Occupational health and safety

for health workers in the context of COVID-19

WHO / P. Phutpheng

Introduction
Those who care also deserve good care.
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 Course content

This course consists of five parts:

§ Introduction
§ Module 1: Infectious risks to health and safety
§ Module 2: Physical risks to health and safety
§ Module 3: Psychosocial risks to health and safety
§ Module 4: Basic occupational health and safety

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 Learning objectives

By the end of this course, participants should be able to:

§ describe the most common occupational risks to health and safety to

which health workers are exposed while responding to the COVID-19
pandemic;

§ describe the rights of health workers to decent working conditions,

how to apply measures for protecting their health and safety and
actively propose improvements; and

§ access and use supportive services for protection of health and safety
of health workers.

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 Introduction
What is occupational health and why does it matter for health workers?

§ The goal of occupational health is to protect health, safety and well-being of workers
and people at work through:
- primary prevention and control of occupational hazards;
- monitoring the health of workers in relation to their work; and
- promoting healthy behaviours, physical and mental well-being among workers.

§ A healthy and safe working environment is important for physical, mental and social
well-being of all health workers.

§ Health and safety of health workers are also important for the quality of care, patient
safety and prevention of infections in healthcare facilities.
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 What are the most common occupational
hazards?
What are the most common occupational hazards for the health and safety of health workers?

HAZARDOUS PHYSICAL HAZARDS

BIOHAZARDS PSYCHOSOCIAL
CHEMICALS
Bacteria, viruses, Various forms of Factors of work Physical factors within
fungi, or parasites, chemicals that are organization and the work environment
that may be potentially toxic or interpersonal that can harm health.
transmitted by irritating to the body. relations, such as For example: noise,
contact with infected For example: job content, ionizing radiation, heat
patients or disinfectants, workload, conflicts, or cold, accidents, and
contaminated body medications, harassment, manual handling of
secretions/fluids. mercury and violence, stigma and loads.
anaesthetic gases. discrimination.
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 How the COVID-19 crisis affects the health
of health workers (1)

§ COVID-19 has created excess demands for public health and

healthcare services, causing new and amplifying existing
occupational risks for health workers.

§ COVID-19 infections among health workers can be acquired at

work, at home and in the community.

§ Health workers may be required to work long hours over irregular

work shifts, wear personal protective equipment and perform
unfamiliar tasks.

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 How the COVID-19 crisis affects the health
of health workers (2)

§ Increasing use of disinfectants may expose health workers to

hazardous chemicals.

§ Social crisis, measures for quarantine, shortage of healthcare

services and fear of contagion may provoke psychological or
even physical violence against health workers and social stigma.

§ Worries about personal health and health of family members,

shortage of personal protective equipment, facing human
suffering and death all may affect psychological wellbeing and
mental health.
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How the health and safety of health workers
can be protected?

§ Not all measures of controlling

occupational risks for health
and safety are equally effective.
§ Measures that prevent
exposure to a hazard at its
source are more effective than
measures for personal
protection and behaviours.
§ In designing preventative
measures, priority should be
given to the most effective
controls.

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