9 Occupational Health and Infections Foundation 1 Flashcards
Occupational Health / Respirable Silica
Brief definitions of terms
Definitions of terms in reading assignment
Definition of “occupational health” according to NIEHS (from reading)
“the identification and control of the risks arising from physical, chemical, and other workplace hazards in order to establish and maintain a safe and healthy working environment.”
Acronyms – NIEHS, NIOSH, OSHA - what do they stand for?
OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration
NIOSH National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
What is the purpose of each organization – NIEHS, NIOSH, OSHA – which are “research” institutes and which is a “regulatory” agency?
NIOSH National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
to serve as the research arm for occupational health within the US government.
Does/supports research for occupational safety standards and then implements the learned conclusions from their research into health standards in the workplace. Provides their website which has information on all occupational health risks, including their dangers and how to best handle them.
OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration
to ensure safe and healthy working conditions for all Americans by establishing and enforcing standards for good health and safety and to provide education, training, and assistance for workers and their employers.
Issues public standards for work health and safety and provides education and assistance to employees so they can be safer in their work environments.
NIEHS seeks to invest in the future of environmental health science by increasing awareness of the link between the environment and human health. Our website provides educators, students and scientists access to reliable tools, resources and classroom materials.
What are some requirements placed on employers, enforced by OSHA, to increase health and safety of workers? (be able to list a few examples)
Inform workers about chemical hazards through training, labels, alarms, color-coded systems, chemical information sheets and other methods. * Provide safety training to workers in a language and vocabulary they can understand. * Keep accurate records of work-related injuries and illnesses. * Perform tests in the workplace, such as air sampling, required by some OSHA standards. * Provide required personal protective equipment at no cost to workers.*
What is “respirable silica” and where does it come from? (How would it typically get into the breathing zone of a worker?)
Tiny 100x smaller than sand particles of silica made by crushing grinding, destroying concrete, stone, brick, mortar, etc.
abrasive blasting with sand; sawing brick or concrete; sanding or drilling into concrete walls; grinding mortar; manufacturing brick, concrete blocks, stone countertops, or ceramic products; and cutting or crushing stone
What are 4 ways to reduce construction workers’ inhalation of respirable silica? (Hint, 3 of these are characteristics of the tools/vehicles workers use; the other 1 is something a worker wears)
Using water to wet down dust so it doesn’t spread in the air. Using vacuums at the point of dust formation to suck up the dust before it can be breathed in. Using PPE.
Infections - Terminology Brief definitions of terms:
Terms in the following sections of the Terminology reading by Dr. Sloan: 1. The Fundamentals; 2. Epidemiology Terms; 3. Viruses, Bacteria, and Parasites
Host, agent, environment
Infectious disease: Reduced health or illness caused by an external pathogen
Contagious Disease: Infectious diseases that are transmissible
Outbreak: more than expected new cases of a disease during a time period at a specific location.
Epidemic: is a period of time with a higher than expected incidence rate, but over a broader geographic region
Pandemic: is an epidemic where the disease is being actively transmitted on multiple continents.
Endemic: a region where there is a persistent baseline incidence rate.
Eliminated: a disease was endemic to a certain location, but no longer is, that disease has been
Eradicated: a disease is eliminated in every country in the world, then the disease is considered
Incubation Period:Time between exposure and showing symptoms where the pathogen is reproducing.
Latency Period: if the pathogen is not reproducing then this is called a latency period.
Agent: an infectious pathogen that spreads through direct contact, droplets, or contact with contaminated objects. Most can survive without a host organism, but their goal is to infect a host before they die and reproduce. Stopping them from getting a host while they are alive greatly reduces incidence of disease.
Host: When agents infect, the host has an immune response to protect itself. We receive antibodies from our mothers and then throughout our lives as we come in contact with different pathogens that aid in our immune response.
Environment:For any given pathogenic organism the range of tolerable environmental conditions may be wide or narrow. Any epidemic model of a specific disease must allow for these variations of the causative organism.
