This question appears in Mumbai University > Software Testing & Quality Assurance Subject

Marks: 10 M

Year: Dec 2013

Hazard :

• A hazard is a situation that poses a level of threat to life, health, property, or environment.

• A hazard is anything in the workplace that has the potential to harm people.

• A risk arises when it’s possible that a hazard will actually cause harm. The level of risk will depend on factors such as how often the job is done, the number of workers involved and how serious any injuries that result could be.

• A hazardis any source of potential damage, harm or adverse health effects on something or someone under certain conditions at work.

• Basically, a hazard can cause harm or adverse effects (to individuals as health effects or to organizations as property or equipment losses).

Mishap :

• It is a small mistake or amount of bad luck or an unlucky accident or mistake.

• The definition of a mishap is a minor problem or something that goes wrong. When you spill milk all over yourself, this is an example of a mishap.

• An accident or a mishap is an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance, often with lack of intention or necessity. It usually implies a generally negative outcome which might have been avoided or prevented had circumstances leading up to the accident been recognized, and acted upon, prior to its occurrence

Difference between hazard and a mishap :

• Hazard is an existing or potential condition in the workplace that, by itself or by interacting with other variables, can result in injuries and/or illnesses, property damage, and other losses.

• Accident is an unplanned event that results in personal injury, damage to property, equipment, or the environment, or an event that has the potential to result in such consequences.

  1) Water in the swimming pool becomes electrified.

  • Electric shock is only a real hazard in a swimming pool if you are ignoring certain precautions. People use many electronic gadgets and various types of hardwired electrical equipment in the swimming pool area. The permanent or temporary connections of wires of electrical devices such as underwater lights, CD and DVD players, automatic clocking devices, pace locks, and electronic speakers may come in contact with the water and cause an electric shock. Therefore, you need to follow some precautions and instructions given below for electrical safety around water.

  2) A car stops abruptly :

  • A car stopping abruptly is a mishap. An accident or a mishap is an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance, often with lack of intention or necessity. The car may stops suddenly due to application of brakes or some technical problem which may have a negative outcome such as delay or affecting other traffic nearby.

  3) A long distance telephone company suffers an outage.:

  • If a long distance telephone company suffers an outage, it is an occurrence of a mishap. Since it is an unplanned event that results in damage to equipment thereby affecting telephone services to the company’s potential customers, leading to loss in revenue, it is a mishap.

  4)A nuclear weapon is destroyed in an unplanned manner:

  • Nuclear explosions produce both immediate and delayed destructive effects. Blast, thermal radiation, and prompt ionizing radiation cause significant destruction within seconds or minutes of a nuclear detonation. The delayed effects, such as radioactive fallout and other environmental effects, inflict damage over an extended period ranging from hours to years. If a nuclear weapon is destroyed in an unplanned manner that poses a level of threat to life, health, property, or environment hence it is an extremely harmful hazard.

  5) A room fills with carbon di- oxide (oxygen deleted atmosphere)

  • Exposure to CO2 can produce a variety of health effects. These may include headaches, dizziness, restlessness, a tingling or pins or needles feeling, difficulty breathing, sweating, tiredness, increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure. A hazardis any source of potential damage, harm or adverse health effects on something or someone under certain conditions at work. Hence if a person is present in a room completely filled with carbon di-oxide, that is an oxygen deleted atmosphere, is bound to have harmful effects on the health of an individual. Therefore it is a hazard.