Identifying Hazards and Exposure
No Hazard – No Exposure – No Accident
If a forklift is hazard-free or if there are no workers exposed to a forklift hazard, a forklift injury accident or non-jury incident cannot occur. So, it's important that competent persons are able to identify forklift hazards, and exposures to those hazards.
What is a Hazard?
OSHA defines a hazard as, "a danger which threatens physical harm to employees".
Expanding on that basic definition we can think of a hazard as an: "unsafe workplace condition or practice (danger) that could cause an injury or illness (harm) to employees."
It's important to know that before an injury accident can occur, two conditions must be met: a hazard and employee exposure to the hazard.
Hazards exist in two forms: surface-cause hazards and root-cause hazards.
- Surface-cause hazards: Hazards may be unique physical things (e.g., material, equipment, or environment), or workers (e.g., when hurried, distracted, or mentally/physically incapable).
- Root-cause hazards: Hazards may also exist as weaknesses in the safety management system (e.g., lack of or inadequate training, resources, supervision, or enforcement).
What is Exposure?
Exposure takes place in two ways: physical exposure and environmental exposure.
- Physical exposure refers to the physical interaction between a person and hazard in their surroundings that can cause injury. For example, an employee can be injured when getting a hand caught in equipment.
- Environmental exposure refers to the contact or interaction between individuals and substances or conditions in their environment that can affect their health or well-being. For example, an employee can suffer an injury or illness by excessive noise in the workplace.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
5-1. What conditions must be met before a forklift accident can occur?
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