Introduction to Occupational Safety and Health An Approach to addressing injuries and illnesses at work

Global Burden of Occupational Injury and Disease/Year InjuriesDiseasesTotal Fatal100,000700,000800,000 Non-Fatal99,000,00010,300,000109,300, ,000,00011,000,000111,000,000 *From Leigh, et al., Epidemiology 10(5):626-31, September 1999

*Estimated Annual Incidence of Occ Injury & Disease Worldwide # New Cases/year Injuries100,688,000 Diseases Pesticide poisoning109,000 Other poisoning122,000 Cancer191,000 Mental disorders318,000 Pneumoconioses453,000 Noise-induced hearing loss1,628,000 Skin disorders1,895,000 Chronic respiratory disease2,631,000 Musculoskeletal disorders3,337,000

Global Burden Non-fatal Occ Illness & Injury, WHO TRAUMATIC INJURY

Primary Prevention Identify and eliminate hazards Systems to protect workers health and safety Eliminate and reduce exposure

Secondary and Tertiary Prevention first aid treatment emergency services

Introduction to Occupational Safety and Health Identification –recognition –assessment Control –eliminate –manage –personal protection Prevention

Framework

Awareness Qualitative Assessment –Exposure –Health Hazard Judgment –Acceptable –Unacceptable –Uncertain Quantitative Assessment –Exposure –Health Risk communication Interventions Engineering Administrative

Framework Awareness of Exposure Hazard –Sentinel Event –Observations personal newspaper reports –Complaints –Near misses

Framework Qualitative Assessment –Exposure assessment epidemiology reports historical data –Health assessment toxicology surveillance reports historical data

Framework Exposure Profile and Hazard Judgement Where do I begin????? –Acceptable --Unacceptable --Uncertain

Framework Hazard Judgement----uncertain –quantitative health assessment medical surveillance health surveys –quantitative exposure assessment personal monitoring workplace/environmental monitoring exposure surveys

Framework Risk communication –principles of risk communication –policy

Resources Training Internet –World Health Organization –International Labour Organization –Other Local Expertise –scientists –physicians –nurses –public health practitioners –health educators Reference Materials –journals –ILO encyclopedia

Cost of injuries and illnesses to employers Payment for work not performed Medical payments Reduction or interruption of services Administrative costs Replacing injured or ill worker Training new workers Poor public relations

Course Objectives Recognize a sentinel event as a warning signal that preventive measures need to be taken Conduct a basic incident investigation List the occupational hazards in a complex manufacturing workplace List the adverse health outcomes from exposures in this workplace Interpret data from a follow-up investigation of this workplace.

Course Objectives Develop a surveillance program that serves as an evaluation tool for health risks in tanneries Develop a questionnaire surveillance tool for monitoring hazards and adverse health outcomes in industry Discuss issues related to worker surveillance Present data in a form that can be understood by employees and policy makers, including employers and local/state enforcement agencies Apply information gathered from above activities to develop policy recommendations for the tannery industry

Skills develop incident investigation questions create a report from incident investigation take a work history categorize hazards develop workplace exposure and health questions organize questions into a surveillance tool administer a survey communicate findings of a survey

Defining Terms Hazardous Source Hazardous Agent Hazardous Effect Assessment Sentinel Tannery – Complex Manufacturing Process