practices in the workplace. Productivity should be enhanced through innovative and creative ideas, not unhealthy, risky practices.
5. Provide PPE
Employers should provide employees with relevant personal protective equipment – goggles, gloves, safety shoes, helmets and ear coverings. Using them should equally be made compulsory and backed by policies and penalties. Emphasise their importance during hiring and meetings. Also, adequately train employees to use them appropriately.
6. Avoid understaffing
Understaffed companies have a high probability of experiencing occupational accidents because overwhelmed employees are less alert and more prone to frequent fatigue and stress.
In addition to preparing fertile ground for occupational hazards, overworking employees negatively affects productivity and motivation.
7. Conduct physical and mental screening
Sometimes, employees are not physically and mentally fit to undertake certain jobs. Some jobs require much physical strength while others require employees to be highly calculative.
Mistakes emerging from these types of jobs may endanger the health of workers and others. For these reasons, there may be a need to examine the medical history, vision and hearing capabilities of employees. A pull-and-push strength test is also recommended for jobs that involve pulling and pushing.
8. Provide safety training
Several measures can be put in place to provide a safe working environment for employees. Provide training to employees to make them safety-conscious.
It’s advisable that employers recruit qualified safety personnel to help draft and review safety policies and procedures, train employees and conduct regular safety inspections.
If this gap exists in your organisation, consider taking the accredited courses below to boost your career as an employee or make your company an attractive workplace as an employer, as well as avoid putting your organisation in the limelight for the wrong reason.
