07. Common Hazards 5-10

Question 1

Electricity refers to

Answer 1

the energy made available by the flow of electric charge through a conductor.

Question 2

There are five major harms associated with the hazard of electricity:

Answer 2

Burns From contact with a live conductor. NB mains electricity (230V AC) can kill. Shock Arcing Arcing occurs when electricity flows through the air from one conductor to another. Arcing may cause burns or shock if a person is the second conductor or is close to the arc. Arcing produces intense heat which may cause a fire or explosion. Fire and Electricity could be the source of ignition in a potentially flammable or explosive atmosphere. Explosion

Question 3

There are many things that can be done to manage the risks from electrical equipment in the workplace: 5

Answer 3

Ensure that the electrical installation is safe Provide safe and suitable equipment Reduce the voltage Provide a safety device Carry out preventative maintenance

Question 4

Most electrical accidents occur because people are working on or near equipment that is: 2

Answer 4

thought to be dead but which is live; or known to be live but those involved do not have adequate training or n appropriate equipment, or they have not taken adequate precautions.

Question 5

Fire safety is managed through a process of risk assessment and management. A fire safety management system will typically have three lines of defence:

Answer 5

Fire prevention – measures to prevent fires starting in the first place; Fire protection – measures to protect people, the premises and contents from the effects of fire; and Emergency evacuation – systems to facilitate safe escape from a fire.

Question 6

Fire prevention Fire prevention measures look to eliminate, reduce, or effectively manage sources of: 11

Answer 6

Fuel: Combustible fixtures fittings and stored goods Highly flammable or explosive substances e.g. LPG Heat energy: Hot work Friction from mechanical parts Exothermic chemical reactions Lighting Electrical equipment Smokers materials Arson Oxygen: Oxidising chemicals Oxygen in cylinders

Question 7

Housekeeping is not just about cleanliness. It also includes: 4

Answer 7

keeping work areas neat and tidy; keeping walkways free of slip and trip hazards; keeping fire escape routes free of obstructions; and removing of waste materials (e.g., paper, cardboard) and other fire hazards from work areas.

Question 8

The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations requires that: 3

Answer 8

a) Workplace floors be kept free from obstructions and from any article or substance that may cause a person to slip, trip or fall; b) walls, floors, furniture and fittings be kept clean; and that c) waste materials are not allowed to accumulate in a workplace except in suitable receptacles.

Question 9

Hazards from lighting effects 6

Answer 9

GlareColour effects Stroboscopic effects FlickerVeiling reflections Radiation

Question 10

Manual handling is defined as:

Answer 10

“the transporting or supporting of loads by hand or by bodily force”

Question 11

The Manual Handling Operations (MHO) Regulations require employers to: 3

Answer 11

avoid the need for hazardous manual handling, so far as is reasonably practicable; assess the risk of injury from any hazardous manual handling that can’t be avoided; and reduce the risk of injury from hazardous manual handling, so far as is reasonably practicable.

Question 12

A Manual handling risk assessment considers risk factors associated with 4

Answer 12

the Task, the Individual, the Load, and the Environment (remember TILE)

Question 13

The decibel scale is logarithmic in nature. This means that

Answer 13

a 10dB increase is actually 10x louder, so 80dB is 10x louder than 70dB; and a 3dB increase is a doubling in loudness so 73dB is twice as loud as 70dB.

Question 14

Permanent hearing damage can be caused in two ways:

Answer 14

Sudden, extremely loud, explosive noises, e.g. from cartridge-operated machines can cause immediate permanent damage. This is often referred to as blast deafness or acoustic trauma. Usually hearing loss occurs gradually because of prolonged exposure to noise. It may only be when damage caused by noise over the years combines with hearing loss due to ageing that people realise how deaf they have become. Tinnitus (ringing, whistling, buzzing or humming in the ears), may also be caused as a result of exposure to workplace noise.

Question 15

Noise Action Levels Lower exposure action value

Answer 15

80 dB(A) Provide information and training Make hearing protection available

Question 16

Noise Action Levels Upper exposure action value

Answer 16

85 dB(A) Take reasonably practicable measures to reduce noise exposure (engineering controls / technical measures Provision of mandatory hearing protection pending engineering controls and, where necessary, after engineering controls

Question 17

Noise Action Levels Exposure limit value

Answer 17

87 dB(A) This level must not be exceeded, taking hearing protection into account

Question 18

Control Measures Noise control strategies involve

Answer 18

controls at the source, the pathway and at the receiver.

Question 19

Control the noise at source 4

Answer 19

Replace the machine with one with lower noise emissions; Move the machine to an area with fewer employees; Ensure the machine is being properly maintained; and Modify parts of the machine, e.g. by replacing components with ones designed to operate more quietly: Isolate panels or add damping materials to them; Isolate the machine from the building with isolation mounts or isolated foundations; and Fit appropriate silencers to air inlets and exhausts.

Question 20

Control the path of the noise 4

Answer 20

Fit a suitably designed enclosure around a machine if it does not require ‘hands on’ operation; Provide a noise haven for employees supervising the operation of large machines where enclosing the whole machine would be difficult; Erect barriers or screens between different elements in the production process, separating quiet operations from noisy ones; and Add absorptive materials to the building to reduce reverberant noise (echoes).

Question 21

Control noise at the receiver 3

Answer 21

Positioning Position the worker further away from the source of noise (Doubling the distance can reduce the effect of the noise by 3 to 6 dB). Noise energy diminishes in accordance with the inverse square rule. Time With the exception of very loud noises (130dB+) it is the accumulated dose that causes hearing loss. Halving the time exposed will reduce the dose received by half (3dB). Personal Hearing Protection Personal hearing protection (PHP) should be provided quickly on discovering a risk to health due to noise. It is not an alternative to technical and organisational noise controls but a means of managing the immediate risk pending the development of other control measures. Longer term, it should be used where there is for additional protection beyond what has been achieved through noise control.