What Are Environmental Hazards?
Environmental hazards are elements of the physical workplace environment that may be detrimental to health. Workers may be so used to these conditions that they don't even notice them, or they may think that there is nothing that can be done to change them. Common workplace hazards include:
Ergonomics
Badly fitted chairs, screens, and keyboards can lead to lasting health problems, as well as pain.
Noise
Noise can be a problem in busy call centers.
Temperature
Call centers can be too cold or too hot, at least for some employees.
Ventilation
Poor ventilation can increase the harmful effects of airborne toxins and cause difficulty for employees with chemical sensitivities.
Ergonomics
Badly fitted chairs, screens, and keyboards can lead to lasting health problems, as well as pain.
Noise
Noise can be a problem in busy call centers.
Temperature
Call centers can be too cold or too hot, at least for some employees.
Ventilation
Poor ventilation can increase the harmful effects of airborne toxins and cause difficulty for employees with chemical sensitivities.
What Can You Do?
It can be intimidating to address environmental hazards, and some may be beyond your control. But you can still take steps to improve conditions in your call center.
- Educate yourself. These resources on noise in call centers and workplace ergonomics can give you good information about how to identify problems and solve them.
- Make changes where you can. For information on improving office ergonomics, see these materials from the Ergonomics Program of the Occupational Health Services at the University of California-Davis on posture, stretching, and setting up a computer workstation.
- Listen to your employees. Through informal conversations or surveys, find out what about the workplace environment is bothering people, and then work together to find ways to improve the situation.
- Call in a professional. Workplace safety and ergonomics experts can conduct assessments to provide you with important information about how the physical environment in your call center may be affecting employee health, and how you can help.
