Page 58 - OHS, October 2023

HAZCOM Navigating HazCom: Lessons from Ancient Mariners Applied to Modern Workplace Safety From the ancient Mediterranean sailors to today’s workplaces, understanding the true essence of risk is vital. Dive deep into the transformative journey of the word “risk” and its implications in today’s Hazard Communication. BY RAY PREST M G White/Shutterstock.com OSHA might have only been legislated into existence in 1970, but the concept of workplace safety is at least a few thousand years older. In fact, the central concepts of in- cident prevention — risk and hazards — can be found in the ancient Greek term “rhizikon” and the Latin term “risco,” both of which refer to reefs and other potentially dangerous obstruc- tions lurking below the water’s surface. As author Astra Taylor says, the term was “used by sailors and traders navigating treacherous routes, \[and\] risco conveyed the prospects of a venture’s success or failure and degree of danger.” Success and safety, failure and hazard, all rolled into one word that, over the years, morphed from a maritime reference to a sig- nifier for a whole host of metaphorical shoals. Most people now think of risk in terms of likelihoods and probabilities. Maybe we’ve all been conditioned by playing Yahtzee as kids, or by hours spent watching the odds flash across the screen during the World Series of Poker. For many, risk is now a term that heavily connotes chance and cold, hard probability. But hiding in the word “risk” is a sense of real, tangible danger. Universal Meaning This is an article about HazCom. At its most basic level, HazCom is about making clear what something is rather than what workers think it might be. It’s about showing that a hazard is unavoidably near and that the likelihood of encountering it and the potential harm it can cause is, if not the same thing, at least intertwined. Yes, this is an article about HazCom, and it’s also about shifts in the meaning of words and the unavoidable fog of ambiguity. The term “risco” was useful to sailors because it took something that was hidden and made it more conceptually visible. Utter the word on a ship, and everyone understood that there was a big pointy rock that might damage the boat. Because risk is often shared in a workplace, every sailor knew that risco affected them all. HazCom works in the same way: a label makes clear that a danger is present, out of sight but nearby, and explains the need for caution. If there is an incident with hazardous materials, it could potentially endanger everyone in the surrounding area. Ask any experienced sailor, and they’ll pile on all sorts of ad- jectives about the open sea — it can be majestic, awe-inspiring, 58 Occupational Health & Safety | OCTOBER 2023 www.ohsonline.com