Taxonomy to characterize occupational hazards (risk factors) at the workplace level

BACKGROUND: The identification of hazards or risk factors at the workplace level is a crucial procedure to the risk identification, risk analysis and risk evaluation. OBJECTIVE: This article presents a hazard or risk factors taxonomy, to be applied at the workplace level, during the systematic hazards identification. METHODS: The taxonomy was based on evidences literature, including technical documents, standards, regulations, good-practice documents and toxicology databases. RESULTS: The taxonomy was organized as a matrix (Risk Factors-Disorders Matrix), an extensive list of occupational hazards. Hazards were organized in terms of the potential individual dominant consequences: in terms of accidents (injuries), occupational disease and negative social, mental or physical well-being (like dissatisfaction and discomfort complaints not resulting from injuries or diseases symptomatology). The specific hazards in each work context were characterized by three summary tables: (1) Accidents-Risk Factors Table, (2) Diseases-Risk Factors Table and (3) Negative Well-being-Risk Factors Table. CONCLUSIONS: Risk factors are coded according to the Risk Factors-Disorders Matrix and the dominant potential disorders are identified in the Risk Factors Tables. The inclusion of individual, psychosocial, emerging and combined hazards in the Matrix, contributes to focusing the risk identification in non-traditional sources of risk during risk assessment procedures.