Legal Definitions - hazardous

The term hazardous describes something that presents a significant risk of harm, injury, or damage to people, property, or the environment. This inherent danger often necessitates specific precautions, regulations, or legal oversight to prevent adverse outcomes.

Here are some examples illustrating the application of "hazardous":

• Workplace Safety: A manufacturing plant uses a powerful industrial machine with exposed moving parts that could easily catch a worker's clothing or limb. Despite warnings, the company has not installed safety guards.

  Explanation: The unguarded machine is considered hazardous because it poses a high and foreseeable risk of severe injury, such as amputation or crushing, to employees operating near it. This situation would likely violate occupational safety regulations, requiring the company to implement protective measures.

• Environmental Regulation: A company stores large quantities of highly flammable and toxic chemicals in a dilapidated warehouse with inadequate ventilation and no fire suppression system.

  Explanation: The chemicals, especially when stored improperly, are hazardous because they present a significant danger of explosion, fire, or the release of toxic fumes, which could harm workers, contaminate the surrounding community, and cause extensive environmental damage. This would trigger strict environmental and safety regulations regarding the storage of dangerous materials.

• Consumer Products: A new brand of electric blankets is found to have a manufacturing defect that causes them to overheat dangerously, posing a risk of fire or burns to users.

  Explanation: The defective electric blankets are deemed hazardous because their flaw creates a substantial and unacceptable risk of serious harm (fire, burns) to consumers. This discovery would typically lead to a product recall and potential legal action under consumer protection laws.