Environmental and Occupational Health

Question 1

What are the 4 common environmental hazards?

Answer 1

1) Chemical
2) Biological
3) Physical
4) Radiation

Question 2

What are the four main reservoirs?

Answer 2

1) Air
2) Food
3) Water
4) Soil

Question 3

What are the 3 main routes of exposure?

Answer 3

1) Inhalation
2) Ingestion
3) Absorption (skin)

Question 4

What is an example of a biological hazard that travels through the air?

Answer 4

• Mould, dust mites

- Bacteria survive as spores and aerosols which can be distributed through ventilation systems

Question 5

What is an example of a chemical hazard that travels through the air?

Answer 5

• Carbon monoxide
• Second hand smoke
• Sulfur dioxide
• …

Question 6

What are some examples of biological hazards found in the soil?

Answer 6

• Pseudomonas

- Tetanus

Question 7

What are food souces of Salmonella?

Answer 7

• Raw eggs
• Poultry
• Meat

Question 8

What are food sources of Campylobacter?

Answer 8

• Raw poultry

- Raw milk

Question 9

What are food sources of E.coli?

Answer 9

• Various
  
  • Meats
  • Sprouts
  • Primarily from undercooked hamburger meat

Question 10

What are the food sources of Listeria monocytogene?

Answer 10

• Unpasteurized cheese
• Prepared salads
• Cold cuts
  (maple leaf food outbreak)

Question 11

What are food sources of clostridium botulinum?

Answer 11

• Unpasteurized honey
• Canned foods
• Produces neurotoxin during spore formation in anaerobic environments *

Question 12

What are food sources of prions? What disease are they associated with in humans?

Answer 12

• Beef and beef products

- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans

Question 13

Why shouldn’t infants consume honey until they are one year of age or older?

Answer 13

• Botulism risk
• Botulism spores, if ingested can grow in the babies intestine producing toxin
• At age 1+ the intestines are colonized with flora enough to prevent C.botulinum spores from growing

Question 14

In occupational health what is the most effective way of improving safety surround a workplace hazard?

Answer 14

• Elimination of the hazard

- Then substitution, enineering controls, administrative controls, and PPE being least effective

Question 15

• What are engineering controls?

Answer 15

• Methods built into the design of something to minimize the hazard
• Ex: Airbags in a car

Question 16

What are administrative controls?

Answer 16

• Changes in work procedures with the goal of reducing the duration, frequency, and severity to hazardous situations
• Ex: Traffic laws in reducing car accidents

Question 17

What is Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (each province has something similar)

Answer 17

• Establishes WSIB as agency that oversees workplace safety training and administers insurance for workers
• WSIB decides benefits
• Paid by employer (not gov funded)
• No fault insurance (ie. worker has no right to sue in exchange for guaranteed compensation for accepted claims

Question 18

What is the health protection and promotion act? (HPPA)

Answer 18

• Medical officer of health may investigate and manage health hazards where workplace exposures may impact non-workers (ie. community members living near job site)