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Health and Safety in the Workplace

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In busy workplaces like warehouses, factories, construction sites, and hospitals, employees can be put at risk for injury or illness just by doing their jobs. You might strain your back lifting heavy boxes, injure your lungs with exposure to toxic chemicals used in industrial cleaning, or develop a repetitive motion injury to your arm or wrist by working on the same assembly line for hours at a time.

тАЬWorkplace injuries can be either acute or chronic,тАЭ says Carisa Harris-Adamson, PhD, an assistant professor of environmental health sciences and deputy director of the Center of Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health. тАЬAcute injuries are from some sort of accident or sudden exposure, which we try to prevent through good safety measures. Chronic injuries result from cumulative exposures, which happen over time when the demands of a task you have to do over and over again ultimately put too much strain on your body.тАЭ

How can you protect yourself from injuries caused by your job? Every job has its own unique risks, experts say, but there are basic principles that can help keep you safe in any job. ItтАЩs called a тАЬhierarchy of controls,тАЭ and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) says it is the тАЬfundamental method of protecting workers.тАЭ

тАЬEmployers and employees are both responsible for worker health and safety,тАЭ says Martin Cohen, ScD, a teaching professor in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington School of Public Health. тАЬThe employer is responsible for providing a healthy and safe workplace, and the employee needs to take that seriously, understand the hazards they are exposed to, and work with their employer to minimize those hazards.тАЭ

Keep Yourself Safe

The hierarchy of controls starts with the most effective and protective methods at the top, working down to the ones that are less effective at the bottom. What should you ask for to keep yourself safe at your job?

Elimination. If thereтАЩs a way to eliminate the hazard, thatтАЩs the best way to ensure workplace safety. For example, if you work on a building construction site, are there jobs people are doing nine stories above ground that could actually be done on the ground, eliminating the risk of a fall?

Substitution. The next best thing to elimination, substitution means switching out the dangerous situation for something less dangerous. That could mean replacing a toxic chemical with a less toxic one, like paints that are тАЬlow VOC,тАЭ meaning they contain very low or no volatile organic compounds that can be hazardous to your health.

Engineering controls. If you canтАЩt eliminate the hazard or substitute something else, can you redesign the way the job works to lessen that hazard? If youтАЩre working at heights, that can mean installing guard rails and covering holes. If youтАЩre exposed to dust and fine particles from construction or cutting marble countertops, adding ventilation fans and ducting can help.

тАЬMany workplace injuries are the result of repetitive motion,тАЭ Cohen says. тАЬPeople performing the same task over and over again can develop chronic pain and musculoskeletal damage. To prevent this, redesign of the job may help, by changing how a workstation is set up or how the flow of a task works.тАЭ

Administrative controls. If the other solutions donтАЩt completely address the problem, administrative controls should also be put in place, like warning labels on dangerous machine parts, reducing the time a worker is exposed to a dangerous situation through things like regular breaks and job sharing, and providing training programs on how to safely operate machinery or lift heavy materials.

Personal protective equipment (PPE). You should always use PPE if any hazard is present. This can include respirators to lessen breathing in particulates and gases, ear protection when you are exposed to loud noises, and fall arrest systems if youтАЩre working high in the air.

тАЬIdeally, the different controls should all work together to help make a workplace as safe as possible,тАЭ Cohen says. тАЬAs an example, think of a worker who uses a loud circular saw all day. You can substitute a quieter saw if possible. You can put the worker in a soundproof area to control othersтАЩ exposure. You can adopt breaks so that the worker isnтАЩt constantly exposed to the noise. And then, of course, the worker still needs ear protection.тАЭ

тАЬWhile there are tricks and habits you can incorporate into your day to prevent injury, such as stabilizing your core, maintaining good posture, and holding heavy items close to your body so that you donтАЩt hurt your back when lifting, the most important thing is to minimize workersтАЩ exposure to risks as much as possible,тАЭ Harris-Adamson agrees.

Other tips for staying safe at work include:

  • DonтАЩt guess. If you donтАЩt know how to do a particular task, or how to operate a piece of equipment, make sure you get the right training first.
  • Keep it clean. Keeping your workspace neat, tidy, and free of clutter and spills makes falls and other injuries less likely.
  • Report immediately. If you see a dangerous situation, such as a defective piece of equipment, or you have a тАЬnear miss,тАЭ where an accident is narrowly avoided, let your employer know right away.
  • Be prepared. Be sure youтАЩre familiar with things like emergency exits and locations of first-aid kits and eyewash stations, and know your workplaceтАЩs policies for what to do in emergencies.

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