Introduction
The problem of work place hazards is a very common issue for each and every work place and all of the work places have different types of hazards. Therefore, presence of the work place hazards is obvious for all the work place. In this current scenario, the condition of beauty and hair saloon named Streakers Hair and Beauty Salon is discussed. According to the study of (), it is stated that it is very important to provide a safe and secure work place to the workers as it is the right of the workers to work in a safe and secure work places. In order to provide a safe and secure work place to the workers, it is very important to assess the work place properly so that the potential hazards and threats to the workers can be identified easily by the employers and it would help them to make the work place safer. Moreover, the employers should encourage the workers as well to practice the safety measures properly as it will help the employers and the employees as well to be safe during the performances of the work in the work places.
In this report, the work place of Streakers Hair and Beauty Salon will be examined as beauty salon is taken over by a new owner and they have decides to assess the risks present n the work place to provide a safer work place to the workers of the Streakers Hair and Beauty Salon. The main goal of this risk assessment program is to reduce the potential risks of the hazards present in the work place and in this context, it can be stated that there are different types of physical and chemical hazards present in the Streakers Hair and Beauty Salon.
Plant Hazards
Identification of Hazards
Apart from the chemical hazards, there are different other types of hazards are also present in a saloon work place and so it is very important to point out those hazards to make the work place safer and it will also help the workers to perform in a better manner. In this specific case, it can be stated that the workers in a saloon may face various complex physiological condition due to the nature of the works that can cause serious health hazards to the workers as well. In a saloon like work place the cases of fire and electricity related hazards are very common due to the presence of various inflammable substances in the work place (Manoj 2018). According to the study of Cohen (2017), it is stated that the use of different types of electrical equipment is quite common and as a consequence of this cases of electrical short circuit related may also take place frequently and it can cause fire incidents in the salon work area. In this context, another hazard that is related to the use of electrical equipment is the risks of electrical shocks as it is very common to use water and to touch electrical device with wet hand by the staffs. Therefore, the chance of getting electrical shock is very high. According to the study of Abia et al. (2016), it is stated that in a work place like saloon it is mandatory to work with their wet hands and to use the electrical machineries with that hands and as a consequences of this they may easily face the electrical shock related hazards during their work as well. The second possible hazard present in the work place is the occurrence of the carpal tunnel syndrome due the cases of the repetitive movements during the performances of the work. Due to the nature of the work, it is quite common that the workers of the saloon have to perform repetitive movements of their hands. The study findings of Khandan, Toranjian and Koohpaei (2017) stated about the issue of repetitive motion of hands during the performance of various work in a work place like beauty salon. Therefore, it is quite common to develop carpal tunnel syndrome due to such type of work as the workers of a saloon have to use their wrists during the hair cutting and other processes for a long period time and it can cause the above said problems. In case of the workers of the Streakers Hair and Beauty Salon the chances of having this problem is very high as well. In another study by Demiryurek and Gündoğdu (2018), the development of carpal tunnel syndrome is very common among the hair dressers and the study also revealed the risk of developing this disease is mostly associated with use of vibratory equipment. Moreover, use of such equipment in saloon work place enhances the chances the developing this problem among the salon workers as well. Moreover the dynamic wrist activities and consistent flexion and extensions of the several joints of the hands of the employees are also associated with the onset of the carpal tunnel syndrome among the individuals (Nassaji et al. 2015). The third hazard that is associated with the salon work place is the problem of cuts of the fingers of the workers during the performances of the fine work. It is quite common to use various sharp edge equipment such as scissors, trimmers, razors and during the use of these equipment can cause cut and puncture by the sharp edge equipment during the use of those equipment in the salon (Vidotto and Vidotto 2016). Therefore, the workers of Streakers Hair and Beauty Salon may also face this problem during their work.
Assessment and Control of Identified Hazards
After the risk assessment of the salon work place of the Streakers Hair and Beauty Salon it can be stated that the risk of developing the carpal tunnel syndrome due to repetitive movement is very high along with a risk score of 15 and it has a severity score of 3 and likelihood score of 5. So the risk matrix of this particular risk shows that this particular work has a higher level of risks. The risk score of the fire hazard in the work place is nearly 12 that have moderate level of risk in the risk scale. This work has the severity scale score of 3 and on the other hand the task has likelihood scale score of 4. The next hazard is the hazard related with the cut due to the usage of sharp edge gear in the salon. The risk assessment of this task disclosed that the risk score of this task is 9 which are denoted as high risky according to the risk matrix table. Moreover, the likelihood score of this task is 3 and this task has the severity score of 3 as well. For the management of the identified risks present in the Streak Hair and Beauty Saloon, it can be stated that in order to reduce the work burden of the workers the employers can employ more numbers of hair stylists as it will reduce the time spent in the process of repetitive movements of the hands and wrists of the workers and it will eventually help in reduction of carpal tunnel syndrome cases among the workers as well. On the other hand, for managing the risks of the sharp edge equipment related cut hazards, the management can use ergonomically designed apparatus that has lesser prospective to form such type of dangers among the staffs. Moreover, the employee may use hand gloves to dodge such cut related incidents as well and it is the duty of the management to supervise the working process by organizing audits within a specific time period. For avoiding the fire incidents from the electrical short circuits the management should keep adequate numbers of fire extinguishers and the emergency exit must be well pointed so that the people can be evacuated easily during an emergency situation.
Reassessment
After executing the control measures in the work place, it can be identified that the carpal tunnel syndrome’s risk score is decreased to 9 due to the lessening of the likelihood score of the job and the whole risk score of the job turned into moderate. The risk of fire hazard is lowered to 6 due to the lessening of likelihood score to 2. Though, the overall risk score remains identical. The risk score of apparatus related hazard that is cutting due to sharp edge gear is also decreased to 3 due to the lessening of the likelihood score to 1.
Chemical Hazards
Identification of Hazards
In case of chemical hazards of the work place, it can be identified that the use of different types of chemicals such as ammonia, sodium hydroxide, phenyleneediamine (PPD) and hydrogen peroxide is relatively common and contact to such types of chemicals can be a source of irritation in the skin and further problems associated to the exposure. Moreover, it was also reported that such types of exposure can cause problems in the eyes such as irritation as well (de Souza et al. 2019). Another potential hazard, present in the salon like work place is associated with the use of formaldehyde and it is observed that the breathing related problems may occur among the workers due to the inhalation of formaldehyde (Barbosa et al. 2019). Furthermore, there is another hazardous chemical that is present in various products used in a saloon and that chemical is acetone. It is reported that acetone is present in the nail polish remover used by the salon staffs and so exposure to this chemical hazard can cause dizziness and headaches, irritation in throat, eyes and skin of the staffs of the saloon (Quach et al. 2018).
Assessment and Control of Identified Chemical Hazards
The assessments of the chemical hazards of the work place revealed that the formaldehyde contained nail polish remover has the risk score of almost 12 along with a severity score of 3 and likelihood score of 4. Furthermore, the usage of the acetone containing nail polish remover by the staffs has a likelihood score of 3 and severity score of 3 and an overall risk score of 9. The risk score of the ammonia, sodium hydroxide exposure has a likelihood score of 3 and severity score of 2 along with an overall risk score of 6. As a part of the control measures for the specified chemical hazards, it can be stated that the management should think for products containing less harmful chemicals or such products made from the natural ingredients as it is not feasible to implement administrative controls and engineering control in this particular situation. In order to prevent the inhalation of the formaldehyde, the workers should use the personal protective equipment.
Reassessment
Followed by the implementation of the control measures, the risk score of the first hazard is decreased to 2 due to the lessening of likelihood score to 1. For the next hazard, the risk score is decreased to 9, though the whole risk associated with the task remains moderate. Furthermore, the risk score of acetone contained nail polish exposure is decreased to 3 due to the reduced likelihood score of 1 and severity score of 3.
From the above assessment, it can be identified that control measures described above follow the ALARP principle as the institute tried to implement a few small adaptations in the work place of the salon and all of the measures are quite realistic to implement (Meacham et al. 2016).
Recommendation
In order to provide a safe work place, the authority can organize training program so the workers can understand the importance of using safety measures in the work places of Streakers Hair and Beauty Salon.
Pre-Post Policy
The new purchase policy should be as below-
- Proper labelling of the hazardous materials present in the work place.
- Documentations of all adverse incidents
- Regular risk assessments of the work places
In the post buying condition, the policy should be as below-
- Audits of the work place to prevent fire hazards
- Use of electrical equipment after wearing safety gloves
Conclusion
Hence, it can be concluded that the presence of different equipment and beauty products make the work place of salon very hazardous and it is the duty of the employers to provide a safe and secure work place to the workers. There are different types of physical and chemical hazards present in a work place like salon and the workers have to handle all of the things as a part of their job. So, it is the duty to take proper initiatives to minimize the hazards of the work place so that the workers can work in a safe and secure environment.
References
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de Souza, J.C., da Silva, B.F., Morales, D.A., de Aragão Umbuzeiro, G. and Zanoni, M.V.B., 2019. Assessment of the autoxidation mechanism of p-toluenediamine by air and hydrogen peroxide and determination of mutagenic environmental contaminant in beauty salon effluent. Science of The Total Environment, 685, pp.911-922.
Demiryurek, B.E. and Gündoğdu, A.A., 2018. Prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome and its correlation with pain amongst female hairdressers. International journal of occupational medicine and environmental health, 31(3), pp.333-339.
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Quach, T., Von Behren, J., Tsoh, J., Reynolds, P., Fu, L., Nguyen, T., Le, M. and Nguyen, T.T., 2018. Improving the knowledge and behavior of workplace chemical exposures in Vietnamese–American nail salon workers: a randomized controlled trial. International archives of occupational and environmental health, 91(8), pp.1041-1050.
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