Categorizing Hazards

As you may be aware, working in a lab can be very dangerous.  Hazards have the capability of popping up out of nowhere, and this makes the lab a very dangerous place to work.  So, knowing that there is a plethora of hazards that can arise while in the lab, you may think to yourself if there is a way to classify or categorize hazards.  Well, that is what we will be discussing in this blog today.  first of all, what even is a hazard?  Well, according o the site http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hazard , a hazard is an unavoidable danger or risk, even though the hazard may be known and able to be pointed out.  Well, what is a risk defined as?  Not understanding the entire definition may give you a false understanding of what a hazard actually is.  According to the site http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/risk , a risk is the possibility of loss or injury.  So, now that we understand what a hazard can be defined as, how can these hazards be categorized?  Well, according to the site https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/hsprograms/hazard_risk.html , there are six different types of hazards.  These six types include biological hazards, chemical hazards, ergonomic hazards, physical hazards, psychosocial hazards and safety hazards.  Each of these six types or categories of hazards deals with a different thing or things.  Biological hazards refer to those hazards dealing with plants and animals, viruses, bacteria and humans.  So, if you hear of a hazard dealing with Chemical hazards are those hazards that have to do with the properties of the chemical, whether that be the chemical properties of the chemical or the physical properties of the chemical.  An ergonomics hazard can be described when something has repetitive movements or if there is a work station set up incorrectly.  A physical hazard can be those involving different pressures, radiation levels, and possibly even noise.  Hazards in the psychosocial category can be described as those hazards dealing with violence or stress.  The last category is a safety hazard.  Safety hazards are those that can be described or defined as a tripping or slipping hazard, possible malfunctions in any equipment as well as machinery that has not been guarded appropriately.  As you can see from the descriptions listed above, there are many different types of hazards that involve many different areas.  Yes, it is possible to have more than one hazard present in a lab at a time.  For example, if there are a lot of loud machines running, that are not properly guarded, that would be a noise hazard potentially if the noise is loud enough after being measured, as well as a safety hazard because the machinery does not have the correct machine guarding that is required.  It may seem difficult to know what a hazard is.  That is why using these six categories, you will be able to classify the hazards better and easier than before because you will know what types of things make a hazard belong to a certain category.  I hope this blog was helpful in providing information about different types, as well as how to categorize hazards.

OSHA Lab Standard vs. other OSHA Standards

In case you are unaware of what OSHA is, OSHA stands for Occupational Safety and Health Administration.  It is a part of the Department of Labor, and according to the site https://www.osha.gov/about.html , OSHA aims to create safe working environments by setting standards to create such conditions.  With this in mind, OSHA is not one simple standard.  In order to keep people safe they need a lot of different codes and standards for anything that could happen in the workplace that could be detrimental to someone's health and safety.  In this blog, we will be discussing how the OSHA Lab Standard compares to the other standards covered by OSHA.  When looking at the lab standard, you'll see that it looks very similar to the other OSHA standards you may have looked at.  There are many sub sections in the lab standard, just like the other standards, that describe what needs to be done in order to keep an environment in  the lab safe depending on what the section is.  What is the most common accident in a lab you think?  Well, according to the site https://www.dartmouth.edu/~chemlab/info/safety/hazards.html , the most common accident in a lab is cutting yourself on glass and the equipment used during lab.  Many accidents come to mind, but most likely you think about hazardous chemicals and how they can be spilled, mixed, stored improperly, and be hazardous to someone's health.  Well, there is a section in the OSHA lab standard that deals specifically about hazardous chemicals in the lab.  In this section, there are a lot of things discussed, like if a liquid is a combustible liquid, what the flashpoint of the chemical is which, according to the Lab Standard, is the temperature at which a liquid gives off a vapor that can ignite in air.  Another thing found in this section is a description of personal protective equipment and how to use it.  Another very important thing mentioned in this part of the standard is where it mentions the reactivity of chemicals and what chemicals do when they are exposed to other chemicals are certain environments.  This section is particularly important because if chemicals are not labeled correctly then you may not be aware what chemical you actually are using, thus you may mix substances that can have a dangerous outcome.  Another section in the Standard describes how to use equipment in the lab and the machines you may be using in lab.  This is very important because using machinery that you are unaware of can be dangerous not only to you but to others around you.  So, compared to other standards of OSHA, the lab standard is basically the same thing.  There are different sections in it that describe how to learn about specific things that you need to know in lab like chemicals, protective equipment and machinery.  I hope this blog was helpful in providing information about what exactly the OSHA Lab Standard is and what its contents are compared to the other OSHA standards, and how they all have sections but the lab section is just lab based and contains information that pertains to lab safety.