PH-Occupational Health Intrduction Flashcards
State the way the developed world used to respond to work then as compared to how they respond to work now
The changing world of work
Developed world-before
•Full-time employment
•Long term employment, constant workforce
•Predominately male
•One set of skills
•One industry
•Few employers
•Employers paternalistic
The changing world of work
Developed world- now
•Part-time, flexible, home working
•Shorter term employment, changing workforce
•More women, older people, disable, ethnic minorities
•Constant updating of skills and expertise
The changing world of work
Develop world-now
•Work in several industries
•Several employers
•Smaller workforce
•Sub-contracting, outsourcing
•Workplace more mechanized
What are some of the changed health effects and practices
Changed health effects and practices
•Different perceptions of ill-health
•Improving methods of assessing exposure
•Exposure assessment is more usual
•New methods for detecting diseases
•Greater weight is placed on evaluation of susceptibility
•Determination of several ethical issues mainly confidential
Decreasing pneumoconiosis, dermatitis , tenosynovitis , leptospirosis and other infections
•Increasing mesothelioma and asbestosis, occupational asthma, occupational deafness, hand-arm vibration syndrome, occupational stress
Explain Occupational health
What is a hazard,harm,risk
OH is the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical , mental and social well being of workers in all occupations by preventing departures from health, especially those due to work.(ILO/WHO Committee 1950)
•OH is “The science and art devoted to the anticipation, recognition, evaluation and control of factors and stresses (arising in or from the workplaces), which may cause sickness, impaired health and well being or significant discomfort, and inefficiency among workers or among the citizens of a community” - ACGIH
Hazard
Anything that might cause harm
Harm(in OH terms) Includes death and injury and any form of physical or mental illness
Risk
The chance of that harm actually occurring
in a given circumstances
Why does the Prevention of ill-health in employed population involves a 2-way relationship between work and health.
•The state of health employees can have a direct effect on work. Good health and well trained staff increases productivity that will increase the profit of the organization and the reverse is true for poor health.
• workplace exposures can affect the health of the workers and lead to low productivity, decrease in the company’s profit and tarnish the corporate image of the company.
Under the legal aspect of OH,under the 1992 constitution,what is said about work?
Which ratification of Ghana by a number of International Labour organization conventions related to OHS have to do with Labour inspection,radiation protection,guarding machinery,hygiene,working environment
1992 Constitution: Every person has right to work under safe & healthy conditions
•Ratification of Ghana by a number of ILO conventions related to OHS:
➢C 8 : Labour Inspection
➢C115 : Radiation Protection
➢C 119: Guarding Machinery
➢C120 : Hygiene (Commerce and office)
➢C148 : Working Environment ( air pollution, noise & vibration)
State four key laws that operated in the country until recently?
Which year and Act was the promulgation of Labour created ?
Which year of the ILO C (where C means convention) was supervision of OSH created?
Which year of the ILO C was Occupational Health Services created
Key Laws that operated in country till recently (Factories, Offices & Shops Act, mining regulation, DVLA ).
• Promulgation of Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) . Consistent with :
➢Constitution
➢ILO C 155 (1981) on ‘Supervision of OSH’
➢ILO C 181 (1985) on ‘Occupational Health Services’
Yet to be ratified
Labour Act 651,2003 places duty on all employers to do what? (State the duties of the employers as well and the duties of the employees)
Labour Act 651,2003
•Places duty on ALL employers to ensure that every worker employed by him or her works under satisfactory, safe & healthy conditions.
Onus is on employers to :
➢Provide safe systems of work
➢Ensure work environment free of risks to health & safety
➢ prevent accidents & injury to health
➢Supply & maintain safety appliances, PPE etc
➢Provide safe drinking water, toilets & other hygiene facilities
Labour Act 651 : Obligation of Employees
•Use safety appliances, PPE & other equipment in compliance with instructions
•Has Right to remove oneself from dangerous situation
BUT
•Law absolves employer for liability for injury suffered by worker due to non-compliance
State six people involved in the OH team and state five stakeholders in OH
Who is involved in Occupational Health=OH Team
•Physicians
•Nurses
•Occupational hygienists
•Sociologists
•Psychologists
•Toxicologists
•Health physicists
•Microbiologists
•Epidemiologist
•Ergonomists
Lawyers
Safety engineers
Stakeholders in OH
•Workers (and their families)
•Employers
•Shareholders
•Community
•Nation
•All consumers-buy to satisfy needs and gain value
•Legislators
•Suppliers
•Insurers
•Media and pressure groups
What are the benefits of OH to stakeholders
To sell OH we must show “added value” for all stakeholders
Overreaching benefits include-
•Ensuring and maintaining the health of the people at work
•Ensuring they operate safely considering any health issues they may have
•Contributing to organizational effectiveness of enterprises by providing expect advice to management
•Developing the evidence base to detect and counter adverse effects on the population
State the five Components of comprehensive OH services
Components of comprehensive OH services: Five basic strategies adopted…
I. Preventive activities : for injury and disease prevention.
II. Promotional activities : to enhance safety behaviours.
III. Curative activities: for treatment and advice.
IV. Rehabilitation activities : to help staff regain their skills.
V. Research activities: to conduct investigations into work environment and staff health as it relates to work
State four functions of the OH services
Under functions provided by OH ,explain nine clinical activities
Functions Provided by OHS
•OH Services meant to address risks from hazards posed by work and the work environment to workers.
Clinical OH activities
Pre-employment health screening
•Ensures that the person has no pre-existing ill health or disability which may make the performance of the proposed job difficult or unsafe for individuals, coworkers or third parties
•Used to assess whether the workplace can be adapted to meet the needs of disabled individual
•Provide baseline data for future assessment
•Reinforce advice on health promotion
Periodic medical examinations
•Legal requirement eg asbestos, lead, ionizing radiation,driving etc
•Periodic review of individuals provides an opportunity not only to advise on health and illness, but also to reinforce advice on occupational health prevention
Post sickness absence review
•The review is to ensure that the person has no residual effects from the cause of the sickness absence, which may affect return to work
•Though GPs and other practitioners give excuse duty most perform this function without a full appreciation of the job duties or work environment
•Frequent , short term absences are often difficult to manage especially if the stated causes for the absences vary.
Retirement on grounds of ill health
•Redeployment of worker to a job within the establishment is a suitable alternative especially if the workers health less affect the new job
•This includes workers with chronic illness or incomplete recovery for treatment for a worker whose health affects work
Exit Medical Examination
•This is normally done for workers prior to their retirement
•It provide data on employees at the point of exit from a particular occupation or workplace.
•The advantage to employees is that it provides the opportunity for employees with ailments which have a causal relationship to any factor in the work environment to continue to receive assistance for managing it after they have left the employment
•or moved on to another schedule.
Immunization
•Provided for:
• Health Care Workers, lab and research staff
•Employees travelling abroad as part of their job duties
•Travelling to exotic places requires immunization against communicable diseases
•OH Department also provides advice for other infectious diseases such as STD’s and food borne infections
Health education and counselling
This is aimed at using access to workforce to reduce risk factors for diseases in general and steps to prevent occupational disorders
•Healthy lifestyles
•Proper diets
•Avoidance of smoking
•Consumption of alcohol in moderation
•Adequate excercise
Treatment
•First aid
•Minor treatment
•Provision of full curative services(Real Hospital setting with all types of specialist including dentist eg VRA Hospital Akosombo)
Rehabilitation
OH staff liaise with HR and worksite managers
• To facilitate early return to work of staff with disability ff ill-health / injury through ensuring access to rehabilitation services eg physiotherapy, occupational therapy, counselling etc.
• Assist staff members to be granted retirement on medical grounds where necessary
•Facilitate payment of compensation or other benefits
Benefit of early return to work
“There are multiple wins, when rehabilitation is done early and the worker returns to work.
• “The employer wins by minimizing workers’ compensation costs, the employee wins by returning to work, and social security wins by not having to pay out long-term benefits for disability. And society wins because the supply of qualified labour continues to be there.”
Under functions provided by OH ,explain non clinical activities
(What happened in the bhopal disaster)
Non clinical OH activities –Workplace assessments
Recognition-This involves understanding of the work/industrial process and all of its hazards and the law. We can recognize hazards by seeing, smelling, hearing in other words by using the five senses
Evaluation –this usually involves measurements or analytical techniques that are necessary to quantify contaminates with required accuracy or precision
Control - after the evaluation the results are used to improve the work environment i.e to eliminate or control the hazards present
General advice and support
•Advice on compensation
•Disaster planning and advice dealing with chemical incidents and accidents
•Food hygiene
•Advice on environmental issues
Other activities
•Audit, quality assurance and evaluation
•Research activities : to conduct investigations into work environment and staff health as it relates to work
State six Benefit individual workers gain from a good OHS
Benefit to individual workers from a good OHS
•Ensuring a good fit between worker and job
•Advising necessary job adjustment
•Recommending suitable alternative work
•Monitoring health and exposure
•Assisting return of sick and injured
•Ensuring provision of safety information
•Providing first aid for accident victims
•Equipping people to minimize risks of travel
•Identifying hazards and managing risks
State five Benefit Managers and two benefit the community gains from a good OHS
Benefit to managers from a good OHS
•Ensure they understand legal obligations
•Help to develop necessary health policies and procedures
•Help to change management of processes to consider health and human factors
•Set fitness standards to manage absence and ill-health retirement ethically, fairly and objectively
•Delivery of service that meets their appreciated needs and values
Benefits to community from a good OHS
•Minimizes pollution and resulting ill-health
•Promote healthy living by availability of healthy food and workplace campaigns and assistance to stop smoking, drugs and drinking
State five Obstacles to OH in developing countries
Obstacles to OH in developing countries
•Limited allocated resource for OH prevention
•Weak laws on provision of OH services
•Lack of political commitment to OH
•Very few OH professionals in Developing countries
•Inadequate information/research
