Office: Common Hazards
Chemical Agents
Risk of:
- Health effects such as dermatitis.
Possible causes:
- Exposure to cleaning chemicals and toners.
Electricity
Risk of:
- Burns.
- Electric shock.
- Death.
- Fire.
Possible causes:
- Faulty or poorly maintained equipment.
Equipment
Risk of:
Possible causes:
- Faulty equipment.
- No or poor maintenance of equipment.
- User inattention.
Ergonomic Hazards
Risk of:
- Pains in back, neck or arms.
Possible causes:
- Poorly set up computer or office workstations.
- Over reaching or stretching.
- Repetitive tasks such as data entry.
- Poor ergonomics of software.
Fire
Risk of:
- Smoke inhalation.
- Burns.
- Death.
Possible causes:
- Overloaded sockets or extension leads.
- Faulty equipment.
- Unmaintained equipment.
Manual Handling
Risk of:
- Musculoskeletal disorders.
Possible causes:
- Lifting heavy items such as boxes of photocopy paper.
- Lack of physical activity.
Noise
Risk of:
- Fatigue and inefficiency.
- Impaired concentration.
- Increased mental and emotional strain.
Possible causes:
- Exposure to low level noise (ringing phones, equipment generated noise, non-relevant conversations of colleagues in open plan offices).
Slips, Trips and Falls
Risk of:
- Minor injuries such as cuts to major injuries such as broken bones, concussion and even death.
Possible causes:
- Uneven surfaces.
- Worn or torn carpets.
- Badly placed mats.
- Loose phone cords or computer cables.
- Trailing cables.
Working at Height
Risk of:
- Fall resulting in minor injuries such as bruises and cuts to major injuries such as concussion or broken limbs.
Possible causes:
- Lack of access equipment such as footstools to access material stored at height.
Further Information
For further information on related controls click here.
Note: This is not an exhaustive list of hazards and risks.