Office Safety Awareness

Although accidents involving office personnel generally occur less frequently than mishaps to industrial workers, they do still occur and can result in serious injuries and even death. A broken bone sustained from a fall in an office costs just as much to treat as a broken bone caused by a fall in the plant. Although most office injuries are not serious, even slight injuries may result in lost workdays, pain and stress. In addition to obvious hazards such as slippery floors or an open file drawer, a modern office may also contain hazards such as poor lighting, chemicals, and overloaded electrical equipment. Even the nature of office work itself can produce a range of stress-related symptoms and musculoskeletal strains. For example, long hours at a poorly designed computer workstation can cause pains in the neck and back. While proper ergonomics is important, we will not be covering it in this course. Rather, this course will provide you with information you need to work more safely in your office environment. Office safety is everyone's responsibility. It involves two major factors; first, you must understand what you can do to stay safe on the job; and second, you need to be aware of how to correct unsafe conditions.