WORK PLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY.

Running head: WORK PLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY
Work Place Health and Safety
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

WORK PLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY
1
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Hazards Related to the Specified Jobs.......................................................................................2
Chemical Hazards..................................................................................................................2
Biological Hazards Associated with Compost.......................................................................3
Manual Handling Associated with Clearing of Vegetation...................................................4
Plant and Equipment..............................................................................................................4
Sun Exposure/Ultraviolet Radiation......................................................................................5
Risk Assessment.........................................................................................................................6
Recommended Controls.............................................................................................................7
Sun Protection Policy.................................................................................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8

WORK PLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY
2
Introduction
Prickly Pear Landscaping Company is operating in Melbourne, Victoria. In existing
condition, each of the tasks performed in the work premises has a specific safe work
procedure and in every situation, they are strictly followed. In recent time, management had
decided to undertake the preparatory landscaping work for the new warehouse of the
company. In this regard, the organization will perform a few tasks and they are mainly
associated with cleaning of the current vegetation, including bushes, gorse and blackberries.
Along with this, several fallen trees and decaying logs of the tress will also be cleaned by
using the petrol-driven bush cutters, chippers and chainsaws. After this, the management had
decided to use herbicides in order to prevent further regrowth of the bushes in the work
premises of the new warehouse of the company. No only this, but the organization also had
decided to use chemical fertilizers and compost to enhance the quality of soil by replenishing
the nutrients present in the soil previously. All these components were delivered to the
responsible persons by using backpack having the capacity to carry liquid fertilizers. In case
delivering composts to the soil, a combination of backhoe and shovel will be used.
Hazards Related to the Specified Jobs
Chemical Hazards
While analysing the condition in the context of chemical hazards, it can be said that
there are high chances of having different types of adverse health conditions due to the
chemical exposure during the use of chemical fertilizers. In this case, it is reported that, the
workers will be involved in using two of chemicals. First one is chemical herbicides in the
work premises of the company and the second one is the use of chemical fertilizers to
replenish the soils. According to the study of Nicolopoulou-Stamati et al. (2016), it is

WORK PLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY
3
reported that, chemical exposures to the workers using the chemical fertilizers or the
chemical herbicides may cause skin irritation, respiratory problems, skin burns, irritation in
the eyes of the individuals. The health effect of the users engaged in the use of chemical
fertilizers and herbicides is dependent on the nature of the chemicals used in the process.
Therefore, it can be said that, the health effect can be either chronic or acute based on the
duration of the exposure as well. Hence, it can be stated that, the in case of single time
exposure of the chemicals can show the symptoms of skin or eyes or respiratory irritation.
Therefore, the study also reported that, use of the liquid chemical herbicides or fertilizers are
more hazardous than that of the solid one. In this case, it is reported that, for replenishing the
soils, liquid chemicals will be used and thus more hazard will be faced by the users.
Biological Hazards Associated with Compost
While analysing the impact of compost use, it can be said that, there will be also cases
of biological hazards while using the composts. According to the study of MacFarlane et al.,
(2013), it is reported that, there is a high chances of having bioaerosols exposures to the
users of the composts. This issue is a major area of concern as the exposure of bioaerosols
can affect the health of the human beings. The biological hazards regarding the use of the
composts is primarily associated with the emissions of bioaerosols from the composting
activities include bacteria, endotoxin, fungi, and 1-3 β-glucans (MacFarlane et al., 2013). In
those materials, there are various pathogenic organisms that may cause adverse health
condition to the individuals or the users of these composts. The main risks identified with the
use of composts are different type of infections among the individuals who have weak
immune system. The main adverse health condition is characterized by the conditions like
organic dust toxic syndrome, allergic rhinitis, , extrinsic allergic alveolitis (EAA), upper
airway irritation asthma and mucous membrane irritation (Helaskoski et al., 2014).