PREVENTION ACCIDENT TECHNIQUES

Occupational risks assessment and taking action to protect workers safety and
health is an obligation of each employer. There are numerous measures considered as
relevant for accident prevention, for example design and use of more safe equipment and
technologies or replacing dangerous equipment and products by non-dangerous or less
dangerous ones, improvement of working environment, use and maintenance of personal
protective equipment, management and staff training, improvement of communication, etc.
Therefore, a measurement of accident prevention such as work organisation, consultation,
information and training, occupational safety and health management should be or could be
applied in each lab. Furthermore, an on-going attention and reinforcement of safety
procedures is required when working in the lab for any reason. Without the right precaution
taken, theres the significant risk of endangering yourself and others around you.

The main technique that should be applied to prevent an accident is to prepare the
personal protective equipment (PPE) in the lab. PPE is a legal requirement to adhere with
health and safety practices at all times in the laboratory and the following measures should
always be taken. Besides, PPE is equipment that will protect workers against health or
safety risks on the job. The purpose is to reduce employee exposure to hazards when
engineering and administrative controls are not feasible or effective to reduce these risks to
acceptable levels. These hazard risks can be anything from wet floors to falling debris and
everything in between. However, even when these measures have been applied, hazards
still remain in the workplace and PPE is ultimately used to minimize the risk of injury.
According to the HSE website, risk in the workplace can include injuries to the lungs (from
breathing in contaminated air), the head and feet, (from falling materials), the eyes (from
flying particles or splashes of corrosive liquids), the skin (from contact with corrosive
materials and the body (from extremes of heat or cold). PPE includes items such as
protective helmets, eye protection, high-visibility clothing, safety footwear, safety harnesses
and, sometimes, respiratory protective equipment.

Firstly, the head protection is one of the examples of PPE. Head PPE can protect the
user from the impact of falling or flying objects, as well as protecting injury from bumping the
head or hair getting caught in machinery. Head PPE can also protect the wearer from
chemical splashes, as well as climate or temperature. According to the HSE, types of head
protection include industrial safety helmets, bump caps, hairnets and firefighters helmets, as
well as scarves to protect the neck. In addition, some safety helmets incorporate or can be
fitted with specially-designed eye or hearing protection. The HSE also reminds wearers to
replace head protection if it is damaged. For example, hard hats, which are common on
construction sites. Just passing by a site, you can usually identify workers by their hard hats.
They are designed to protect against flying or falling objects that would otherwise impact or
penetrate the worker. Some hard hats are equipped with accessories such as face shields
and earmuffs. Hard hats should be well-fitted; those that are too large or too small are
inappropriate for use. Second example is eye and face protection. Eye and face protection
are equally as important as head protection. Safety goggles, spectacles and full face shields
can give you the protection needed for the eyes and face. Chemicals or objects in the
laboratory can easily damage your eyes and as such, eye protection should be worn at all
times. Safety goggle or glasses are compulsory. Metal work, wood-work, hot-work and air-
tool operations all require this type of protection. General labourers can also benefit from
safety goggles since there is usually debris on construction sites.
 Next is a respiratory protection. Respiratory protection is vital on sites where toxic
substances are present. Sometimes, what you cant see may hurt you, so that why a
respiratory protection is very important. Respiratory protections like respirators are designed
to protect you from dust, fumes, paint spray, pesticides and other dangerous substances that
could cause permanent impairment. Respiratory protection should be used in environments
with air contaminants. In work environments, respirators are relied upon when adequate
ventilation is unavailable or other engineering control systems are not feasible or
inadequate. Besides, hand & skin protection also one of the PPE. Construction jobs typically
require the use of hands. Each year, around 150,000 hand injuries are reported.
Occupational skin diseases such as contact dermatitis, skin cancers, and other skin injuries
and infections are the second most common type of occupational disease and can be very
costly. Because a lot of work is done with the hands, gloves are an essential item in
providing skin protection. Some examples of gloves commonly used as PPE include rubber
gloves, cut-resistant gloves, chainsaw gloves and heat-resistant gloves. Using gloves helps
to avoid hazards usually involved when working with chemicals, glass, sheet metal,
electricity, hot materials or slippery objects.

Next example of PPE is hearing protection. Industrial noise is often discounted as an

occupational hazard since it isnt visible to the eye. However, 22 million workers in the United
States are exposed to potentially harmful noise levels annually. According to the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, about 82% of occupational hearing loss cases
occurred to workers in the manufacturing sector. The Occupational Safety and Health
Administration establish occupational noise exposure standards. NIOSH recommends that
worker exposures to noise be reduced to a level equivalent to 85 dBA for eight hours to
reduce occupational noise-induced hearing loss. Earplugs and earmuffs are common
hearing protection tools. It is important to note that earmuffs are more effective in reducing
high-frequency noise while earplugs are more effective for reducing low-frequency noise.
Laboratory coat also a very important to be wear in a lab. The laboratory coat is designed to
protect your clothing and skin. There is also the option of an apron, which can be worn on
top to further protect from corrosive and irritating chemicals. A lab coat is necessary for many
operations which could result in a large splash of harmful liquid, as well as for operations
involving toxic solid materials that must be prevented from contaminating regular clothes,
even in tiny quantities. Gloves also must be wearing in a lab. This is because, when handling
potentially harmful chemicals its important to wear protective gloves, to minimise the risk of
injury. Check to ensure the gloves are in a good condition and free from holes, rips and
tears.

Using PPE, and wearing it properly, is vital to avoid unnecessary injury in the
workplace. Choosing not to wear PPE can be dangerous especially when it could save your
life. Results Staffing always provides workers with necessary PPE unless otherwise noted.
Never hesitate to ask temporary staffing agencies if they have the necessary PPE. Safety is
important and having an understanding of these various protection devices can help to
prevent hazardous injury. Any item of PPE imposes a barrier between the wearer/user and
the working environment. These can discourage wearers from using PPE correctly, therefore
placing them at risk of injury, ill-health or, under extreme circumstances, death. Good
ergonomic design can help to minimise these barriers and can therefore help to ensure safe
and healthy working conditions through the correct use of PPE.
 Besides personal protective equipment (PPE), laboratory safety equipment also an
important technique to prevent an accident from happens. The availability and use of a
number of types of safety equipment is essential to the practice of safe science. Safety
equipment should be present in well-marked, highly visible, and easily accessible locations
in or near all laboratories that use hazardous chemicals. Laboratory safety equipment can
be found in every general chemistry lab. It is important for everyone using the lab to be
aware of where the laboratory safety products are located, and how to use them properly.
The most important equipment is goggles and gloves. These will protect you from the
majority of dangers occurring in the laboratory. Here are some other important lab equipment
items that are used in case of an emergency: eye wash (if chemicals get in your eyes), fire
blanket (smother a fire), safety shower (in case of chemical spill), and first aid kits (for minor
injuries). The variety of equipment allows people to be safe in almost any situation, even if it
is dangerous.

A chemical storage unit is one of the examples of laboratory safety equipment.

Hazardous chemicals should only be kept in small quantities to reduce the risk of problems
occurring. This includes flammable and corrosive substances. Its equally important to return
chemicals to their storage area as quickly as possible. Then, fire safety equipment. Before
working in the laboratory you should familiarise yourself with the location of fire alarms and
extinguishers. Ensure youre aware of an extinguishers correct use and only apply if the fire
is manageable. If this isnt the case, leave the area immediately and trigger an alarm. Next is
glassware. One of the greatest causes of accidents occurring in the laboratory is the poor
use and handling of glassware. Incorrect use can lead to injury, so its important to be well
briefed before commencing with your project. Eyewash station also is important equipment.
These are present in every laboratory and ensure you can quickly and easily rinse chemicals
from your eyes if need be. Eyewash line should also be available and is of real importance,
as water could push chemicals further into the eye. For the first aid and emergency
procedures, when operating in any laboratory its vital to have a basic understanding of first
aid, whilst also being aware of the correct emergency procedures to follow in the event of an
accident. For wounds its important to clean and cover the area quickly to avoid
contamination by prepare treatment of wounds.

Practices of occupational safety and health can use hazard controls and
interventions to mitigate workplace hazards, which pose a threat to the safety and quality of
life of workers. The hierarchy of hazard controls provides a policy framework which ranks the
types of hazard controls in terms of absolute risk reduction. At the top of the hierarchy are
elimination and substitution, which remove the hazard entirely or replace the hazard with a
safer alternative. If elimination or substitution measures cannot apply, engineering controls
and administrative controls, which seek to design safer mechanisms and coach safer human
behavior, are implemented. Personal protective equipment ranks last on the hierarchy of
controls, as the workers are regularly exposed to the hazard, with a barrier of protection. The
hierarchy of controls is important in acknowledging that, while personal protective equipment
has tremendous utility, it is not the desired mechanism of control in terms of worker safety.