IDENTIFICATION OF CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL HAZARDS IN THE WORKPLACE

Abstract

     Occupational safety and health (OSH) is an important aspect in ensuring the protection of workers from hazards that may arise in the work environment. One of the dominant factors that have the potential to cause accidents and occupational diseases is exposure to physical and chemical hazards. This research/study aims to identify the types of physical and chemical hazards in the work environment and assess their potential risks to worker health and safety. The methods used include field inspections (walkthrough surveys), document studies such as Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), Job Safety Analysis (JSA), Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment, and Risk Control (HIRARC), as well as workplace measurements using noise, dust, gas, lighting, and radiation detection devices. The results of the identification show that common chemical hazards include exposure to toxic, corrosive, and flammable materials, as well as industrial dust, while physical hazards include noise, vibration, extreme temperatures, radiation, and inadequate lighting. Exposure to these hazards has the potential to cause acute and chronic health problems, such as dust-related lung disease, chemical poisoning, noise-induced hearing loss, heat stress, and the risk of workplace accidents. And then, systematic hazard identification is an important first step in implementing an OSH program, so that risk control can be carried out according to the hierarchy of controls, starting from elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, to the use of personal protective equipment (PPE)