Burns like thermal burns, electrical burns, or any other types are widespread in the workplace and cause serious health hazards to workers or their employees. These burns or minor incidents can lead to severe risks or fire hazards if workplaces and employers do not take preventive control measures.
This blog post, therefore, will explore the types of burns, how they can result in fires at work, and how to avoid them.
Types of Workplace Burns
Below are some common types of work-related burns:
Thermal Burns
Thermal burns, as the name says, result from activities like heat from liquids, also known as scalding, open flames, hot work operations, or explosions. Controlling and stopping such burns among workers should be the top priority of employers.
They can do so by providing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), implementing fire prevention strategies, and raising awareness for fire safety in the workplace to teach them effective procedures and emergency action plans to avoid fire hazards in their work premises.
Chemical Burns
Chemical burns occur when working with acids, corrosive, or hazardous materials. These burns can result in skin or eye irritation or even damage to the deeper tissue.
These accidents or incidents in the workplace occur due to industrial cleaning activities, hazardous substances or chemicals in manufacturing work environments, or any other working sector.
To prevent such exposure to chemical burns, employers must ensure that their employees and workers are well-versed in the hazards and understand the safety signs and symbols to identify and minimize the risks.
Electrical Burns
Electrical burns are also among the most dangerous burns existing in the workplace. The current passes through the body and meets resistance in the tissue, producing heat burn injuries.
Employers and workers must know these electrical burn hazards to avoid burns from electrical sources and high-voltage areas.
Workers must also be fully aware of identifying live wires, avoid water contact with water, and use the correct PPE to work safely and follow electrical safety standards.
Sun Exposure Burns
Sun exposure is also one of the significant health concerns for workers who work under the sun, so they should be well aware of sun safety practices and implement preventive measures to reduce the harsh direct sun rays.
Tips to Avoid Burn-related Injuries
Here are some tips workers and employers need to know to prevent workplace burns and injuries:
- Employers must follow the correct safety rules and techniques to provide employees with vital information to prevent burn injuries in the workplace.
- Employees must wear the correct PPE and clothing as it makes a big difference in encountering risk and minimizing it.
- Workers must care extra while working near hot surfaces or transporting materials or objects.
- Employers must consider placing safety signs and symbols to warn the workers of the exposed hazards near hot surfaces or equipment.
- Employers and workplaces must also have functioned fire extinguishing equipment, first aid kits, and eye wash stations to assist in an emergency.
- Employers must also arrange proper training sessions for their staff members to make them fully aware of risks and injuries and how to mitigate them.
Tips to Avoid the Danger of Fires
Here are some tips to avoid the dangers of fires in the workplace:
- Proper Disposal: Discarding any hazardous waste material is one of the effective techniques to prevent fires. It can include anything from oils to chemicals.
- Regular Maintenance: Regular maintenance of all the fire protection measures is also an essential step in identifying potential fire risks and what controls to implement to mitigate them.
- Safe Storage: Employers having chemicals, flammable materials, or other chemical substances in their workplace need to ensure that they have designated places for storing them with adequate ventilation to avoid any fire hazards.
- Clean Environment: Creating a clean environment, especially in the workplace, is also necessary to avoid accidents or health risks. There is a potential risk of fire spreading fast where there is clutter, paper, or boxes.
- Designated Smoke Areas: There must be separate smoking areas that are safe systems away from the worksites. Employees and workers should also have ashtrays or other secure options to dispose of the cigarettes to minimize the risk of fires.
- Preventive Measures: Implementing fire safety precautions and measures is also an effective approach to minimizing fire risks. Employers need to have proper arrangements for firefighting, fire extinguishers, and other fire protection devices to curb the spread of fire if it occurs in a building.
To Sum it Up
Fire hazards are one of the leading causes of most severe workplace injuries that can also cause burns or other health hazards. Employers and managers of the staff working in such areas need to ensure adequate fire prevention measures to identify and control the risk to the health and safety of the workers. Arranging regular training sessions is also vital to overcoming the hazard and ensuring a safe working environment.
