Your workplace should be a safe and welcoming environment. As an employee, you are beholden to your employer, but that doesn’t mean that they get to neglect your basic needs.
Your employer needs to ensure that your work environment is free of hazards and safe to operate in.
Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case, so you need to identify unsafe and hazardous work conditions yourself, so you can notice warning signs and avoid injury.
Realizing a work environment is unsafe and quickly addressing the problem is a key part of preventing workplace injuries. So what are the most common hazardous work environments?
Here are the top three unsafe work conditions that you need to look out for.
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Slippery Flooring
One of the most unsafe working conditions are slippery floors. You might not think that a slippery floor can cause a lot of damage, but it can actually lead to some major injuries.
Simply falling on a slippery surface can cause some major issues, especially if you land hard on your back.
However, the situation can become even more serious if you are carrying something heavy or are operating something dangerous when you slip and fall.
Common causes of slippery floors include wet surfaces and debris being on the ground.
If a work area has slippery flooring due to one of these things, it is the employer’s responsibility to adequately label the area as a hazard and fix it as soon as possible.
In the meantime, employees need to be careful around that area to avoid any major damage from falling.
Malfunctioning Equipment
Another common unsafe work environment is a place that has malfunctioning equipment. Most equipment that is dangerous has some sort of failsafe or guard to defend against serious accidents.
However, when equipment isn’t properly used or maintained, these safety nets can malfunction, meaning there is nothing stopping serious accidents from happening.
For example, an assembly line machine in a Pittsburgh factory may malfunction, posing risks for employees.
If the machine is not routinely inspected or maintained, then the problem could go undetected, and a serious accident could happen, severely harming an employee.
In this case, the employee should contact a workers compensation lawyer, as the factory is liable for not properly maintaining their machines. When operating with dangerous machines and equipment, you always need to ensure that fail-safes and guards are properly in place and working to prevent serious injury.
Unsanitary Environment
One of the more serious unsafe work conditions is an unsanitary environment that increases the risk of infection or disease.
If a work area is not properly cleaned and sanitized, it could lead to the employees being directly exposed to harmful substances.
An unsanitary work environment can be very hard to cope with, as it isn’t as obvious as some of the other unsafe work environments on this list. You may be exposed to harmful chemicals or bacteria and have no clue at all.
It won’t be until you come down with an illness or medical problem that you realize what is happening, and by that point, it is too late.
Workplaces should constantly be cleaning and sanitizing the entire area, making sure that employees are breathing in clean and healthy air. Failure to do so can result in serious illness or even death for employees.
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