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Exposure hazards

In addition to more obvious safety hazards such as exposed wires or a faulty equipment, in many workplaces there are factors within the environment that can affect the body without physical touch.

Repeated exposure to loud noises, vibration, radiation or temperature extremes can lead to chronic illness. In some cases, it can even cause immediate injury. With specific regulations governing these activities, expert Health & Safety support can help to ensure safety and compliance.

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How we help

Create a safe, compliant working environment

If your employees use power tools, work in loud factories or construction sites, or have contact with ionising or non-ionising radiation, you have a legal duty to monitor and control exposure in line with relevant regulations.

At WorkNest, our fixed-fee Health & Safety support will help you to meet these responsibilities and simplify the task of keeping people safe.

  • Get a full audit of your compliance with an on-site health and safety audit (General Risk Assessment)
  • Ensure relevant exposure hazards are managed, from maintaining suitable working temperatures to appointing a Radiation Protection Advisor
  • Continue to meet your responsibilities with unlimited advice from a named Health & Safety specialist
  • Help to develop task-specific risk assessments or self-serve from our myWorkNest template bank
  • Keep statutory check documents with our smart health and safety software, SafetyNest

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Get a handle on less obvious hazards

Some workplace hazards, such as exposure to EMFs, ultraviolet rays or vibration, are less obvious and the effects on health become apparent over time. Because of this, they can be all too often overlooked, but they can cause employees to suffer long-term conditions and land employers with six-figure fines.

You may take care of a spillage right away or have procedures in place for storing and handling hazardous chemicals but have you, for example, conducted a specific risk assessment to determine levels of noise exposure and the actions required to reduce it? If not, you may be in breach of health and safety law.

Managing all aspects of health and safety can be a large undertaking, and hazards that are difficult to detect make the job of managing them even harder. Speak to us today about competent support for your business.

Popular FAQs

Common exposure hazard queries and questions about our service, answered by our Health & Safety specialists.

How do I calculate personal noise exposure for individuals?

If HSE guidance suggests you have a noise problem, you may need to get a competent person, either someone within your organisation or an external professional, to measure the noise and determine the representative daily or weekly personal noise exposure during a noise assessment. They will measure the sound pressure level at the different locations within the workplace where the employee works, and for the different tasks carried out during the day. The average is calculated from these values and the time spent in each place or at each task

What is the minimum/maximum temperature in the workplace?

The law doesn’t state a minimum or maximum temperature, but guidelines suggest a general minimum of 16°C, or 13°C if the majority of the work involves rigorous physical effort. As far as maximum temperatures go, TUC guidance states that the maximum temperature employees should work in is 30°C, or 27°C for manual workers.

How can we prevent workers from developing hand arm vibration syndrome (HAVS)?

Make sure that control measures to reduce vibration are properly applied, information, training and health surveillance is provided, and workers are given the right equipment. You should also ensure that regular workplace risk assessments are carried out – especially if anything changes that may affect exposure to vibration. Assessments help ensure changes are productive and that hand tools/machines are safe to use. Identifying signs and symptoms at an early stage is critical, so effective monitoring systems should be in place. Ongoing monitoring and recording also helps make sure standards are followed.

Do I need to conduct a noise assessment?

Under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, any employer who intends to perform work that will likely expose the workforce to excessive noise must carry out a specific noise risk assessment, covering all areas and/or operations. This should determine levels of noise, employee exposure and the actions required to reduce employee exposure to the levels required by the regulations. The level at which risk assessments must take place is 80 decibels. If the noise level is 85 decibels or more, hearing protection and hearing protection zones must be provided. Workers who are regularly exposed to sound levels greater than 85 decibels must also have regular hearing tests.

What's included in our fixed-fee Health & Safety support

Why choose us?

Experts in Health & Safety support

If you’re not confident in your current practices, or don’t have professional support in place, our network of qualified Health & Safety Consultants can help you to build a safe and compliant working environment through expert support tailored to your organisation.

  • Approved by a Primary Authority
  • Dedicated specialists with recognised qualifications
  • Genuine hands-on experience of managing risk
  • Unlimited 24/7 advice, award-winning software and policy support
  • The confidence to act as one of your competent persons

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