TLE Note Taking 1.1.
Occupational Health and Safety
Procedures
Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and
Risk Control
Occupational safety and health (OSH) is a
planned system of working to prevent illness and injury
where you work by recognizing and identifying hazards
and risks. Health and safety procedure is the
responsibility of all persons in the computer and
technology industries. You must identify the hazards
where you are working and decide how dangerous they
are. Eliminate the hazard or modify the risk that it
presents.
There are three steps to manage health and safety at
work: (1.) Spot the Hazard (Hazard Identification), (2.)
Assess the Risk (Risk Assessment) and (3.) Make the
Changes (Risk Control). You can use these three Think
Safe steps to help prevent accidents at work
The Think Safe Steps
1. Spot the Hazard
A hazard is anything that could hurt you or
someone else.
Examples of workplace hazards include:
frayed electrical cords (could result in electrical
shock)
boxes stacked precariously (they could fall on
someone)
noisy machinery (could result in damage to your
hearing)
During working hours, you must remain alert to
anything that may be dangerous. If you see, hear or
smell anything odd, take note. If you think it could be a
hazard, tell someone.
2. Assess the Risk
Assessing the risk means working out how likely it
is that a hazard will harm someone and how serious
the harm could be.
Whenever you spot a hazard, assess the risk by asking
yourself two questions:
How likely is it that the hazard could harm me or
someone else?
How badly could I or someone else be harmed?
Always tell someone (your employer, your
supervisor or your health and safety representative)
about hazards you can't fix yourself, especially if the
hazard could cause serious harm to anyone.
For example, (1)Ask your supervisor for
instructions and training before using equipment,
(2)Ask for help moving or lifting heavy objects, and (3)
Tell your supervisor if you think a work practice could
be dangerous.
If you are not sure of the safest way to do something
during work experience, always ask your supervisor.
3. Make the Changes
It is your employer's responsibility to fix hazards.
Sometimes you may be able to fix simple hazards
yourself, as long as you don't put yourself or others at
risk. For example, you can pick up things from the floor
and put them away to eliminate a trip hazard.
Common hazards encountered by computer
technicians and users
A hazard is a situation in the workplace that has
the potential to harm the health and safety of people or
to damage plant and equipment. The situation could
involve a task, chemical or equipment used. Hazard
management is a continuous process that can be used
to improve the health and safety of all workplaces.
Physical Hazards
One of the most common physical hazards
involving computer technicians is cables running
across the floor. If someone trips, falls, and hurts
himself because of a cable you ran across the floor,
someone (you, your employer, or your customer) has a
serious legal negligence problem. If you need to
temporarily run a cable across the floor, place a
Danger sign similar to those "wet floor" signs used by
cleaning services.
For cables that are temporary but will need to run
across the floor for a longer period of time, use "gaffers
tape". Gaffers tape is a heavy tape with strong
adhesive to stick to the floor. For long term cable
routing there is a wide variety of cable organizing
devices like cable ties, cable wraps, and cable
raceways which can be used to run cable safely along
the wall or ceiling.
Other common physical hazards include leaving
tools on top of ladders and placing electronic
equipment in precarious positions or on support that is
not sturdy enough or not designed for holding
electronic equipment.
Mechanical Hazards
When working on electronic equipment, ask
yourself "Is there any way this equipment could hurt
me?” You might stick your hand in a printer and
suddenly the paper feed arm moves, feeding not only
paper through the printer, but a piece of your finger too.
You might move your hand past a computer
chassis and lose a chunk of flesh because it is razor
sharp. When working on electronic equipment always
be alert to any possibility of being hurt by moving parts,
hot components, or sharp edges.
Chemical Hazards
There is a wide array of chemicals used with
electronic equipment. There are display cleaning
chemicals, keyboard cleaning chemicals, compressed
gas dirt and dust removers, and many cleaning
solvents. Some of these chemicals can be harmful if
accidentally swallowed, get on bare skin, or get in
eyes. Before using any chemicals for electronic
equipment always read the warnings and instructions
on the label.
Also be very careful when dealing with inkjet printer
cartridges, or laser printer toner cartridges. Ink and
toner can stain skin, clothing and carpet.
Electric Shock Hazard
Inside computers and electronic equipment, there is
a range of voltages from 3.3 volts to 25 volts, most of
which are harmless. But at the power supply, you will
find line voltage, which is a lethal 220 volts.
The workplace should have safety
guidelines to follow to:
Protect people from injury
Protect equipment from
damage
Protect the environment from contamination
Safety Precautions when working:
1. Always ground or discharge yourself before
touching any part of the computer.
2. Do not work alone so that there is someone
who can take care of you in case of accident or
emergency.
3. Be careful with the tools that may cause short
circuit.
4. Always full the cable connector on the handle
and not hold on the cable itself.
5. Use only rubber shoes when standing on the
ground or in a concrete floor.
6. Make sure that the pins are properly aligned
when connecting a cable connector.
7. Always power off and unplug the computer
before working on it.
8. Take away any liquid such as mineral water or
soft drinks near your working area or near
computers.
9. Contingency measures during workplace
accidents, fire, and other emergencies are
recognized.
10. Personal protective equipment is correctly used
in accordance with organization procedures and
practice.
11. Hazard/risks in the workplace and their
corresponding indicators are identified to minimize
or eliminate risk to co‐workers, workplace, and
environment.
12. Take necessary precautions to protect the
component of the computer from damage caused
by Electrostatic Discharge (ESD).
13. Hold the components by edges and do not
touch the IC’s.
14. Read and follow instructions on the manual
carefully.
15. Do not use excessive force if things do not quite
slip into place.
Fire Safety Guidelines
Know the location of fire
extinguishers, how to use them
and which to use for
electrical fires and for
combustible fires.
Find an escape route in case a fire gets out of
control.
Know how to contact emergency services quickly
Keep the workspace clean.
Keep most solvents in a separate area.
