ABSTRACT
Hazards from work equipment can arise in two physical ways. The first is possibly the easier to recognise – equipment and machinery hazards, including traps, impact, contact, entanglement or ejection of parts of and by the equipment, or failure of components. The second way is by non-equipment hazards, which can include electrical failure, exposure to chemical sources, pressure, temperature, noise, vibration and radiation. Hazards can also arise from the ‘software element’ – computer control, human intervention by the person carrying out the task using the equipment, and lack of maintenance. It is important to distinguish between continuing hazards associated with the normal working of the equipment, such as not having guards fitted where necessary to protect the operator, and those arising from the failure of components or safety mechanisms, such as breakdown of the guarding mechanism.
