Occupational Health Hazards: Jamal Hassan

Occupational health hazards
Lecture: 2 JAMAL HASSAN

Introduction

 The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that
160 million people from the world’s workforce suffer from
work-related diseases such as musculoskeletal diseases and
mental health problems.
 270 million fatal and non-fatal work-related accidents

results in over 350, 000 casualties and over two million
work-related deaths each year which are all attributable to
occupational hazards.

 Evidence shows that many of these diseases are preventable
but problems like under reporting, poor surveillance and
several other factors have been known to influence
occupational health hazards.
 The burden caused by work-related accidents and illnesses on

workers’ health are incalculable.
What is it ?

 Occupational hazard are risks of illnesses or accidents in
the workplace.
 In other words, hazards that workers experience in their

place of work.

 An occupational hazard is something unpleasant that a
person experiences or suffers as a result of doing their job.
 It can also be REFERRED to as any activity, materials,

processes or situation that is likely to cause an accident or
disease at the work place.
Types of Occupational Health Hazards

Physical
Chemical
Biological
Mechanical
Psychosocial
Diseases due to Physical Agents

i. Heat – Exhaustion, Syncope, Cramps, burns, Prickly
ii. Cold – Frost bite
iii. Light – Occupational Cataract, Illumination
iv. Atmospheric-pressure – Caisson disease, explosion
v. Noise – Occupational deafness
vi. Radiation – Cancer, Leukemia, Aplastic anemia
vii. Electricity – Burns, Shocks
Chemical Hazards

 Routes of entry of chemical hazards include inhalation
(main route of entry), ingestion and skin absorption.
 Chemical agents may be:
i. Metals – Lead
ii. Aromatic Hydrocarbons – Benzene, Toluene, Phenol
iii. Aliphatic Hydrocarbons – Methyl alcohol
iv. Gases

 Beware of:
i. Liquids like cleaning products, paints, acids, solvents –

ESPECIALLY if chemicals are in an unlabeled
container!
ii. Vapors and fumes that come from welding.
iii. Flammable materials like gasoline, solvents, and
explosive chemicals.
Biological Hazards

 Biological hazards or biohazards refer to biological
substances that threaten the health of human beings and other
living organisms.
 This type of hazard may include samples of a toxin of a
biological source, a virus, or a microorganism. Specifically,
samples that harm human health.
 Workers exposed to infective and parasitic agents at the

place of work.

 People exposed to the occupation like:-
i. In health care setting workers are in high risk of

Hepatitis, Tuberculosis, HIV, encephalitis ,etc.
ii. Agricultural workers , people working on animal

husbandry animal products are in risk of zoonotic
disease, worm infestation, tetanus, etc.
Mechanical Hazards

 Mechanical hazards include:
i. Injuries – Falls, cuts, abrasions, concussions, contusions

ii. Ergonomic Disorders – Musculo-skeletal
disorders(MSDs), Cumulative-trauma-Disorders (CTDs)
iii. Ergonomics – Adjustment of Man & Machine
iv. Ergo-friendly tools – Tools which reduce the stresses or
problems resulting in CTD’s / MSD’s.)
Psychosocial Hazards

 Rise when worker fails to adopt to an alien psychosocial
environment which leads to psychological factors such as:-
i. Frustration
ii. Lack of job satisfaction
iii. Poor human relationship
iv. Emotional tensions etc

 Psychological & behavioral changes including hostility,
aggressiveness, anxiety, depression, alcoholism, drug
addiction, sickness absenteeism.
 Psychosomatic disorders like hypertension, headache,

body-ache, peptic ulcers, asthma, diabetes, heart disorders
Ergonomic Hazards

 Occur when the type of work, body positions, and working
conditions put strain on the body.
 Ergonomic Hazards include:

i. Poor posture
ii. Repeating the same movements over and over
iii. Having to frequently use too much force
iv. Etc
Onset of symptoms in relation to exposure

 When considering how to monitor for the development of
adverse health effects from exposures in the workplace it is
important to consider the timeframe over which the health
effects manifest themselves.
 Its includes:

Long
y
latenc
Chroni
c
health
effects Acute
health
effects
Acute health effects

 An acute health effect is the effect caused by the initial
exposure of a hazardous chemical on a human or animal
body.
 Acute health effects usually appear within hours of

exposure.

 Examples of Acute Health Effects
 Common examples of acute health effects include:
i. Allergic reactions (including anaphylactic shock)
ii. Irritation
iii. Rashes or dry skin
iv. Burns
v. Dermatitis
vi. Metal fume fever
vii. Etc
Chronic health effects

 Are ones that can develop over a longer period of exposure.
 On occasions these will be conditions where the severity of

the symptoms or disease, or the risk of harm, is related to
the accumulative exposure to the hazard over a period of
months or years.

 Chronic health effects usually occur after repeated exposure
over days, weeks and months.
 Examples of such conditions would be noise-induced

hearing loss and hand arm vibration syndrome.
Long latency

 Long latency is a feature of many occupationally acquired
diseases where the development of the signs and symptoms
of the condition occur many years after the exposure that
is implicated in causation.
 Examples include:

i. The development of Mesothelioma
ii. Lung cancers.
iii. Pneumoconiosis which can occur

decades after exposure has ceased.
Walk through survey

 A walk-through survey of the area, process or task enables
the assessor to get a sense of the types of potential health
hazards, the levels of exposure through the careful use of
the senses – vision, hearing, smell and feel.
 Some key aspects to be considered:


Physical environment issues:
 What noisy equipment or processes are present?

 What tasks involve exposure to hand arm transmitted or
whole body vibration?
 Are there any working areas where extremes of heat, cold or
humidity are present or could occur?

 Are there any specialist tasks involving changes in
atmospheric pressure, e.g. tunnelling work under
compressed air?
 Is ventilation adequate? Is there a good supply of fresh air

and extraction of potentially harmful gases?

 Chemical agents:
 Are workers exposed to chemicals that could affect

normal physical or mental functioning in the short or long
term?
 What chemicals are being used? Review the site

hazardous chemicals register if available.

 What products, by-products and wastes (gaseous, liquid or
solid) are being produced?
 What potentially hazardous building construction

materials have been used?

 Biological issues:
 What systems are present for drinking water, effluent,

sanitation and sewage? What is the potential for pathogenic
microorganisms?
 What washing facilities are present? Are they adequate for

the number of workers and are they cleaned regularly?

 In restaurants and canteens and eating places, what is the
potential for insects, rodents and microorganisms?
 Are there any disease carrying insect or rodent vectors in

the local environment e.g. malaria carrying mosquitoes
and plague carrying rats, etc?

 Psychological issues:
 Is the job organization, in terms of shift patterns,

rotations, resources and workload likely to lead to sleep
disturbance and/or mental stress?
 Are workers isolated from family, friends and other

social support networks or working alone?

 Are there culture, faith and language issues?
 Is there a system in place for workers to pass on issues and

complaints? How well is it used?


Occupational Health Hazards: Jamal Hassan

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Occupational health hazards

Lecture: 2 JAMAL HASSAN

 270 million fatal and non-fatal work-related accidents

 The burden caused by work-related accidents and illnesses on

 In other words, hazards that workers experience in their

 It can also be REFERRED to as any activity, materials,

i. Liquids like cleaning products, paints, acids, solvents –

 Workers exposed to infective and parasitic agents at the

i. In health care setting workers are in high risk of

ii. Agricultural workers , people working on animal

i. Injuries – Falls, cuts, abrasions, concussions, contusions

 Psychosomatic disorders like hypertension, headache,

 Ergonomic Hazards include:

 Acute health effects usually appear within hours of

 On occasions these will be conditions where the severity of

 Examples of such conditions would be noise-induced

ii. Lung cancers.

iii. Pneumoconiosis which can occur

 Some key aspects to be considered:

 What noisy equipment or processes are present?

 Is ventilation adequate? Is there a good supply of fresh air

 Are workers exposed to chemicals that could affect

 What chemicals are being used? Review the site

 What potentially hazardous building construction

 What systems are present for drinking water, effluent,

 What washing facilities are present? Are they adequate for

 Are there any disease carrying insect or rodent vectors in

 Is the job organization, in terms of shift patterns,

 Are workers isolated from family, friends and other

 Is there a system in place for workers to pass on issues and

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