Risk assessment is a simple but careful examination of workplace factors that could detrimentally bring harm to workers or people in general. The careful and comprehensive analysis is mainly aimed at assisting the assessor to decide whether there are enough precautions taken to prevent harm or if more measures should be taken. The assessment is meant to help prevent accidents, for instance, radiation or chemical leakage that could deleteriously result in poor health or even loss of lives (Health and Safety Executive, 2017). In this step, the assessor walks around the workplace in a bid to identify potentially hazardous risks. The assessor indulges employees in the identification of the risks from their perspectives. Additionally, he inspects manufacturers’ cautions and instructions to determine additional hazards. He checks records for accidents and hazards to model the severity of each one of them. Ultimately, the assessor considers long-term risks, for instance, exposure to radiation, chemical spills, or very high noise levels. For each hazard identified above, groups of individuals are matched to the hazards to point out the best way to mitigate the risks. This requires intimate knowledge of all the groups of workers available, their working schedule as well as their nature of work. For instance, a poisonous gas leak could be detrimental to the environment which includes the workers within the gas chamber. The step involves evaluating the risks identified in the first step and then deciding on the best means of mitigating them reasonably and practically keeping in mind the ways of good practice. Mitigation includes getting rid of the hazardous material altogether, swapping for a less hazardous material (chemicals), guarding the entrance to hazardous materials, or issuing high-tech personal protective gear. This is a practical step that physically involves implementing and enforcing changes based on the results of the assessment as well as the plan of action. Communication with the employees based on the risks they face is important just as much as educating them on the strategies the management is going to implement. Practically, the most dangerous hazards are prioritized over the less risky ones. Changes in the work environment are meant to occur such as the acquisition of new equipment and subsequently new workers to operate it. As such, it is prudent to review the assessment and duly make the necessary changes. On average, this should be done annually (Health and Safety Executive, 2017). Human exposure is defined as the direct contact between a human and one or more chemical, biological, or physical agents over time. On the other hand, human exposure assessment is the intrinsic definition and identification of the vulnerabilities that either inherently occurs or are expected to happen within human populations (Dust, 2000). Comparatively, unlike risk assessment which came in later civilizations, human exposure started off in early civilizations before man learned what not to eat or what environments not to go. This was followed by a human assessment which during the time, for instance, was as simple as tasting the foods before giving them to the emperors and kings the determination whether they were poisonous or not (Berglund, Elinder, and Jarup). Risk assessment is a combination of a myriad of risks including both the riskier and the less risky ones. However, human exposure assessment deals with serious and detrimental risk exposures such as chemical, biological, and physical agents. In addition, human exposure assessment deals with the entire environment which is inclusive of the workplace environment. However, the risk assessment majorly focuses on the risks within the workplace. Nevertheless, both assessments are similar in the sense that they aim to prevent exposure risks and their debilitating effects. Also, both assessments take into account long-term risks due to exposure. For instance, the risk of lead exposure to the general population or environment and their long-term effects.
References
Berglund, M., Elinder, C., & Jarup, L. (2001). Human Exposure Assessment. WHO. Web. Retrieved from: http://www.imm.ki.se/publ/PDF/HEAboken.pdf
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Dust, S. (2000). Environmental Health Criteria 214: Human Exposure Assessment. INCHEM. Web. Retrieved from: http://www.inchem.org/documents/ehc/ehc/ehc214.htm
Health and Safety Executive. (2017). Five Steps to Risk Assessment. HSE, INDG163 (rev2). Web. Retrieved from: https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/media/departmental/healthsafetyenvironment/riskassessment/indg163(v2).pdf
