E-BOSH

MODULE 1: OSH and BOSH Framework

I. WHAT IS OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY

AND HEALTH?
Occupational safety and health is a discipline with a broad scope involving three major
fields – Occupational Safety, Occupational Health and Occupational Environment
(Industrial Hygiene).

 Occupational safety deals with understanding the causes of accidents at

work and ways to prevent unsafe act and unsafe conditions in any workplace.
Safety at work discusses concepts on good housekeeping, proper materials handling
and storage, machine safety, electrical safety, fire prevention and control, safety
inspection, and accident investigation.
 Occupational health is a broad concept which explains how the different
hazards and risks at work may cause an illness and emphasizes that health programs
are essential in controlling work-related and/or occupational diseases.
 Industrial hygiene discusses the identification, evaluation, and control of
physical, chemical, biologic and ergonomic hazards. Some experts say that industrial
hygiene (IH) is a branch of Occupational Health, but which has come on its own as a
field of expertise because of the many activities attached to it and its importance in the
preventive aspect of OH hazards prevention
“In its broadest sense, OSH aims at:

 the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental

and social well-being of workers in all occupations;
 the prevention of adverse health effects of the working conditions
  the placing and maintenance of workers in an occupational environment
adapted to physical and mental needs;
 the adaptation of work to humans (and NOT the other way around).
 
Occupational health and safety encompasses the social, mental and physical
well-being of workers, that is, the “whole person”.
 
In simpler terms, occupational safety (kaligtasan in Tagalog) is the prevention of work
accidents, while occupational health (kalusugan in Tagalog) is the prevention of
occupational illnesses.
 
Work accidents include falls from heights; electrocution; crushing injuries; being caught
between machines or other objects; struck by falling objects or other hard or sharp
object and many others. The effects to the body of the affected worker can mostly be
immediately seen.

 
On the other hand, occupational illnesses usually take time to develop (may be even
years) and the effects are not immediately apparent. There are four categories –
physical, chemical, biological and ergonomic stressors. The type of illness that can be
suffered by a worker will depend on the type of health hazard that the worker has been
exposed to. Details on these will be discussed in the following modules.

Hazard – a source or situation with a potential to cause harm in terms of injury, ill
health, damage to property, damage to the environment or a combination of these.

 
Risk – a combination of the likelihood of an occurrence of a hazardous event with
specified period or in specified circumstances and the severity of injury or damage to
the health of people, property, environment or any combination of these caused by the
event.
 
The hazards affecting the workplace under each major area should be detected,
identified, controlled and, at best, prevented from occurring by the safety and health
officer of the company. Occupational safety and health should be integrated in every
step of the work process, starting from storage and use of raw materials, the
manufacture of products, release of by-products, use of various equipment and
ensuring a non-hazardous or risk-free work environment.
 

 
Our discussions will therefore flow from the three major areas of OSH and then on to
the part where you will prepare a re-entry plan to apply what you have learned in your
specific workplace. If you are not working yet, we can simulate a company, a household
or a community that will benefit from your re-entry plan.

 
We also encourage you to spend a portion of your free time studying additional
resource materials mentioned throughout the modules. These sources will also provide
more insights, information and updates on the different aspects of occupational safety
and health.

 
Enjoy as you learn!
 II. Overview Of Online BOSH Course
This is a very short module that aims to prepare you for the technical discussions that
will follow in the next modules. This will also explain how the discussions will flow and
give you basic directions on where we are going.

Overview Of Online BOSH Course

The Online BOSH is made up of six units with nineteen modules. (refer to E-OSH
Learning Road Map )
 
This course maybe finished in five to twelve (5-12) weeks, if you consistently devote
one to two and a half hours per day, considering your workload. Of course, you are not
restricted to this schedule. You can do one or more modules when you have more time
and skip working on the modules during busy days.
 
By the end of this course, you are expected to demonstrate the basic knowledge and
skills on occupational safety and health (OSH) that will enable you to plan and/or
develop your company’s Safety and Health Program.
 

Specifically, you should be able to:

 Identify existing & potential OSH hazards and describe their effects to the human body;
 Relate the effects of occupational illnesses and accidents to individuals, their families,
communities and workplaces;
 Determine the appropriate control measures for specific hazards;
 Describe the elements of the Philippine OSH situation;
 Describe the roles and functions of safety officers in promoting a safe and healthy work
environment;
 Identify the components of an OSH program; and
 Develop a workplace-specific OSH re-entry plan.
II. E-OSH Learning Road Map
Basic Occupational Safety and Health (E-BOSH)  Module 01: OSH and BOSH Framework  E-OSH Learning
Road Map

IN PROGRESS

Unit 1: Introduction on OSH

Module 1 – OSH and the BOSH Framework
Module 2 – OSH Situationer
Module 3 – Unsafe / Unhealthy Acts and Conditions

Unit 2: Occupational Safety

Module 4 – Housekeeping
Module 5 – Materials Handling and Storage
Module 6 – Fire Safety
Module 7 – Electrical Safety
Module 8 – Machine Safety
Module 9 – PPE

Unit 3: Occupational Environment

Module 10 – Occupational Health

Unit 4: Occupational Health

Module 11 – Industrial Hygiene
Module 12 – Control Measures

Unit 5: Responses to OSH Issues and Concerns

Module 13 – Safety and Health Inspection
Module 14 – Accident Investigation
Module 15 – OSH Legislations / OSH Administration in the Philippines
Module 16 – OSH Programming
Module 17 – Workplace Emergency Preparedness (new)
Module 18 – Employees Compensation Program (new)

Unit 6: Re-Entry Planning

Module 19 – Re-entry Planning