Affiliations: Departamento de Engenharia Mecânica e Industrial, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Quinta da Torre, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal. Tel.: +351 212949694; E-mail: jmm-cabecas@fct.unl.pt
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: The identification of hazards or risk factors at the
workplace level is a crucial procedure to the risk identification, risk
analysis and risk evaluation. OBJECTIVE: This article presents a hazard or risk factors taxonomy,
to be applied at the workplace level, during the systematic hazards
identification. METHODS: The taxonomy was based on evidences literature, including
technical documents, standards, regulations, good-practice documents and
toxicology databases. RESULTS: The taxonomy was organized as a matrix (Risk
Factors-Disorders Matrix), an extensive list of occupational hazards.
Hazards were organized in terms of the potential individual dominant
consequences: in terms of accidents (injuries), occupational disease and
negative social, mental or physical well-being (like dissatisfaction and
discomfort complaints not resulting from injuries or diseases
symptomatology). The specific hazards in each work context were
characterized by three summary tables: (1) Accidents-Risk Factors Table, (2)
Diseases-Risk Factors Table and (3) Negative Well-being-Risk Factors Table. CONCLUSIONS: Risk factors are coded according to the Risk
Factors-Disorders Matrix and the dominant potential disorders are identified
in the Risk Factors Tables. The inclusion of individual, psychosocial,
emerging and combined hazards in the Matrix, contributes to focusing the
risk identification in non-traditional sources of risk during risk
assessment procedures.
Keywords: Injuries, accidents, occupational diseases, work related diseases, discomfort complaints, individual hazards, emerging hazards, psychosocial hazards, checklist, negative well-being, dissatisfaction
