1. Choose either a workplace or a home office environment for the assessment.

- For this assignment I decided to choose my own personal home office enclosed below

is a wide picture of the environment

2. Hazard Identification: Conduct a thorough walk-through to identify five potential

hazards. These hazards should span various categories, including people-related,

equipment-related, environmental, material-related, and process-related. Use your

textbook content to help with identifying these hazards.

- During my walk-through, I identified the following workplace hazards with photos as

well

o Exposed and tangled cables – environmental hazard

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o Old and outdated equipment – fire and electrical hazard

o Monitor placement – equipment and environmental hazard

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o Exposed electrical equipment – equipment hazard

o Dust and Debris – environmental hazard

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3. Provide a description for each hazard explaining its potential risks. Specify possible

injuries or illnesses for each hazard, categorized as over-traumatic injuries, overexertion

injuries, or repetitive strain injuries.

- Exposed and tangled cables – As shown in the picture above, the exposed and tangled

cables are a hazard as they create a tripping hazard and increase the risk of an

electrical fire.

- Old and outdated equipment – The old equipment in the photo, the beige speaker and

monitor stand, as well as some other hardware inside the computer itself, may have

old or aging wires as well as a build of dust that has hardened, both of which can

cause overheating risks, which can impede my work, and can also cause electrical

fires

- Exposed electrical equipment – The old computer which is missing a panel on the

side as shown in the picture above creates a huge fire hazard as some of its parts are

on the older side and have not been cleaned often, this coupled with the fact that the

inside of the computer is exposed to the elements results in a consistent build up of

dust and debris which if overheated would also create a fire

 - Dust and debris – My workspace is not the cleanest and there is a considerable

amount of dust which can lead to respiratory or breathing illnesses or problems

- Monitor placement – While the monitor itself works just fine, the monitor stand is

something that I have been working on and am still working on as the monitor itself is

facing a downward angle and I have found myself straining my neck and eyes to

properly see the screen, which can result in a number of repetitive strain injuries such

as eyesight deterioration and neck strain.

4. Assess the probability of each hazard causing harm and evaluate the potential severity of

consequences. Finally, assign an overall risk level to each hazard (low, medium, high).

(Page 90)

- Exposed and tangled cables – Medium risk, because the cables in question are in a

place in my office that they are not walked by very often, if at all but the real risk

comes from the fact that those wires are all in a small space in close proximity and

will be generating a lot of heat during my work day.

- Old and outdated equipment – Medium risk, this hazard merits a medium risk because

of the internal hardware within the equipment itself, not so much the functionality of

the equipment, as the wiring within the equipment is fairly old and if overheated will

spark a flame.

- Exposed electrical equipment – High risk, my computer is missing a side panel,

which exposes the inner workings of the computer, ones that get very hot during the

work day, this coupled with the fact that the internals are exposed to the elements,

causing dust to build up fast and if the computer starts to get to that heat threshold, all

it takes is one little spark for me to have an electrical fire on my hands

 - Dust and debris –Low risk, the dust and debris are under the low risk category as they

are not so much a hazard by themselves but become a major one when paired with the

various electric equipment in my office.

- Monitor placement – Low risk, this hazard also merits a low risk as it has the least

possibility to cause a repetitive strain injury as it is not in such a position that it is

causing immense strain everyday.

5. Recommend control measures for each hazard based on the hierarchy of controls

(elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, and PPE) and

justify the effectiveness of the chosen control methods. Use your textbook to better

understand the hierarchy of control.

- Exposed and tangled cables – The recommended control measure for this hazard

would be elimination, as the cables are in such a spot that they are not a major

hinderance of my work, but that also means that they are easily remedied. By simply

moving the cables out of the way or by rearranging the wiring of my office would

remove the hazard entirely.

- Old and outdated equipment – The recommended control measure would be to

subtitute the hazard by simply buying or acquiring new and improved equipment, one

that would not have old internal wiring, thus completely removing the possibility of a

fire sparking up from that piece of equipment.

- Exposed electrical equipment – The recommended control measure would be to use

engineering control and modify the equipment by fixing or replacing the missing
 panel on the computer itself thus reducing the chance of a spark igniting a fire within

the computer.

- Dust and debris – The recommended control measure would be removal, this will be

done by simply cleaning up my workspace and office, thus removing or reducing the

hazard and even the possibility of any respiratory illness.

- Monitor placement – T
 References

Kelloway, E. K., Francis, L., & Gatien, B. (2022). Management of Occupational Health and

Safety.
- he recommended control measure would be to use engineering control to modify the

equipment being used, in this case the monitor stand would need to be modified so as

to no longer cause neck strain when in use.