Unit 6 - Ensure Your Own Actions Reduce Risks to Health & Safety

One of the main hazards in my workplace would be loose cables and expose wiring as i am constantly around computers. I could easily trip over them if i am not careful. One way I could prevent tripping up/getting hurt on the cables is to properly sort out the cables by either tying them up or get cable guards. The second most dangerous hazard would be eye strain as your eyes can start aching after a prolonged amount of time in front of a screen. To stop this from happening i would either take a break from the computer if i felt my eyes were hurting, or turn the brightness down on the screen.




My responsibility is to be careful in the workplace by looking around for hazards such as any loose cables or exposed wiring and if necessary, i should tell others about the potential hazard.

The procedure i would take for things outside of my responsibility would be to report to the manager/supervisor or whoever you have been told to go to for these problems and inform them and ask them to deal with the problem, for example, if the air conditioning broke in one of the rooms i would notify my supervisor/manager and see how it pans out from there.

One example of workplace instructions is reporting. For example if you see certain hazards or have a problem, you should report it to your supervisor/manager.


An unsafe practice in the workplace would include throwing objects such as stationary/ batteries/ keyboard/mouse. Doing this can result in major injuries to you and your workmates and could damage equipment such as the computers or could also smash windows etc which would cause a lot to replace/repair.




The most dangerous practice would be throwing objects as it could lead to major injuries or could lead to an expensive reparation charge to the building or replacement of equipment which is really not needed and can easily be avoided.




To take action to address hazards in accordance with the workplace in terms of the wire issues, i would talk to my supervisor/manager and ask them to buy cable ties/guards to clean up the wires so no one trips up. If there was a problem with a machine, such as the cable used to power the machine was exposed, i would first turn the machine off and take the cable out of the machine then tell the supervisor/manager about the cable and ask for a replacement , as it is against the health and safety act to use a dodgy computer but doesn't cover things like throwing objects as it is your responsibility to not do that, it is when you cause damage that you start to go against the health and safety act which might lead to your employer being prosecuted and you could also get fired from a small thing that you do which you might later regret. If there is an item like a carrier bag blocking up an aisle or a certain item that is not in the possession of the company it is not the companies responsibility to protect that product so you would not be able to blame them for any certain damage caused as it was your responsibility to look after.




I have created and sent an e-mail to Paul Chambers asking to sort out a potential safety hazard on the floors of one of the rooms i work in, as there are exposed wires that could be dangerous if someone trips on them or messes with them. Here it is:









There are varying different levels of safety that need to be taken in to consideration as every different workplace is different, for example, if you were in the creative digital media you would have less hazards to worry about than if you were to work in a warehouse where there would be a lot more health and safety procedures to take into consideration such as taking care when you lift objects, how to lift the objects properly, wear a hard hat if necessary, put the safety on machines when you are finished with them etc.