Occupational Health Hazards

Occupational Health Hazard

 May mean conditions that cause legally

compensable illnesses
 It may mean any conditions in the workplace
that impairs the health of employees enough
to make them loss time from work or to work
at less than full efficiency
Industrial Hygiene

 Science and art devoted to the anticipation,

recognition, evaluation and control of
environmental factors or stresses arising in
or from the workplace that my cause
sickness, impaired health and well being or
significant discomfort among workers or
among citizens of the community
Role of the Industrial Hygienist to the
Industrial Hygiene Program

 To protect the health of the employees

 To maintain an objective toward the
recognition, evaluation and control of health
hazards regardless of external influences,
realizing that the health and welfare of
workers and others may depend upon the
industrial hygienist professional judgment.
Role of the Industrial Hygienist to the
Industrial Hygiene Program

 To counsel employees regarding the health

hazards and the necessary precautions to
avoid adverse health effects
 To respect confidences, advise honestly and
report findings and recommendations
accurately
 To act responsibly in the application of the
industrial hygiene principles toward the
attainment of healthful working environment
Role of the Industrial Hygienist to the
Industrial Hygiene Program

 To hold responsibilities to the employer or

client subordinate to the ultimate
responsibility to protect the health of the
employees.
Environmental Stresses or Hazards

 Chemical Hazards
 Physical Hazards
 Ergonomic Hazards
 Biological Hazards
Definitions

Toxicology
 science that deals with the poisonous or toxic
properties of substances;
 most do not present a hazard under ordinary
circumstances, but they all have the potential
for being injurious at some sufficiently high
concentration and level of exposure
Toxic effect
 any undesirable disturbances of
physiological function caused by poisons;
can also arise as side effects in response to
some medications, vaccines and exposure to
chemicals
Definitions

Toxicity
 a physiological property of matter that defines
the capacity of a chemical to harm or injure a
living organism by other than mechanical
means;
 it entails a definite dimension – quantity or
amount - and depends upon the degree of
exposure
 Ability of a substance to produce an unwanted
effect when the chemical reached a sufficient
concentration at a certain site in the body
Hazard
 The probability that concentration of toxics in
the body will occur

Threshold level
 The level where the first effect or response to
a toxic substance is observed or detected
Contributing Factor to Determine the
Degree of Hazard of a Chemical

 Routes of entry  Toxicity

 Dosage  Chemical properties
 Physiological state  Physical properties
 Environmental  Warning properties
variables
Routes of Entry into the Body

 Ingestion
 Injection
 Skin absorption
 Inhalation
Action of toxic substance

 Acute toxicity
– Short-term exposure to a high concentration with
an immediate effect
 Chronic toxicity
– Effects manifests over a period of time
Exposure

 The contact between a person/test animal

and a substance such as gases, vapors,
dust, etc.
Factors Affecting Exposure

 Concentration
 Duration of exposure
 Routes of entry
 Individual susceptibility
Factors Affecting Human Susceptibility

 Age
 Sex
 General health
 Genetic variability
 Anatomic variability
 Nutrition
 Previous exposure
Classification of Toxic Effect

 Local
– When a certain chemical harms only the part of
the body it comes in contact with
 Systemic
– When a certain chemical harms other related
organs operating as a system
Specific Organ Toxicity

 Skin
 Liver
 Respiratory tract
 Nervous system
 Kidneys
 Blood
Threshold Limit Values (TLVs)

 Refer to airborne concentration of

substances and represent conditions under
which it is believed that nearly all workers
maybe repeatedly exposed day after day
without adverse effect
Threshold Limit Values (TLVs)

 The basis on which the values are

established may differ from substance to
substance; protection against impairment of
health maybe a guiding factor for some,
whereas, reasonable freedom from
irritation, narcosis, nuisance or other forms
of stress may form the basis for others
Definitions

 Threshold Limit Value - Time Weighted

Average (TLV-TWA)
– The time weighted average concentration for a
normal 8-hour workday and a 40-hour workweek,
to which nearly all workers maybe repeatedly
exposed, day-by-day, without adverse effects.
Definitions

 Threshold Limit Value – Short Term

Exposure Limit (TLV-STEL)
– The concentration to which workers can be
exposed continuously for a short period of time
without suffering from irritation, chronic or
irreversibly tissue damage, and narcosis of
sufficient degree to increase the likelihood of
accidental injury, impairs self-rescue or materially
reduce work efficiency, and provided that the daily
TLV-TWA is not exceeded
Definitions

 Note: STELs are recommended only where

toxic effects have been reported from high
short-term exposures in either humans or
animals – 15 minutes and should not be
repeated more than 4 times a day
Definitions

 Threshold Limit Value – Ceiling (TLV-C)

– The concentration that must never be exceeded
during any part of the working exposure
 “Skin” Notation
– Refers to the potential contribution to the overall
exposure by the cutaneous route including
mucous membranes and eye, either by airborne,
or more particularly, by direct contact with the
substance.`