Table of Contents
What is Occupational Health?
- Occupational health is a branch of public health concerned with the physical, mental, and social well-being of workers in all occupations.
- Occupational health focuses on the safety, prevention and management of work or work-place related injuries, illnesses and diseases.
- According to World Health Organization (WHO), occupational health is defined as “the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations.”
What is Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)?
- Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is comprehensive framework focused on safeguarding the well-being of individuals in the workplace by preventing accidents, injuries, and health problems related to work
- Occupational health and safety (OHS) deals with all facets of well-being and welfare in the place of work and has a resilient concentration on primary prevention of vulnerabilities.
- The health of the workforces has numerous factors to be taken care of; including risk factors at the workplace leading to cancers, accidents, musculoskeletal diseases, respiratory diseases, hearing loss, circulatory diseases, stress-related disorders and communicable diseases and others.
- According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), every year over 2.78 million people die due to occupational accidents or work-related diseases. Likewise, around 374 million workers suffer from non-fatal work-related injuries.
- Therefore, the objective of occupational health and safety is to ensure a safe and healthy working environment for everyone.
Goals of Occupational Health and Safety
- To promote health, well-being and efficiency of the workers
- To prevent work or work-place related injuries, illnesses and diseases
- To improve safety and working conditions of the workers
- To create an enabling environment that fosters the employee’s capability to perform their works.
Importance of Occupational Health and Safety
- To improve economic productivity by reducing illness and injuries of the workers.
- Good occupational health practices lead to improved morale and job satisfaction of the workers.
- Higher retention of the workers and positive work place environment leading to increased effectiveness and efficiency.
- Poor occupational health will increase injuries, illnesses thus leading to increased absenteeism, compensation claims and sometimes long-term disability or death of the workers.
Causes/Reasons of Poor Occupational Health and Safety
There are various reasons for poor occupational health practices. Among them, five major factors that cause poor occupational health are:
1. People
- People’s activities, whether they show them or not, have a substantial effect on place of work healthiness and security. As a result, actions turn out to be one of the main factors that cause health and safety vulnerabilities.
2. Equipment
- Equipment consists of tools and equipment that individuals work with. Additional, equipment takes in those to which people are nearby. Equipment can consist of immobile machines, Lorries, material handling maneuvers, hand tools, defending equipment, and delicate gear. Furthermore, some tools can possibly discharge detrimental chemicals. Moreover, certain equipment can yield physical agents such as heat, noise, vibration, or radiation during a job.
3. Material
- The Material contains raw material, merchandises, lethal chemicals, and other elements that workers use, practice, or handle. Thus, it is vital to be conscious about the loss material can cause to the property. These damages could be unsettled to leaks, oxidization, injuries, or detonations.
4. Environment
- Environment states to all portions of a workstation. Besides, there are six facets of a workplace that can be a possible threat. The situation of all exteriors on which people stroll or where corporation reside its belongings is essential.
- Additional, insecure or poor environments such as overcrowding and poor ventilation become significant. In addition, threats caused by physical agents such as light, temperature, and noise are vital to investigate. Maintenance hazards such as obstructed stairs, remains on stairs, and congested floors and exits are life- threatening for hazard analysis.
5. Process
- Process deliberates how things are done at the workplace entirely. Thus, it associates the former contributors – persons, tools, material, and environment. Likewise, the process covers the hazards that possibly will be prevailing a process among these factors occurs.
Consequences of Ill Occupational Health and Safety
- Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs): mostly including work-related upper limb disorders (WRULDs) and back injuries
- Work-related stress: that can be affected by poor labour organization
- Occupational asthma: caused by inhalation of bakery and grain dusts
- Occupational dermatitis: from hand washing, contact with yields or food products etc.
- Rhinitis: initiated by irritation dusts such as bakery and grain dusts, spices and seasonings.
- Noise-induced hearing loss: where noise levels go above 85 dB (A).
Occupational Hazards
- Physical Hazards: Noise, vibration, radiation, extreme temperatures etc.
- Chemical Hazards: Pesticides, chemicals, laboratory extracts and gases, acids etc.
- Biological Hazards: Bacteria, Virus, Fungi, parasites.
- Psychosocial Hazards: Work related stress, harassment, bullying and violence in work places
- Mechanical Hazards: Injuries from machines and equipment
Classification of Occupational Diseases
1. Diseases due to physical agents:
- Heat: Heat hyperpyrexia, heat exhaustion, heat syncope, heat cramps, burn and local effects such as prickly heat.
- Cold: Trench foot, frostbite, chilblains
- Light: Occupational cataract, miner’s nystagmus
- Noise: Occupational deafness
- Radiation: Cancer, leukemia, aplastic anemia, pancytopenia
- Mechanical Injuries, accidents factors
- Electricity Burns
2. Disease due to chemical agents:
a) Gases:– CO2, CO, HCN, CS2, NH3, N2, H2s, HCL, and SO2 – causes gas poisoning.
b) Dusts (pneumoconiosis):
- Inorganic dust
- Coal dust: causes Anthracosis
- Silica: causes Silicosis
- Asbestos: Asbestosis, Lung cancer
- Iron: causes Siderosis
c) Organic (vegetables) Dusts:
- Cane fibers: causes Bagassosis
- Cotton Dust: causes Byssinosis
- Tobacco: causes Tobacossis
- Hay or grain dust: causes Farmer’s lung (a type of hypersensitivity pneumonitis caused by inhaling dust containing spores from moldy hay or other agricultural products)
4. Disease due to metals and their compounds
- Toxic hazards: from lead, mercury, cadmium, manganese, beryllium, arsenic, chromium, etc.
- Chemicals: Acids, alkalies, pesticides
- Solvents: Carbon bisulphide, benzene, trichloroethylene, chloroform, etc.
5. Diseases due to biological agents
- Brucellosis, leptospirosis, anthrax, actinomycosis, hydatidosis, psittacosis, tetanus, encephalitis, fungal infection, etc.
- Occupational cancers: Cancer of skin, lungs, bladder
- Occupational dermatosis: Dermatitis, eczema
6. Disease of psychological origin
- Industrial neurosis, hypertension, peptic ulcer, etc.
Methods of Identifying Occupational Health Risk
Hazard Identification and Assessment
1: Collect existing information about workplace hazards
Information on workplace hazards may perhaps already be accessible to employers and workers, from both internal and external bases.
2: Inspect the workplace for safety hazards
Hazards can be familiarized over time as workspaces and courses change, equipment or tools become damaged, repairs are neglected, or housekeeping practices drop. Setting apart time to recurrently examine the workplace for threats can help detect inadequacies so that they could be focused before an incident take place.
3: Identify health hazards
Detecting workers’ disclosure of health hazards is stereotypically more multifaceted than identifying physical safety threats.
4: Conduct incident investigations
Workplace happenings –containing damages, disorders, narrow escapes/near misses, and news of other concerns– be responsible for a clear warning of where hazards occur.
5: Identify hazards connected with emergency and non-routine situations
Emergencies existent hazards that must be acknowledged and implicit. Non-routine or occasional tasks, containing repairs and startup/shutdown actions, also present possible hazards.
6: Characterize the nature of identified hazards, detect provisional control measures, and highlight the hazards for control
The next step is to measure and comprehend the hazards identified and the types of occurrences that could affect from work experience to those hazards. This data can be used to improve interim controls and to highlight hazards for long-lasting control.
Ways to Promote Occupational Health and Safety
- Capacity building and Training
- Risk assessment and hazard control
- Health surveillance and screening
- Use of Personal Protective Equipment’s (PPE) in workplaces
- Hiring proficient workers and mentors for new staffs so that they could give clear indication of occupational health and safety.
- Provide maintenance on all machines and equipment
- Awareness regarding occupational health and safety rights and responsibilities especially to those who are at high risk.
- Enforcement and monitoring
- Counselling services
- Compliance to rules and regulations for occupational safety
- Emergency preparedness activities
Challenges in Ensuring Occupational Health and Safety
- Ignorance of Mental health perspective in workplaces
- Underreporting and lack of awareness about occupational health and safety
- Lack of adequate infrastructure and resources
- Exclusion of informal sectors in legal protection
References and For More Information
https://www.who.int/topics/occupational_health/en/
http://www.hse.gov.uk/food/occhealth.pdf
https://www.4sconsult.com/5-factors-that-cause-health-and-safety-hazards/
https://www.who.int/occupational_health/regions/en/oehemhealthcareworkers.pdf
https://www.coursehero.com/file/8995698/Occupational-Diseases-And-Classification-Presentation/
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