All employees should understand the basics of hazard identification and reporting

Hazards are generally sorted into two broad categories:

• Health hazards
• Safety hazards ​

Safety hazards exist when a person is at risk of sustaining an injury because of an incident. Unlike health hazards that sometimes take months or even years to appear, safety hazards are usually associated with the potential for immediate injury. The severity of the injury can range from a near miss, which doesn’t result in an injury, minor injury, major injury, life-changing catastrophic injury, and even fatality. The six types of safety hazards include:

• Machine & Tool Hazards
• Energy Hazards
• Confined Spaces
• Material Handling
• Work Practice
• Working at Heights

 
Learn More about Hazard Identification Training.

Quick Recap
Part 1: Managing Health Hazards

Health hazards contribute to occupational illness and disease. They’re pervasive because they’re not clearly defined, sometimes unnoticeable, and workers may ignore warning signs or symptoms that are indicative of the presence of a potential health hazard.
 
The five health hazard categories are:

• Musculoskeletal/Ergonomic hazards
• Chemical hazards
• Biological hazards
• Physical hazards
• Psychosocial hazards

Managing Health Hazards

All employees should understand the basics of hazard identification and reporting

Machine & Tool Hazards

Machine and tool safety hazards encompass all the various hazards associated with operation. Hazards include:

•  Moving machine parts
• Improper tool use
• Circumnavigation or removal of machine guards
• Broken, faulty, or defective machines and tool

 
Potential injuries include ergonomic injuries, pinch and crush injuries, lacerations, partial or full amputation, burns, crush injuries, electrical shock, and death. 

Learn more about Machine Guarding Safety Training

Energy Hazards

Machine and tool safety hazards encompass all the various hazards associated with operation. Hazards include:

• Moving machine parts
• Improper tool use
• Circumnavigation or removal of machine guards
• Broken, faulty, or defective machines and tool

 
Potential injuries include ergonomic injuries, pinch and crush injuries, lacerations, partial or full amputation, burns, crush injuries, electrical shock, and death. 

Learn more about Lockout Training

Confined Space Hazards

Confined spaces are fully or partially enclosed spaces that are not both designed and constructed for human occupancy, and they’re spaces in which atmospheric hazards may occur. A space must meet satisfy each aspect of the definition to be considered a confined space. Confined Space safety hazards are extremely dangerous as they’re typically atmospheric and sometimes unrecognizable. Examples include:

• Toxic contaminants in the atmosphere
• Entry/exit issues
• Fires/explosion
• Poor lighting resulting in a slip, trip, or fall
• Working in extreme temperatures
• Loss of acceptable oxygen levels or entering atmospheres containing asphyxiants
• Collapse
• Performing a rescue creates various additional and/or new hazards

 
The potential for severe injury or death is quite high when working in a confined space. Workers must receive extensive training, including emergency response, confined space training, and training that is specific to the hazards they may encounter during the work before working in confined spaces.  

Material Hazards

Any movement at work can result in an injury if it is not done properly. Material handlining safety hazards are especially pervasive in the healthcare industry, where workers lift, move, and manipulate patients of varying sizes and ability to assist, and in manufacturing, where you tend to see workers on assembly lines performing the same actions over long periods. Some hazardous activities include:
 

• Lifting
• Pulling
• Carrying
• Twisting
• Pushing
• Using material handlining equipment improperly

 
There is a sub-set of safety hazards associated with manual material handling of hazardous substances. All the material handling risks apply with an added need for specific safety measures for safe handling. 

Work Practice Hazards

Work practice safety hazards refer to faults or failures within the Internal Responsibility System (IRS).  There are many hazards included under work practice, such as: 

• Failure to effectively plan safe work
• Failure to report
• Lack of training and/or legislative compliance
• Weak safety culture that supports unsafe work practices
• Failure to develop safe operating procedures (SOPs)
• Lack of training, ability, or failure to identify and control hazards
• Complacency
• Inaction to address reported hazards or deficiencies

Working at Heights

Working at heights refers to any work performed above or below grade where there is a risk of injury caused by a fall to a lower level. It is important to understand that even falls of a few feet can result in catastrophic injury or death. Hazards include:

•  Open, unguarded edges
• Working unprotected and/or unharnessed on roofs or scaffolds
• Unguarded mezzanines
• Working on a ladder, aerial work platform, or other mobile elevated work platform equipment

 
Like working in confined spaces, the potential for a severe injury or fatality goes up when working at heights, especially in the absence of proper training and a culture that supports reporting and proper PPE use.

JHSC and RACE

All employees should understand the basics of hazard identification and reporting.
 
To ensure that your JHSC members recognize potential health hazards in the workplace, they need to be RACE masters. That is, the need to be able to Recognize, Control, Assess, and Evaluate hazards and hazard controls.  JHSC certification training covers RACE in detail so that all certified members understand RACE and can apply it effectively in the workplace. ​

Learn All About RACE

Trust MidSouthWest Training and Consulting

Training is key when it comes to having an effective and efficient JHSC. 

MidSouthWest Training and Consulting provides JHSC training in association with Langlois Safety Training and Consulting Services, an approved CPO Provider. We offer in-house and on-site JHSC Part One, Part Two, and Refresher training. We also offer Hazard Identification Training. You can trust MidSouthWest Training and Consulting to provide you with cost-effective training solutions tailored to meet your organization’s unique health and safety needs. 

To learn more, contact us online or call 289.309.1143. Visit us 24/7 on the web at midsouthwest.ca.

​Last updated October 12, 2022