Workplace Safety, Health and Environmental Practices
Domain 8 - Workplace Safety, Health and Environmental Practices
This domain tests hazard identification, the hierarchy of controls, safe material handling, fire and chemical response, and waste segregation in a warehouse or documentation office.
Core concepts
- Hazard is a source of harm; risk is the likelihood and severity of that harm. Risk = likelihood × severity, usually scored 1–5 each.
- Hierarchy of controls: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, then PPE - PPE is the last line, never the first.
- Manual handling: load close to the body, knees bent, back straight, no twisting; use trolleys, pallet trucks or team lifts for heavy or awkward loads.
- Forklift safety: pedestrian walkways, no riders, load carried low, horn at blind corners, speed limits, seat belt.
- Fire: classes A (paper/wood), B (flammable liquid), C (gas), D (metal), K (cooking oil); use PASS - pull, aim, squeeze, sweep. Water conducts electricity, so use CO2 on electrical fires.
- Chemicals: read the SDS (16 sections) before handling; know the eyewash, spill kit and ventilation points.
- Environment: segregate dry, wet, hazardous and e-waste at source; send batteries and toner to authorised recyclers; report near misses, not only injuries.
Worked example
A pallet sits in an aisle at 2 m height, blocking the fire exit. Likelihood = 4, severity = 3, so risk score = 12 (high). Controls: move the pallet to a marked location, re-mark the aisle with yellow hatching, add a daily aisle check to the supervisor's checklist. After controls, likelihood falls to 1 and the score to 3 (low).
Traps
- Treating PPE as the primary control.
- Throwing batteries, toner or chemical drums into general waste.
- Using water on an electrical fire.
- Recording only lost-time injuries and ignoring near misses, which are free warning data.