Identifying and Controlling Hazards
Course 101
Safety Certified Supervisor Series

MODULE TWO: HAZARD CATEGORIES

Four Cause Categories (MEEE)

1. Safety Management System (SMS)
2. Employee Performance
3. Equipment

4. Environment (continued)

The psychosocial environment.

Although not specifically addressed in OSHA rules, the psychological health of employees is an important consideration. Factors such as workload, scheduling, quality of training, and employee relationships all serve to affect employee safety. Stress, especially from hurry, may be the cause of a significant percentage of workplace accidents.

Work, by its very nature, is stressful: You can't get away from it. But, the supervisor can be key in making sure positive stress doesn't transition into negative distress that occurs when employees feel they can't control a situation, or worse yet, feel helpless. Stress is the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when a conflict exists between job demands and the amount of control an employee has over meeting those demands. Stress is a form of distraction that creates a hazardous condition and increases the probability of an injury or illness. The supervisor needs to look for observable signs of too much stress. Employees can show acute or chronic signs of distress:

Signs of stress may be physical, psychological and/or behavioral including;

• general anxiety,
• irritability,
• defensiveness,
• anger,
• apathy,
• depression,
• feelings of helplessness, and
• frequent illness.

Signs of stress may be result in the classic flight or fight response. Employees may flee the problem by

• staying home sick,
• withdrawing or isolating themselves from coworkers, or
• just quitting the job.

They may fight the problem by

• arguing,
• trying to change the job, or worse yet,
• sabotaging the work.

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