SAFETY AND HEALTH

IN THE WORKPLACE
 Objectives
 Discuss work-related injuries and disease
 Learn the scope of occupational safety and health
 Identify legislative efforts aimed at protecting workers
 Discuss epidemiology of occupational injuries and illnesses
 Enumerate prevention and control efforts of occupational
injuries
 Outline resources for reducing the number and seriousness
of workplace injuries and diseases
Globally, there are more than 2.6 billion
workers and the workforce is growing
continuously.
Approximately 75% of these workers are in
developing countries, where workplace
hazards are more severe.
Each year there are as many as 250
million occupational injuries
resulting in 330,000 fatalities.
 OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
 The modern definition of Occupational Health
(ILO and WHO) is:

“The promotion and

maintenance of the
highest degree of
physical, mental and
social well-being of
workers in all occupations
– total health of all at
work”
OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD:

“Source or situation with a

potential for harm in terms of
injury or ill health, damage to
property, damage to the
workplace environment, or a
combination of these.”
 January 2011, 9 killed
Building construction in Makati
 Occupational Safety and
Health Act of 1970

PURPOSE:

 To ensure that employers in the private

sector furnish each employee
“employment and a place of employment
which are free from recognized hazards
that are causing or likely to cause death or
serious physical harm.”
DOLE - OSHS
Definition
 Health
 connote a sound state of the body and
mind of the worker which enables him to
perform his job normally, in a state of well-
being.

 Occupational medicine
 medical specialty that concerns itself with
all aspects of health in relation to
occupation
Definition
 Occupational illness
 any illness caused by environmental
factors, the exposure to which is
characterized or peculiar to a particular
process, trade or occupation and to which
an employee or worker is not ordinarily
subjected to or exposed outside of or away
from such employment
 Occupational Health
 Is the branch of preventive medicine that
aims to:
 Promote and maintain the highest degree of physical,
mental and social well-being of workers in all occupation
 Prevent among workers all departures from health
caused by their working conditions
 Protect workers in their employment from risks resulting
from factors adverse to health
 Place and maintain the workers in an occupational
environment adapted to his physiological and
psychological capacity
 Elements of Occupational Health

1. WORKER: genetic composition, physical

constitution, psychological characteristic, disease
susceptibility
2. TOOL: biomechanical designs and specifications
3. TASK or JOB: application, software design,
change, training, job satisfaction, rest breaks, shift
work, support systems, management system
4. WORKING ENVIRONMENT: physical condition,
biomechanical, furniture/equipment
 WORKPLACE ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENT:
Noise, vibration, lighting,
temperature, ventilation

WORKPLAC
E
EQUIPMENT: PROCESS:
materials, tools and worker interaction with
apparatus for other elements in a
producing product or series of tasks
service (operations)
 WHO 1985
“Occupational health is not limited in
scope to only preventing and controlling
specific occupational diseases; workers’
health programs should deal with the full
relationship between work and total
health of man”
 Industrial Physician

OH PROGRAM

Industrial Hygiene Safety Engineer

 Determinants of
Occupational Health Programs

In Plant
 Type of raw materials used and products
generated
 Process of flow and other production
activities
 Level of production technology
 Number of employees and other employee
demographic characteristics
 Resources available
 Occupational health hazards identified
 Determinants of
Occupational Health Programs
Community
 Availability of medical services in the
community
 Extent of community contributions to the
work pool
 Labor-management agreement
 Corporate policies on health
 Principles of OH Practice
1. Conformity with provision of national
occupational safety and health legislation
2. OH care is essentially an interdisciplinary
team effort.
3. OH unit must be staffed by qualified
professionals, personnel; must have
administrative stability and must have the
understanding and support of both
management and labor
 Principles of OH Practice
4. The quality of the work environment is of
vital importance and is central to the
prevention of disease and injury.
5. Workers themselves must participate in
achieving a common goal; high level of
wellness as a measure of quality of life.
6. OH professionals must work cooperatively
with union leaders.
7. OH is an essential components of the
community health; they are interrelated and
interdependent.
 OH Practice specialties
1. Emergency medicine
2. Industrial hygiene
3. Toxicology
4. Epidemiology
 Industrial hygiene
“...the science and art devoted to the
anticipation, recognition, evaluation and
control of those environmental factors
and stresses, arising in or from the
workplace, which may cause sickness,
impaired health and well-being or
significant discomfort and inefficiency
among workers or among the citizens of
the community.” (American Conference of
Governmental Industrial Hygienists)
 OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH HAZARDS

TYPES OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH HAZARDS

A. Physical
B. Chemical
C. Biological
D. Mechanical
E. Psychosocial
 PHYSICAL HAZARDS

Temperature - Heat / Cold

Illumination

Noise

Vibration

Radiation

Atmospheric pressure
 DISEASES DUE TO PHYSICAL
AGENTS

Heat Heat hyperpyrexia, Heat Exhaustion,

Heat Syncope, Heat Cramps, burns,
Prickly heat
Cold Frost bite
Light Occupational Cataract
Atmospheric pressure Caisson disease, air embolism,
explosion
Noise Occupational deafness
Radiation Cancer, Leukemia, Aplastic anemia,
Pancytopenia
Electricity Burns, Shocks
 Heat Illness
Predisposing Factors
 Physical activity
 Extremes of age, poor physical condition, fatigue
 Excessive clothing
 Dehydration
 Cardiovascular disease
 Skin disorders
 Obesity
 Drugs
 Phenothiazines, anticholinergics, beta and Ca
channel blockers, diuretics, amphetamines, LSD,
cocaine, MAOIs
 Heat Stroke
SYMPTOMS PREVENTION
True emergency Awareness
Altered LOC Adaptation of behavioral
Any neurological finding and physical activity
Elevated temperature – Clothing
May still be sweating – Activity
initially Education
Syncope Appropriate hydration
History is critical
 Frost Bite
SYMPTOMS TREATMENT
Caused by freezing conditions  Giving warm drinks and
which cut off circulation, usually covering with blankets
in extremities (hands, feet, ears,  Warm the injured part with
nose), which may be body
permanently affected.  heat only, -put a hand under
an armpit,
Frost-bitten areas are cold, pale  for example. Do not rub the
or marbled-looking, solid to the skin or apply
touch, and painless (until  direct heat to the injured area.
circulation is restored).
 POISON
“All substances are poisons; there is not which
is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a
poison from a remedy.”

-Parecelsus
 CHEMICAL HAZARDS
Routes of entry: Inhalation, Ingestion, skin absorption

Chemical agents can be classified into:

1) Metals - Lead, Te, As, Hg, Cd, Ni , Co etc.
2) Aromatic Hydrocarbons - Benzene, Toluene, phenol
3) Aliphatic Hydrocarbons - Methyl alcohol
4) Gases - Simple asphyxiants : N2, CH4, CO2
Chemical asphyxiants : CO, H2S, HCN
Irritant gases : Ammonia, SO2, Cl2
Systemic poison : CS2

IMPT: READ MSDS

 TLV CONCEPT
The Threshold Limit Value - Time Weighted Average
(TLV-TWA) : ``Time-weighted average concentration
for a normal 8-hour working day and a 40-hour working
week, to which nearly all workers may be repeatedly
exposed day after day, without adverse effect``

The Threshold Limit Value - Short Term Exposure Limit

(TLV-STEL) is defined as a 15-minute, time-weighted
average which should not be exceeded at any time
during a working day, even if the 8-hour time-weighted
average is within the TLV``
 DUSTS (Pneumoconiosis)
Inorganic Dust
 Coal Dust - Anthracosis
 Silica - Silicosis
 Asbestos - Asbestosis

Organic Dusts
 Cane Fiber - Bagassosis (Bronchi gets affected)
 Cotton dust - Byssinosis (In Textile industries)
 Tobacco - Tobaccosis, Lung Cancer
 Grain Dust - Farmer’s Lungs
 Biological Hazards

Bacteria Tetanus, Tuberculosis, Anthrax,

Brucellosis (Milkmen), Gonorrhea
Virus Hepatitis, AIDS
Protozoal/Parasitic Malaria, Hydatid (Dog handlers),
Hookworms, tapeworms
Fungi Tinea-infections, Coccidiomycosis,
Psittacoses/ornithosis
 MECHANICAL HAZARDS
Injuries: Falls, cuts, abrasions, concussions, contusions

Ergonomic Disorders: Musculo-skeletal

disorders(MSDs),Cumulative-trauma-Disorders (CTDs)

Ergonomics: ``Adjustment of Man & Machine``

Application of human biological sciences with engineering

science to achieve optimum mutual adjustment of man & his
work, the benefit being measured in terms of human
efficiency and well being
ERGONOMICS
 “Science of fitting the task to the man/worker.”
 “art of matching job demands with worker
capabilities”
 “study of human characteristics for the appropriate
design of the living and work environment”
 “application of human biological science and
engineering sciences to achieve mutual adjustment of
man and his work.” (ILO)
 Manual Handling - Back Injuries

All forces which come down the spine compresses

discs and as a result of continuous squeezing they
can rupture and bulge causing severe pain.

Most back injuries are built over along period of time

by repetitive pounding on discs caused by improper
methods. After sometime some minor lift can produce
such rupture

`Straight back rule``

‘Thinking before lifting’
 Manual Handling - Back Injuries

 CONTROL any risk by reducing necessity for

manual handling by using alternative means of
handling
 consider the load; size, awkward shape
 consider need for mechanical or manual
assistance
 position legs apart - one foot level with the load
 keep back straight, look up
 Manual Handling - Back Injuries
• bend from the hips, avoid ‘twisting’ the body
• tighten the stomach muscles, but don’t hold
breath
• BEND THE KNEES
• keep the load close to the body
• lift with the legs, not the back
• keep carrying distance short
• avoid changing grip or ‘jerking’ the load
• deposit the load by bending the knees and
keeping the back straight
 VDT USER`S-ERGONOMIC
GUIDELINES

SEATING POSITION

• Seat height to be adjusted so that

thighs are horizontal & feet are resting
flat on the floor
• Thigh-torso angle is not less than 90
degrees, with 100 degrees as
preferable
• Chair should have “Back rest” with
support for curvature in lumbar area
 VDT USER`S-ERGONOMIC
GUIDELINES

WORKING POSTURE
• Wrist and forearm-held in straight line to
reduce tendon & nerve stress
• Upper & lower arm-at 90 degree angle
• Elbows to be kept close to the sides
• Head-Screen distance = 25-48in (min
12) from the VDT users eye
• Optimal viewing angle is 20 degrees
below the horizontal line from the eyes
 VDT USER`S-ERGONOMIC
GUIDELINES

VISION & LIGHTING

• NO GLARE
• VDT to be placed 90 degrees to the light
source, adjust screen angle
• Use screen filters to reduce glare
• Screen intensity needs to be adjusted
• Frequent breaks from the screen to reduce
stress on eyes
• Optical illusion
 VDT USER`S-ERGONOMIC
GUIDELINES
GENERAL GUIDELINES
 Change positions, Stretch or walk around if feeling
tiredness
 LIGHT TOUCH`` on Keyboard to reduce hand stress
or developing CTD`s
 Look at ``Optical Illusion`` for 1-2 minutes after every
20 minutes of work with VDT to reduce eye stress
 Rotate eye ball and also concentrate on a distant
object & near object alternatively to reduce eye
stress
 Keep the VDT screen and eyeglasses clean
VDT USER`S-ERGONOMIC
GUIDELINES

OPTICAL ILLUSIONS
PSYCHOSOCIAL HAZARDS

v Lack of job satisfaction, insecurity, poor

interpersonal relations, work pressure, ambiguity,
etc.
v Psychological & behavioral changes
hostility, aggressiveness, anxiety, depression,
alcoholism, drug addiction, sickness absenteeism.
vPsychosomatic disorders
Hypertension, headache, body-ache, peptic ulcers,
asthma, diabetes, heart disorders, etc.
 ENGINEERING CONTROLS
A Designing-building, Work station.
B Good Housekeeping
C Ventilation
D Mechanization
E Substitution
F Enclosure
G Isolation
H Local Exhaust Ventilation
I Personal Protective Devices
J Work Environment Monitoring
K Statistical Monitoring
 TYPE OF CONTROL MEASURES

Medical
required to monitor effectiveness of engineering
controls

Engineering
Best engineering control is to reduce exposure

Administrative / Legal
Emphasis given to reduce the exposure
Ergonomics
 Workplace Accidents
Work accident
an unplanned, unexpected occurrence
that may or may not result in personal
injury, property damage, work stoppage
or interference, or any combination of
these conditions which arises out of or
in the course of employment
Sources/elements of accidents
 Man
 Materials
 Machine
 Environment
 Major/direct causes of
accidents
 Unsafe acts
 Unsafe conditions
 Types of accidents
 Struck by
 Striking against
 Fall, slip
 Caught in, on, between
 Contact with temperature extremes, electricity,
radiation, noise vibration
 Contact (poisoning, inhalation, skin absorption,
swallowing with chemicals)
 Strain or overexertion
 Foreign body in eye
 Results of accidents
 Injuries
 Back injuries, strains, sprains, fractures, puncture,
wounds, lacerations, abrasions, contusions,
hernias, eye injuries
 Deaths
 Damage
 materials, building, equipment/machinery, tools
 Delay or interruption
 production, service
 Unsafe acts
 Using unsafe/defective equipment/tool/machinery
 Taking unsafe position
 Improper loading or placing/lifting
 Operating/working at unsafe speed
 Failing to use safe attire or protective devices
 Bypassing safety device
 Using hands instead of equipment
 Teasing, distracting, horseplay
 Servicing equipment while in motion
 Smoking in dangerous areas
 Operating without authority
 Using cellphones while working
 Unsafe conditions
 Hazardous arrangement; congestion
 Defects in machines, equipment, tools
 Unsafe dress or apparel
 Unsafe condition or environment
 Slippery, wet walking surfaces
 improper illumination
 improper ventilation
 radiation exposure
 fire and explosion hazards
 substandard housekeeping
 inadequate warning system
 lack of/inadequate/defective equipment guards or protection
 Contributory factors
 Improper attitude
 Lack of education/training/supervision
 Personal defects (physical and mental)
Accidents don’t just happen...
 ASSIGNMENT
 Identify as many types of occupation in the
school as you can
 Identify possible health hazards to each type
of occupation
 Give comments or recommendation
 Yellow paper, handwritten
 GUIDELINES FOR
HEALTH NEWS REPORTING
 GUIDELINES FOR
HEALTH NEWS REPORTING
 GUIDELINES FOR
HEALTH NEWS REPORTING
 GUIDELINES FOR
HEALTH NEWS REPORTING