A health hazard is any substance, condition, or activity that can hurt human short-term or long-term health, including chemical, physical, and biological factors in the environment. Exposure to most of these hazards can happen through various routes, like inhalation, skin contact, or ingestion.
Types of Health Hazards:
Chemical Hazards: These involve substances that can cause harm due to their chemical properties. Examples include solvents, pesticides, and toxic dusts.
Physical Hazards: These are environmental factors that can cause injury or illness. Examples include noise, radiation, extreme temperatures, and ergonomic issues like repetitive motions.
Biological Hazards: These involve living organisms or their byproducts that can cause disease. Examples include bacteria, viruses, fungi, and toxins.
Ergonomic Hazards: These relate to the design of workplaces and tasks, and can lead to musculoskeletal disorders if not properly addressed. Examples include poor posture, repetitive tasks, and heavy lifting.
Psychosocial Hazards: These involve stressors in the workplace that can negatively affect mental health. Examples include stress, fatigue, bullying, and workload demands.
The presence of these health hazards in workplaces necessitates the use of mitigation and elimination techniques, such as implementing the hierarchy of hazard controls and performing planned maintenance.
Similar Glossary Terms
- GHS Hazard Pictograms
- Acute Toxicity
- HAZCOM
- Safety Data Sheets (SDS)
- GHS
- Environmental Hazard
- Chemical Safety
- Chemical Burn
- Corrosive Symbol
