Other germs can be swallowed if you eat or touch your mouth without proper hand washing after touching soiled linens or other items. Many chemicals and some types of radiation can pass right through your skin. Some types of chemicals, germs or radiation will cause illness or symptoms just by coming into contact with the skin. Chemicals or germs can also pass through your skin if you get cut or get stuck with a sharp object such as a needle. A person can hurt their back from lifting something too heavy.
Someone can get frostbite from working outside in the winter.
The type of harm depends on the part of the body that is exposed and the other factors shown in Figure 1. The strength, or ability of an agent or process to cause serious problems. Hazards can affect health in different ways. Some hazards affect workers right away or soon after they are exposed. Symptoms that show up quickly are called acute effects.