BOSH1
BOSH1
Safety and Health the major objectives of this hand out is to educate students in their future
role in our society as engineer, To view those practice that will lend them a safety
environment in studying safety.
Audience
This tutorial is meant for all the readers who are aspiring to learn the concepts of standard
practice of safety and Health. Also, for Mechatronics Engineering students
BASIC OCCUPATIONAL
SAFETY AND HEALTH TRAINING
Topic 4: Housekeeping 23
Topic 12: Occupational Health Hazards and Their Health Effects 179
BOSH Framework
This is a very short module which 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.
Objectives:
Working on this module should help you to:
- have an overview of the BOSH Course and the importance of safety and health
- define OSH and its three major fields – Occupational Safety, Occupational Health
and Industrial Hygiene
- identify work hazards and risks and recommend control measures to reduce or
eliminate work-related accidents and illness
- acquire basic knowledge & skills on OSH, such as safe work practices, that will
enable you to plan/develop your company’s Safety and Health program.
These objectives can be attained by understanding OSH, why we need to learn key
concepts in prevention and how we can respond to existing and potential hazards that
affect the human body, personal lives, families and communities.
Occupational safety and health is a discipline with a broad scope involving three major
fields – Occupational Safety, Occupational Health and 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, biological and ergonomic hazards.
In other words, occupational health and safety encompasses the social, mental and
physical well-being of workers, that is, the “whole person”.
Successful occupational health and safety practice requires the collaboration and
participation of both employers and workers in health and safety programs, and involves
the consideration of issues relating to occupational medicine, industrial hygiene,
toxicology, education, engineering safety, ergonomics, psychology, etc.
Occupational health issues are often given less attention than occupational safety issues
because the former are generally more difficult to confront. However, when health is
addressed, so is safety - a healthy workplace is by definition also a safe workplace. The
reverse, though, may not be true - a so-called safe workplace is not necessarily also a
healthy workplace. The important point is that both health and safety issues must be
addressed in every workplace.” (Your health and safety at work: INTRODUCTION TO
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY, International Labour Organization, accessed 25 April 2005
http://www.itcilo.it/actrav/actrav-english/telearn/osh/intro/introduc.htm)
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.