Health and Safety in the Workplace

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Health and Safety in the Workplace

• English
• Certificate of Achievement

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Over 500 people die each year at work and several
hundred thousand lose time through injury or
illness

• Watch the following presentation to find out how
  to avoid accidents at work

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Health and Safety

• There are many causes of accidents at work. This
  presentation will look at four different areas.
• Back problems
• Slips, Trips and Falls
• Noise and your hearing
• VDUs

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Back Pain
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Back Pain

• 8 out of 10 people will have some back pain at
  one time or another. And many will experience
  serious pain with very bad physical problems

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What causes back pain?

• Back pain may be because of
• strain from poor sitting or standing
• sudden strain on muscles
• poor physical condition
• sudden twisting of the back
• being overweight
• incorrect lifting
• stress
• a slipped disk

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Preventing Back Pain

• You can prevent back pain just by learning how
  to
• sit
• stand
• lift in ways that move with your back, not
  against it.

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Prevention is the best cure for back pain

• Your back plays a leading role in almost every
  move you make, so if you want to prevent back
  pain, you must pay attention to your back in the
  way you sit, stand, drive, sleep, and exercise

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The best way to sit is straight

• Sit with your back straight, feet on the floor,
  knees slightly higher than your hips.
• Keep your chair close to your desk
• shift seating positions quite often during the
  day
• get up and walk around every so often.

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Here is some more advice

• Stand tall, head up shoulders back
• sleep on a firm mattress
• drive so your back is straight against the seat
• reach for high objects by standing on a ladder
• push, dont pull, heavy objects
• Avoid stress

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One last word of advice...

• Your back needs exercise!

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How to prevent Slips, Trips, and Falls
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Falling is not a joke

• Almost 100 people die as a result of falling at
  work every year

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Know the dangersThere are many conditions that
can lead to people getting hurt in falls,
including

• Unsafe ladders or stairs
• Slippery surfaces
• items left in walkways

• Improper shoes
• Running
• Poor lighting

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You may not be able to prevent all slips, trips
and fallsbut you can prevent most of them

• Make sure ladders and stairways are safe
• keep walkways clear
• clean up spills and leaks straight away
• wear nonskid shoes whenever possible
• dont carry loads that block your vision
• keep your hands on stair railings and ladders
• walk dont run. And watch where youre going

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Noise and Your Hearing
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Were all exposed to noise every day at home, at
work and in traffic. If the noise level gets high
enough it can cause problems - including loss of
hearing
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Hearing loss from noise can be temporary or
permanentSome signs that noise could be hurting
your hearing are

• Noise or ringing in your ears
• trouble hearing people speaking
• difficulty hearing some high or soft sounds
• when you have to raise the volume on the TV and
  others complain

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Hearing protectors can save your hearing

• There are three basic types of hearing
  protector.
• Ear plugs - seal the ear canal and prevent noise
  from reaching delicate parts of the ear.
• Canal Caps - are a soft pad on a headband. It
  seals the entrance to the ear canal without
  having to enter it.
• Ear muffs - these usually provide the greatest
  protection

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The best person to protect your hearing is You!

• Your hearing is invaluable. Once its damaged it
  cannot be repaired.
• Always wear properly fitted ear protection in
  noisy work areas.
• Try to limit your exposure to noise whenever
  possible
• ask to have your hearing tested regularly

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VDUs and You
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VDUs

• Long periods of work at a VDU can add to health
  problems for some users. This could include
• Eyestrain
• Neck and back pain
• Hand, wrist and elbow pain
• Stress

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Avoid eyestrain with proper lighting

• Eye irritation, blurred vision, headaches, and
  dizziness can be greatly reduced with proper
  lighting
• use room lighting thats dimmer than youd use
  for other tasks.
• Place the VDU at right angles to the window
• Adjust window blinds as needed
• use a VDU screen cover
• Adjust the VDU screen brightness to low and set
  the contrast control to high

ALSO Have your eyes tested once a year
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Proper Posture and Position

• Prevent neck and back strains
• _ Set up your work station to allow enough room
  to make it easy to change positions
• Adjust your chair so that
• _ you can sit with your back straight and head
  level
• _ your feet can rest flat on the floor or a
  footrest
• _ your lower back is supported to allow for the
  natural inward curve
• _ you have some place to rest your arms

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Hand, Wrist and Elbow Pain

• Working on a keyboard for a long time can hurt
  the nerves in your forearms. Your hands and
  wrists may tingle, feel numb or you may even lose
  the ability to use them. So
• Take breaks to give your hands a rest
• Tilt the keyboard to a comfortable angle.
• Keep your wrist as straight as possible and your
  elbows at a 90 angle
• A padded wrist rest can provide greater support.

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Stress, Tension and Irritability

• If you lessen glare, eyestrain, bad posture and
  discomfort you will reduce stress.
• Here are some other ways to help reduce stress
• Change positions carefully
• Give your eyes a break
• Try at-your-desk exercises
• Try relaxing the upper body and put your head
  down between your knees, letting your hands
  dangle to the sides of your legs for a few seconds

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There are many other causes of accidents. Maybe
you can discuss this with your teacher.

• Dont forget to listen to advice and take care!
• The End