Hazard & Risk
Hai there!
Do you often hear what is hazard and what is risk ?
Is it both of them are similar in meaning ?
Of course it is NOT !
So , today i will explain more detail about the RISK and HAZARD . After that , you must be much well known about the importance of safety training among workers .
Fortunately , you are allowed to join Masma Safety website for additional information related to safety training or hazard risk assessment training at www.masmasafety.com.my
Okay shall we begin with HAZARD ?
The meaning of the word hazard can be confusing. Often dictionaries do not give specific definitions or combine it with the term "risk". For example, one dictionary defines hazard as "a danger or risk" which helps explain why many people use the terms interchangeably.
There are many definitions for hazard but the more common definition when talking about workplace health and safety is:
A hazard is any source of potential damage, harm or adverse health effects on something or someone under certain conditions at work.
Basically, a hazard can cause harm or adverse effects (to individuals as health effects or to organizations as property or equipment losses).
Sometimes a hazard is referred to as being the actual harm or the health effect it caused rather than the hazard. For example, the disease tuberculosis (TB) might be called a hazard by some but in general the TB-causing bacteria would be considered the "hazard" or "hazardous biological agent".
What are the examples of Hazard ?
Workplace hazards can come from a wide range of sources. General examples include any substance, material, process, practice, etc that has the ability to cause harm or adverse health effect to a person under certain conditions. See Table 1.
As shown in Table 1, workplace hazards also include practices or conditions that release uncontrolled energy like:
an object that could fall from a height (potential or gravitational energy),
a run-away chemical reaction (chemical energy),
the release of compressed gas or steam (pressure; high temperature),
entanglement of hair or clothing in rotating equipment (kinetic energy), or
contact with electrodes of a battery or capacitor (electrical energy).
Now , we will continue by discussing about RISK .
Risk is the chance or probability that a person will be harmed or experience an adverse health effect if exposed to a hazard. It may also apply to situations with property or equipment loss.
For example: The risk of developing cancer from smoking cigarettes could be expressed as "cigarette smokers are 12 times (for example) more likely to die of lung cancer than non-smokers". Another way of reporting risk is "a certain number, "Y", of smokers per 100,000 smokers will likely develop lung cancer" (depending on their age and how many years they have been smoking). These risks are expressed as a probability or likelihood of developing a disease or getting injured, whereas hazards refer to the possible consequences (e.g., lung cancer, emphysema and heart disease from cigarette smoking).
Factors that influence the degree of risk include:
how much a person is exposed to a hazardous thing or condition,
how the person is exposed (e.g., breathing in a vapour, skin contact), and
how severe are the effects under the conditions of exposure.
That's all my sharing for today. You will learn more by joining our safety training program. Please do come visit our website for more information and check out our latest available program. Do not waste this opportunity .
