Introduction

Human beings are always at risk either at home or workplace. Bad enough if we fail to manage risks well and as a result, it may cause an adverse effect. The risk at the workplace is often associated with work activities that can cause harm to an employee. When the risk is not controlled or under controlled, it will trigger and cause accidents at workplace. To avoid accidents to occur, preventive measures and control should be practiced in every workplace. It is the responsibility of every employer and employee to make sure that the working environment is safe to generate better productivity results.

Definition And Terminology

Management means how to manage¹. The risk is the probability of hazard to cause harm 2. Meanwhile, the hazard is anything that potentially harmful to workers in terms of safety or human health². In other words, risk management is defined as the entire procedure related to identifying, assess, establish control measures and to assess the activities that pose risk.

Types Of Hazard

• Chemical hazard – solvents, acids, alkali, gas, and others.
• Physical hazard – electricity, heat, noise, radiation, dust and others.
• Biological hazard – viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites, disease carrying insects, venomous animals, and others.
• Ergonomic hazard – workstation that does not comply with the worker, manual handling, awkward postures, repetitive work and others.
• Psychosocial hazard – shift work, workplace stress, drug and alcohol abuse, sexual harassment, violence and others.

Proper Method of Risk Management

Proper methods of risk management can be done by understanding the concept of accident prevention (Figure 1). By ensuring safe working conditions and behaviors, risks can be controlled and reduced. Among the measures of it that can be done is through hierarchy control.

1. Elimination

Elimination is the process of eliminating the hazard at the workplace or work processes. Example, asbestos can no longer be used as it can cause diseases such as lung cancer and asbestosis.

2. Replacement

Replacement is the process of replacing the existing hazard to something that is less risky such as pneumatic power cutter which is used in work cutting that involved fuel to replace the cutter that can produce sparks.

3. Engineering

By incorporating the safety features into equipment, machinery or work equipment, for example, installing barricades to the machine rotating parts.

4. Administration

Occupational health and safety aspects that are managed by the management and employee themselves, for example, performing tasks in rotation period to reduce hazard exposure.

5. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Equipment that self-fittings which provide an additional protection to the user after all control of measures have been taken and implemented.

Effects of Proper Risk Management

1. Ensure that the working environment is safe and conducive.
2. To ensure that workers can perform the work more efficient and produce optimal output.
3. Organization can be more efficient and effective in dealing with issues in the workplace.

References

1. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. Kamus Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (4th ed.) Kuala Lumpur.
2. Guidelines for the Prevention of Accidents in Workplace. (2008). Occupational Health Unit, Division of Disease Control, Ministry of Health, Malaysia. Retrieved from: http://www.dph.gov.my/ohu
   Accessed on:  12 Mei 2016
3. Guidelines for Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Risk Control (HIRARC). (2008). Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Malaysia