What is an adverse health effect?

By definition, an adverse health effect is the causation, promotion, facilitation, and/or exacerbation of a structural and/or functional abnormality, with the implication that the abnormality produced has the potential of lowering the quality of life, contributing to a disabling illness, or leading to premature death.

When working on improving workplace safety, one of the most important things you can do is to take steps towards minimizing or eliminating anything that could cause an adverse health effect to the employees, visitors, or others in the facility. This is in addition to preventing any adverse health effects on the plant and animal life in the surrounding environment. Keeping everyone and everything safe from any potential harm is one of the most important responsibilities of any employer.

An adverse health effect can be either a temporary or a permanent issue that the person or other living organism has to deal with. So, it could be an injury such as a cut, broken bone, burn, or other problem. It could also be something causing health issues like cancer, respiratory problems, and much more.

Investing the time and money needed to minimize or prevent any risk of adverse health effects in your workplace is the most important aspect of any workplace safety efforts. Of course, you will want to do everything possible to stop any type of permanent or life-threatening effects first, but reducing even minor adverse health effects is also important. In many cases, minor safety issues can also lead to major adverse health effects, so taking care of them as soon as possible is essential.