Occupational safety and health
Encyclopedia
Occupational safety and health is a cross-disciplinary
Crossdisciplinarity
Crossdisciplinarity describes any method, project and research activity that examines a subject outside the scope of its own discipline without cooperation or integration from other relevant disciplines...

 area concerned with protecting the safety
Safety
Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be...

, health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...

 and welfare
Quality of life
The term quality of life is used to evaluate the general well-being of individuals and societies. The term is used in a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, and politics. Quality of life should not be confused with the concept of standard of...

 of people engaged in work or employment
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...

. The goal of all occupational safety and health programs is to foster a safe work environment. As a secondary effect, it may also protect co-workers, family members, employers, customers, suppliers, nearby communities, and other members of the public who are impacted by the workplace environment. It may involve interactions among many subject areas, including occupational medicine, occupational (or industrial) hygiene
Occupational hygiene
Occupational hygiene is generally defined as the art and science dedicated to the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, communication and control of environmental stressors in, or arising from, the workplace that may result in injury, illness, impairment, or affect the well being of workers and...

, public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...

, safety engineering
Safety engineering
Safety engineering is an applied science strongly related to systems engineering / industrial engineering and the subset System Safety Engineering...

 / industrial engineering
Industrial engineering
Industrial engineering is a branch of engineering dealing with the optimization of complex processes or systems. It is concerned with the development, improvement, implementation and evaluation of integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information, equipment, energy, materials, analysis...

, chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

, health physics
Health physics
Health physics is a field of science concerned with radiation physics and radiation biology with the goal of providing technical information and proper techniques regarding the safe use of ionizing radiation...

.

Definition

Since 1950, the International Labour Organization
International Labour Organization
The International Labour Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that deals with labour issues pertaining to international labour standards. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. Its secretariat — the people who are employed by it throughout the world — is known as the...

 (ILO) and the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...

 (WHO) have shared a common definition of occupational health. It was adopted by the Joint ILO/WHO Committee on Occupational Health at its first session in 1950 and revised at its twelfth session in 1995. The definition reads: "Occupational health should aim at: the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations; the prevention amongst workers of departures from health caused by their working conditions; the protection of workers in their employment from risks resulting from factors adverse to health; the placing and maintenance of the worker in an occupational environment adapted to his physiological and psychological capabilities; and, to summarize, the adaptation of work to man and of each man to his job". This standard is based on the methodology known as Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)
PDCA
PDCA is an iterative four-step management method used in business for the control and continuous improvement of processes and products...


Relationship to occupational health psychology

Occupational health psychology (OHP), a related discipline, is a relatively new field that combines elements of occupational health and safety, industrial/organizational psychology
Industrial and organizational psychology
Industrial and organizational psychology is the scientific study of employees, workplaces, and organizations. Industrial and organizational psychologists contribute to an organization's success by improving the performance and well-being of its people...

, and health psychology
Health psychology
Health psychology is concerned with understanding how biological, psychological, environmental, and cultural factors are involved in physical health and illness. Health psychologists work alongside other medical professionals in clinical settings, work on behavior change in public health promotion,...

. The field is concerned with identifying work-related psychosocial factors that adversely affect the health of people who work. OHP is also concerned with developing ways to effect change in workplaces for the purpose of improving the health of people who work. For more detail on OHP, see the section on occupational health psychology
Occupational health psychology
Occupational health psychology emerged out of two distinct applied disciplines within psychology, health psychology and industrial/organizational psychology, and occupational health. OHP is concerned with the psychosocial characteristics of workplaces that contribute to the development of...

.

Reasons for Occupational health and safety

The event of an incident at work (such as legal fees, fines, compensatory damages, investigation time, lost production, lost goodwill from the workforce, from customers and from the wider community).
  • Legal
    Law
    Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

     - Occupational requirements may be reinforced in civil law
    Civil law (common law)
    Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim...

     and/or criminal law
    Criminal law
    Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...

    ; it is accepted that without the extra "encouragement" of potential regulatory action or litigation, many organizations would not act upon their implied moral obligations.

They recognize hazards and measure health and safety risks, set suitable safety controls in place, and give recommendations on avoiding accidents to management and employees in an organisation. This paper looks at the main tasks undertaken by OHS practitioners in Europe, Australia and the USA, and the main knowledge and skills that are required of them. “Like it or not, organisations have a duty to provide health and safety training. But it could involve much more than you think.” (Damon, Nadia. 2008. ‘Reducing The Risks’, Training and Coaching Today, United Kingdom, pg.14)

An effective training program can reduce the number of injuries and deaths, property damage, legal liability, illnesses, workers' compensation claims, and missed time from work. A safety training program can also help a trainer keep the required OSHA-mandated safety training courses organized and up-to-date.

Safety training classes help establish a safety culture in which employees themselves help promote proper safety procedures while on the job. It is important that new employees be properly trained and embrace the importance of workplace safety as it is easy for seasoned workers to negatively influence the new hires. That negative influence however, can be purged with the establishment of new, hands-on, innovative effective safety training which will ultimately lead to an effective safety culture. A 1998 NIOSH study concluded that the role of training in developing and maintaining effective hazard control activities is a proven and successful method of intervention.

Safety Professionals in Europe

In Norway, the main required tasks of an Occupational Health and Safety Practitioner include:

• Systematic evaluations of the working environment

• Endorsing preventative measures which eliminate reasons for illnesses in the work place

• Giving information in the subject of employees’ health

• Giving information on occupational hygiene, ergonomics and also environmental and safety risks in the work place (Hale A, Ytehus I, 2004, ‘Changing requirements for the safety profession: roles and tasks’, Journal of Occupational Health & Safety – Australia and New Zealand)

In the Netherlands, required tasks for health and safety staff are only summarily defined, and include:

• Voluntary medical examinations

• A consulting room on the work environment for the workers

• Health check assessments (if needed for the job concerned) (Hale, A et alia. 2004)

‘The main influence on the Dutch law on the job of the safety professional is through the requirement on each employer to use the services of a certified working conditions service to advise them on health and safety’ (Hale, A et alia. 2004). A ‘certified service’ must employ sufficient numbers of four types of certified experts to cover the risks in the organisations which use the service:

• A safety professional

• An occupational hygienist

• An occupational physician

• A work and organisation specialist. (Hale, A et alia. 2004)

It shows in Table 1 (based on the European Network of Safety and Health Practitioner Organisations [ENHSPO] survey to) that in Norway, 37 % of Health and Safety practitioners had a MSc education level, and 14% in the Netherlands; 44% were BSc graduates and 63% in the Netherlands; and 19% were of a Technician level and 23% in the Netherlands (Hale, A et alia. 2004).

Safety Professionals in the USA

The main tasks undertaken by the OHS practitioner in the USA include:

• Develop processes, procedures, criteria, requirements, and methods to attain the best possible management of the hazards and exposures that can cause injury to people, and damage property, or the environment;

• Apply good business practices and economic principles for efficient use of resources to add to the importance of the safety processes;

• Promote other members of the company to contribute by exchanging ideas and other different approaches to make sure that every one in the corporation possess OHS knowledge and have functional roles in the development and execution of safety procedures;

• Assess services, outcomes, methods, equipment, workstations, and procedures by using qualitative and quantitative methods to recognise the hazards and measure the related risks;

• Examine all possibilities, effectiveness, reliability, and expenditure to attain the best results for the company concerned

(Board of Certified Safety Professionals, 2006, “Examination Guide” accessed 20 April at http://www.bcsp.org/bcsp/media/exam_guide.pdf)

Knowledge required by the OHS professional in USA include:

• Constitutional and case law controlling safety, health, and the environment

• Operational procedures to plan/ develop safe work practices

• Safety, health and environmental sciences

• Design of hazard control systems (i.e. fall protection, scaffoldings)

• Design of recordkeeping systems that take collection into account, as well as storage, interpretation, and dissemination

• Mathematics and statistics

• Processes and systems for attaining safety through design

(Board of Certified Safety Professionals, 2006)

Some skills required by the OHS professional in the USA include (but are not limited to):

• Understanding and relating to systems, policies and rules

• Holding checks and having control methods for possible hazardous exposures

• Mathematical and statistical analysis

• Examining manufacturing hazards

• Planning safe work practices for systems, facilities, and equipment

• Understanding and using safety, health, and environmental science information for the improvement of procedures

• Interpersonal communication skills

(Board of Certified Safety Professionals, 2006)

The differences in each location

Similar to the findings of the ENHSPO survey conducted in Australia, the Institute of Occupational Medicine found that in the UK, there is a need to put a greater emphasis on work-related illness (Anonymous. 2008. ‘Occupational Health’, Health and Safety News: In Brief, Vol 60, Iss. 3; UK. pg. 6). Its been shown that in
Australia and the USA that a major responsibility of the OHS professional is to keep company directors and managers aware of the issues that they face in regards to Occupational Health and Safety principles and legislation. However, in Europe, it has been shown that this is where they are lacking. “Nearly half of senior managers and company directors do not have an up-to-date understanding of their health and safety-related duties and responsibilities.” (Paton, Nic. 2008. ‘Senior Managers Fail to Show Competence in Health and Safety’ Occupational Health, Vol. 60, Iss. 3; pg. 6)

National implementing legislation

Different states take different approaches to legislation, regulation, and enforcement.

In the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

, member state
Member state
A member state is a state that is a member of an international organisation.The World Trade Organization has members that are sovereign states and members that are not, thus WTO members are not called member states.- Worldwide :...

s have enforcing authorities to ensure that the basic legal requirements relating to occupational health and safety are met. In many EU countries, there is strong cooperation between employer and worker organisations (e.g. Unions) to ensure good OSH performance as it is recognized this has benefits for both the worker (through maintenance of health) and the enterprise (through improved productivity
Productivity
Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of production. Productivity is a ratio of what is produced to what is required to produce it. Usually this ratio is in the form of an average, expressing the total output divided by the total input...

 and quality). In 1996 the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work was set up in 1996 in Bilbao, Spain. Its mission is "to make Europe's workplaces safer, healthier and more productive...

 was founded.

Member states of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 have all transposed into their national legislation a series of directives that establish minimum standards on occupational health and safety. These directives (of which there are about 20 on a variety of topics) follow a similar structure requiring the employer to assess the workplace risks and put in place preventive measures based on a hierarchy of control. This hierarchy starts with elimination of the hazard and ends with personal protective equipment
Personal protective equipment
Personal protective equipment refers to protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garment or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury by blunt impacts, electrical hazards, heat, chemicals, and infection, for job-related occupational safety and health purposes, and in...

.

In the UK, health and safety legislation is drawn up and enforced by the Health and Safety Executive
Health and Safety Executive
The Health and Safety Executive is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It is the body responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in England and Wales and Scotland...

 and local authorities (the local council) under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Increasingly in the UK the regulatory trend is away from prescriptive rules, and towards risk assessment. Recent major changes to the laws governing asbestos and fire safety management embrace the concept of risk assessment.

In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, the Occupational Safety and Health Act
Occupational Safety and Health Act
The Occupational Safety and Health Act is the primary federal law which governs occupational health and safety in the private sector and federal government in the United States. It was enacted by Congress in 1970 and was signed by President Richard Nixon on December 29, 1970...

 of 1970 created both the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is the United States’ federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness. NIOSH is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention within the U.S...

 (NIOSH) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. It was created by Congress of the United States under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, signed by President Richard M. Nixon, on December 29, 1970...

 (OSHA). OSHA, in the U.S. Department of Labor, is responsible for developing and enforcing workplace safety and health regulations. NIOSH, in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is focused on research, information, education, and training in occupational safety and health.

OSHA have been regulating occupational safety and health since 1971. Occupational safety and health regulation of a limited number of specifically defined industries was in place for several decades before that, and broad regulations by some individual states was in place for many years prior to the establishment of OSHA.

In Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, workers are covered by provincial or federal labour codes depending on the sector in which they work. Workers covered by federal legislation (including those in mining, transportation, and federal employment) are covered by the Canada Labour Code; all other workers are covered by the health and safety legislation of the province they work in. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety is a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Canada.CCOHS functions as the primary national agency in Canada for the advancement of safe and healthy workplaces and preventing work-related injuries, illnesses and deaths...

 (CCOHS), an agency of the Government of Canada, was created in 1978 by an Act of Parliament. The act was based on the belief that all Canadians had "...a fundamental right to a healthy and safe working environment." CCOHS is mandated to promote safe and healthy workplaces to help prevent work-related injuries and illnesses.

In Malaysia, the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) under the Ministry of Human Resource is responsible to ensure that the safety, health and welfare of workers in both the public and private sector is upheld. DOSH is responsible to enforce the Factory and Machinery Act 1969 and the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994
Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994
The Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 is a piece of Malaysian legislation which was gazetted on 25 February 1994 by the Malaysian Parliament....

.

In the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

, the Ministry of Health is responsible for occupational disease prevention and the State Administration of Work Safety for safety issues at work. On the provincial and municipal level, there are Health Supervisions for occupational health and local bureaus of Work Safety for safety. The "Occupational Disease Control Act of PRC" came into force on May 1, 2002. and Work safety Act of PRC on November 1, 2002. The Occupational Disease Control Act is under revising. The prevention of occupational disease is still in its initial stage compared with industried countries such as the US or UK.

Hazards, risks, outcomes

The terminology used in OSH varies between states, but generally speaking:
  • A hazard
    Hazard
    A hazard is a situation that poses a level of threat to life, health, property, or environment. Most hazards are dormant or potential, with only a theoretical risk of harm; however, once a hazard becomes "active", it can create an emergency situation. A hazard does not exist when it is not...

     is something that can cause harm if not controlled.
  • The outcome is the harm that results from an uncontrolled hazard.
  • A risk
    Risk
    Risk is the potential that a chosen action or activity will lead to a loss . The notion implies that a choice having an influence on the outcome exists . Potential losses themselves may also be called "risks"...

     is a combination of the probability that a particular outcome will occur and the severity of the harm involved.


“Hazard”, “risk”, and “outcome” are used in other fields to describe e.g. environmental damage, or damage to equipment. However, in the context of OSH, “harm” generally describes the direct or indirect degradation, temporary or permanent, of the physical, mental, or social well-being of workers. For example, repetitively carrying out manual handling
Manual handling
Manual handling of loads , manual material handling or manutention involves the use of the human body to lift, lower, fill, empty, or carry loads. The load can be animate or inanimate . Most manufacturing or distribution systems require some manual handling tasks...

 of heavy objects is a hazard. The outcome could be a musculoskeletal disorder
Musculoskeletal disorders
Musculoskeletal disorders can affect the body's muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Most work-related MSDs develop over time and are caused either by the work itself or by the employees' working environment...

 (MSD) or an acute back or joint injury. The risk can be expressed numerically (e.g. a 0.5 or 50/50 chance of the outcome occurring during a year), in relative terms (e.g. "high/medium/low"), or with a multi-dimensional classification scheme (e.g. situation-specific risks).

Hazard Assessment

Hazard analysis or hazard assessment is a process in which individual hazards of the workplace are identified, assessed and controlled/eliminated as close to source (location of the hazard) as reasonable and possible. As technology, resources, social expectation or regulatory requirements change, hazard analysis focuses controls more closely toward the source of the hazard. Thus hazard control is a dynamic program of prevention. Hazard-based programs also have the advantage of not assigning or implying there are "acceptable risks" in the workplace. A hazard-based program may not be able to eliminate all risks, but neither does it accept "satisfactory" -- but still risky—outcomes. And as those who calculate and manage the risk are usually managers while those exposed to the risks are a different group, workers, a hazard-based approach can by-pass conflict inherent in a risk-based approach.

Risk assessment

Modern occupational safety and health legislation usually demands that a risk assessment
Risk assessment
Risk assessment is a step in a risk management procedure. Risk assessment is the determination of quantitative or qualitative value of risk related to a concrete situation and a recognized threat...

 be carried out prior to making an intervention. It should be kept in mind that risk management requires risk to be managed to a level which is as low as is reasonably practical.

This assessment should:
  • Identify the hazards
  • Identify all affected by the hazard and how
  • Evaluate the risk
  • Identify and prioritize appropriate control measures


The calculation of risk is based on the likelihood or probability
Probability
Probability is ordinarily used to describe an attitude of mind towards some proposition of whose truth we arenot certain. The proposition of interest is usually of the form "Will a specific event occur?" The attitude of mind is of the form "How certain are we that the event will occur?" The...

 of the harm being realized and the severity of the consequences. This can be expressed mathematically as a quantitative
Quantitative property
A quantitative property is one that exists in a range of magnitudes, and can therefore be measured with a number. Measurements of any particular quantitative property are expressed as a specific quantity, referred to as a unit, multiplied by a number. Examples of physical quantities are distance,...

 assessment (by assigning low, medium and high likelihood and severity with integers and multiplying them to obtain a risk factor
Risk factor
In epidemiology, a risk factor is a variable associated with an increased risk of disease or infection. Sometimes, determinant is also used, being a variable associated with either increased or decreased risk.-Correlation vs causation:...

), or qualitatively as a description of the circumstances by which the harm could arise.

The assessment should be recorded and reviewed periodically and whenever there is a significant change to work practices. The assessment should include practical recommendations to control the risk. Once recommended controls are implemented, the risk should be re-calculated to determine of it has been lowered to an acceptable level. Generally speaking, newly introduced controls should lower risk by one level, i.e., from high to medium or from medium to low.

Common workplace hazard groups

  • Mechanical hazards include:
By type of agent:
    • Impact force
      Impact force
      In mechanics, an impact is a high force or shock applied over a short time period when two or more bodies collide. Such a force or acceleration usually has a greater effect than a lower force applied over a proportionally longer time period of time...

      • Collision
        Collision
        A collision is an isolated event which two or more moving bodies exert forces on each other for a relatively short time.Although the most common colloquial use of the word "collision" refers to accidents in which two or more objects collide, the scientific use of the word "collision" implies...

        s
      • Falls from height
        Falling (accident)
        Falling is a major cause of personal injury, especially for the elderly. Builders, electricians, miners, and painters represent worker categories representing high rates of fall injuries. The WHO estimate that 392,000 people die in falls every year...

    • Struck by objects
    • Confined space
      Confined space
      Confined space is a term from labor-safety regulations that refers to an area whose enclosed conditions and limited access make it dangerous.- Description :...

    • Slips and trips
      Slip and fall
      Slip and fall, in United States tort law, is a claim or case based on a person slipping and falling. It is a tort, and based on a claim that the property owner was negligent in allowing some dangerous condition to exist that caused the slip or trip.Property owners generally have two basic...

    • Falling on a pointed object
    • Compressed air
      Compressed air
      Compressed air is air which is kept under a certain pressure, usually greater than that of the atmosphere. In Europe, 10 percent of all electricity used by industry is used to produce compressed air, amounting to 80 terawatt hours consumption per year....

      /high pressure
      High pressure
      High pressure in science and engineering is studying the effects of high pressure on materials and the design and construction of devices, such as a diamond anvil cell, which can create high pressure...

       fluids (such as cutting fluid
      Cutting fluid
      Cutting fluid is a type of coolant and lubricant designed specifically for metalworking and machining processes. There are various kinds of cutting fluids, which include oils, oil-water emulsions, pastes, gels, aerosols , and air or other gases. They may be made from petroleum distillates, animal...

      )
    • Entanglement
    • Equipment-related injury

By type of damage:
    • Crushing
    • Cutting
      Cutting
      Cutting is the separation of a physical object, or a portion of a physical object, into two portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. An implement commonly used for cutting is the knife or in medical cases the scalpel...

    • Friction
      Friction
      Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and/or material elements sliding against each other. There are several types of friction:...

       and abrasion
    • Shearing
    • Stabbing
      Stabbing
      A stabbing is penetration with a sharp or pointed object at close range. Stab connotes purposeful action, as by an assassin or murderer, but it is also possible to accidentally stab oneself or others.Stabbing differs from slashing or cutting in that the motion of the object used in a stabbing...

       and puncture

  • Other physical hazards:
    • Noise
      Noise
      In common use, the word noise means any unwanted sound. In both analog and digital electronics, noise is random unwanted perturbation to a wanted signal; it is called noise as a generalisation of the acoustic noise heard when listening to a weak radio transmission with significant electrical noise...

    • Vibration
      Oscillation
      Oscillation is the repetitive variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value or between two or more different states. Familiar examples include a swinging pendulum and AC power. The term vibration is sometimes used more narrowly to mean a mechanical oscillation but sometimes...

    • Lighting
      Lighting
      Lighting or illumination is the deliberate application of light to achieve some practical or aesthetic effect. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources such as lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight...

    • Barotrauma
      Barotrauma
      Barotrauma is physical damage to body tissues caused by a difference in pressure between an air space inside or beside the body and the surrounding fluid...

       (hypobaric/hyperbaric pressure)
    • Ionizing radiation
      Ionizing radiation
      Ionizing radiation is radiation composed of particles that individually have sufficient energy to remove an electron from an atom or molecule. This ionization produces free radicals, which are atoms or molecules containing unpaired electrons...

    • Electricity
      Electric shock
      Electric Shock of a body with any source of electricity that causes a sufficient current through the skin, muscles or hair. Typically, the expression is used to denote an unwanted exposure to electricity, hence the effects are considered undesirable....

    • Asphyxiation
    • Cold stress (hypothermia
      Hypothermia
      Hypothermia is a condition in which core temperature drops below the required temperature for normal metabolism and body functions which is defined as . Body temperature is usually maintained near a constant level of through biologic homeostasis or thermoregulation...

      )
    • Heat stress (hyperthermia
      Hyperthermia
      Hyperthermia is an elevated body temperature due to failed thermoregulation. Hyperthermia occurs when the body produces or absorbs more heat than it can dissipate...

      )
      • Dehydration
        Dehydration
        In physiology and medicine, dehydration is defined as the excessive loss of body fluid. It is literally the removal of water from an object; however, in physiological terms, it entails a deficiency of fluid within an organism...

         (due to sweating)

  • Biological hazard
    Biological hazard
    Biological hazards, refer to biological substances that pose a threat to the health of living organisms, primarily that of humans. This can include medical waste or samples of a microorganism, virus or toxin that can impact human health. It can also include substances harmful to animals...

    s
    include:
    • Bacteria
      Bacteria
      Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...

    • Virus
      Virus
      A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...

    • Fungi
      • Mold
        Mold
        Molds are fungi that grow in the form of multicellular filaments called hyphae. Molds are not considered to be microbes but microscopic fungi that grow as single cells called yeasts...

    • Blood-borne pathogens
    • Tuberculosis
      Tuberculosis
      Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...


  • Chemical hazards include:
    • Acid
      Acid
      An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...

      s
    • Base
      Base (chemistry)
      For the term in genetics, see base A base in chemistry is a substance that can accept hydrogen ions or more generally, donate electron pairs. A soluble base is referred to as an alkali if it contains and releases hydroxide ions quantitatively...

      s
    • Heavy metals
      • Lead
        Lead
        Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...

    • Solvent
      Solvent
      A solvent is a liquid, solid, or gas that dissolves another solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution that is soluble in a certain volume of solvent at a specified temperature...

      s
      • Petroleum
        Petroleum
        Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

    • Particulates
      Particulates
      Particulates – also known as particulate matter , suspended particulate matter , fine particles, and soot – are tiny subdivisions of solid matter suspended in a gas or liquid. In contrast, aerosol refers to particles and/or liquid droplets and the gas together. Sources of particulate matter can be...

      • Asbestos
        Asbestos
        Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...

         and other fine dust/fibrous materials
      • Silica
    • Fumes (noxious gases/vapors)
    • Highly-reactive chemicals
    • Fire, conflagration and explosion hazards:
      • Explosion
        Explosion
        An explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave. If the shock wave is a supersonic detonation, then the source of the blast is called a "high explosive"...

      • Deflagration
        Deflagration
        Deflagration is a term describing subsonic combustion that usually propagates through thermal conductivity; hot burning material heats the next layer of cold material and ignites it. Most "fire" found in daily life, from flames to explosions, is deflagration...

      • Detonation
        Detonation
        Detonation involves a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations are observed in both conventional solid and liquid explosives, as well as in reactive gases...

      • Conflagration
        Conflagration
        A conflagration or a blaze is an uncontrolled burning that threatens human life, health, or property. A conflagration can be accidentally begun, naturally caused , or intentionally created . Arson can be accomplished for the purpose of sabotage or diversion, and also can be the consequence of...


  • Psychosocial issues include:
    • Work-related stress
      Stress (medicine)
      Stress is a term in psychology and biology, borrowed from physics and engineering and first used in the biological context in the 1930s, which has in more recent decades become commonly used in popular parlance...

      , whose causal factors include excessive working time and overwork
    • Violence
      Violence
      Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...

       from outside the organisation
    • Bullying, which may include emotional and verbal abuse
      Verbal abuse
      Verbal abuse is best described as a negative defining statement told to you or about you; or by withholding any response thus defining the target as non-existant...

    • Sexual harassment
      Sexual harassment
      Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...

    • Mobbing
      Mobbing
      Mobbing in the context of human beings either means bullying of an individual by a group in any context. Identified as emotional abuse in the workplace, such as "ganging up" by co-workers, subordinates or superiors, to force someone out of the workplace through rumor, innuendo, intimidation,...

    • Burnout
      Burnout (psychology)
      Burnout is a psychological term for the experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest. Research indicates general practitioners have the highest proportion of burnout cases; according to a recent Dutch study in Psychological Reports, no less than 40% of these experienced high levels of...

    • Exposure to unhealthy elements during meetings with business associates, e.g. tobacco
      Tobacco
      Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

      , uncontrolled alcohol
      Alcohol
      In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....


  • Musculoskeletal disorders
    Musculoskeletal disorders
    Musculoskeletal disorders can affect the body's muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Most work-related MSDs develop over time and are caused either by the work itself or by the employees' working environment...

    , avoided by the employment of good ergonomic design
    Ergonomics
    Ergonomics is the study of designing equipment and devices that fit the human body, its movements, and its cognitive abilities.The International Ergonomics Association defines ergonomics as follows:...


Fire prevention (fire protection
Fire protection
Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, compartmentalisation, suppression and investigation of fire and its related emergencies, as well as the research and development, production, testing and application of...

/fire safety
Fire safety
Fire safety refers to precautions that are taken to prevent or reduce the likelihood of a fire that may result in death, injury, or property damage, alert those in a structure to the presence of a fire in the event one occurs, better enable those threatened by a fire to survive, or to reduce the...

) often comes within the remit of health and safety professionals as well.

Canadian Classification

In Canada, Hazards are typically categorized into one of six groups:

1. Safety (moving machinery, working at heights, slippery surfaces, mobile equipment, etc.)

2. Ergonomic (material handling, environment, work organization, etc.)

3. Chemical Agents

4. Biological Agents

5. Physical Agents(noise, lighting, radiation, etc.)

6. Psychosocial(stress, violence, etc.)

Future developments

Occupational health and safety has come a long way from its beginnings in the heavy industry sector. It now has an impact on every worker, in every work place, and those charged with managing health and safety are having more and more tasks added to their portfolio. The most significant responsibility is environmental protection. The skills required to manage occupational health and safety are compatible with environmental protection, which is why these responsibilities are so often bolted onto the workplace health and safety professional.

General

  • ANSI Z10
  • Environment, Health and Safety
    Environment, Health and Safety
    Environment, Health and Safety – also Safety, Health and Environment or HES or HSE – is often used as the name of a department in corporations and government agencies. The EHS guidelines were created by the International Finance Corporation in 1998...

     - EHS, HSE, SHE or HES
  • Material safety data sheet
    Material safety data sheet
    A Material Safety Data Sheet is a form with data regarding the properties of a particular substance....

     - MSDS
  • Mountain & Plains ERC
    Mountain & Plains ERC
    The Mountain & Plains Education and Research Center is one of seventeen Education and Research Centers funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health...

     - A NIOSH-Funded Education and Research Center in Colorado
  • Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems - OHSMS
  • Occupational Medicine Specialists of Canada
    Occupational Medicine Specialists of Canada
    The Occupational Medicine Specialists of Canada is a non-profit organization representing occupational medicine specialists, created in 2006 and based in Ottawa, Canada. Its first annual general meeting was in 2007 in Vancouver. It is the National Specialty Society for occupational medicine...

  • OHSAS 18001
  • Public safety
    Public Safety
    Public safety involves the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety of the general public from significant danger, injury/harm, or damage, such as crimes or disasters .-See also:* By nation...


Government organizations

  • Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
    Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
    The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety is a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Canada.CCOHS functions as the primary national agency in Canada for the advancement of safe and healthy workplaces and preventing work-related injuries, illnesses and deaths...

     (Canada)
  • Congressional Office of Compliance (US)
  • European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
    European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
    The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work was set up in 1996 in Bilbao, Spain. Its mission is "to make Europe's workplaces safer, healthier and more productive...

     (EU)
  • Government & Educational OHS Resources (Australia)
  • Health and Safety Executive
    Health and Safety Executive
    The Health and Safety Executive is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It is the body responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in England and Wales and Scotland...

     (UK)
  • Health for Work Adviceline for small businesses (UK)
  • Information Center of Occupational Safety and Health (Israel)
  • Institute of Occupational Safety_and_Health http://www.labourdept.gov.lk
  • International Labour Organisation (United Nations)
  • KOSHA:Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (South Korea)
  • National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
    The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is the United States’ federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness. NIOSH is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention within the U.S...

     (US)
  • National Institute of Occupational Health (India)
  • National Institute of Occupational Health
    National Institute of Occupational Health
    National Institute of Occupational Health , also known as Statens arbeidsmiljøinstitutt or STAMI is a government body organised by the Norwegian Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion. The institute deals with a range of health areas, with staff with competence in medicine, physiology, chemistry,...

     (Norway)
  • National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH Malaysia) (Malaysia)
  • NIOSH Certification Sdn Bhd (NIOSH Malaysia Subsidiary)
  • National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Sri Lanka)
  • Occupational Safety and Health Administration
    Occupational Safety and Health Administration
    The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. It was created by Congress of the United States under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, signed by President Richard M. Nixon, on December 29, 1970...

     (US)
  • Safe Work Australia (Australia)
  • Work Safe BC formerly Workers' Compensation Board of BC (WCB) (British Columbia, Canada)
  • Workplace Safety & Health Council
    Workplace Safety & Health Council
    -About Workplace Safety and Health Council:The Workplace Safety and Health Council was formed on 1 April 2008. The is an industry-led Statutory Body that is based in Singapore. It is a step-up from its precursor, the Workplace Safety and Health Advisory Committee formed in September 2005...

     (Singapore)
  • Workplace Safety & Insurance Board
    Workplace Safety & Insurance Board
    The Workplace Safety & Insurance Board was established in 1914. It is a workers' compensation insurer for Ontario, Canada. Its headquarters are located in Toronto, Ontario.-History:...

     (Ontario, Canada)
  • WorkSafe Victoria
    WorkSafe Victoria
    WorkSafe Victoria is the trading name of the Victorian Workcover Authority, a statutory authority of the state government of Victoria, Australia....

    , Australia
  • Workplace Safety & Health Council
    Workplace Safety & Health Council
    -About Workplace Safety and Health Council:The Workplace Safety and Health Council was formed on 1 April 2008. The is an industry-led Statutory Body that is based in Singapore. It is a step-up from its precursor, the Workplace Safety and Health Advisory Committee formed in September 2005...

    , Singapore

Laws

  • Health and Safety at Work Act
    Health and Safety at Work Act
    The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that defines the fundamental structure and authority for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare within the United Kingdom.The Act defines general duties on...

     (UK)
  • Indonesian Act No.1/1970 about Occupational Safety at Work 1970 (Indonesia)
  • Occupational Safety and Health Act
    Occupational Safety and Health Act
    The Occupational Safety and Health Act is the primary federal law which governs occupational health and safety in the private sector and federal government in the United States. It was enacted by Congress in 1970 and was signed by President Richard Nixon on December 29, 1970...

     (US)
  • Occupational Health and Safety Act 1991 (Australia)
  • Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994
    Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994
    The Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 is a piece of Malaysian legislation which was gazetted on 25 February 1994 by the Malaysian Parliament....

     (Malaysia)
  • Timeline of major U.S. environmental and occupational health regulation
  • Workplace Safety and Health Act
    Workplace Safety and Health Act
    The Workplace Safety and Health Act 2006 is an act issued by the Republic of Singapore. It addresses requirements for safety and health in workplaces in Singapore and replaced the Factories Act as of 1 March 2006....

     (Singapore)

Related fields

  • Construction safety
  • Environmental Health
    Environmental health
    Environmental health is the branch of public health that is concerned with all aspects of the natural and built environment that may affect human health...

  • Environment, Health and Safety
    Environment, Health and Safety
    Environment, Health and Safety – also Safety, Health and Environment or HES or HSE – is often used as the name of a department in corporations and government agencies. The EHS guidelines were created by the International Finance Corporation in 1998...

  • Epidemiology
    Epidemiology
    Epidemiology is the study of health-event, health-characteristic, or health-determinant patterns in a population. It is the cornerstone method of public health research, and helps inform policy decisions and evidence-based medicine by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for preventive...

  • Ergonomics
    Ergonomics
    Ergonomics is the study of designing equipment and devices that fit the human body, its movements, and its cognitive abilities.The International Ergonomics Association defines ergonomics as follows:...

    , Participatory Ergonomics
    Participatory Ergonomics
    Industrial Ergonomics programs seek to identify and correct factors that negatively impact the physical health of their workers. Participatory ergonomics programs seek to maximize the involvement of the workers in this process based on the simple fact that a worker is an expert on his or her job...

  • Hazard analysis
    Hazard analysis
    A hazard analysis is used as the first step in a process used to assess risk. The result of a hazard analysis is the identification of risks. Preliminary risk levels can be provided in the hazard analysis. The validation, more precise prediction and acceptance of risk is determined in the Risk...

  • Hazard prevention
    Hazard prevention
    Hazard prevention refers to the prevention of risks. The first and most effective stage of hazard prevention and emergency management is the elimination of hazards...

  • Hazop
    Hazop
    A hazard and operability study is a structured and systematic examination of a planned or existing process or operation in order to identify and evaluate problems that may represent risks to personnel or equipment, or prevent efficientoperation....

  • Industrial hygiene
  • Industrial engineering
    Industrial engineering
    Industrial engineering is a branch of engineering dealing with the optimization of complex processes or systems. It is concerned with the development, improvement, implementation and evaluation of integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information, equipment, energy, materials, analysis...

  • Infection control
    Infection control
    Infection control is the discipline concerned with preventing nosocomial or healthcare-associated infection, a practical sub-discipline of epidemiology. It is an essential, though often under-recognized and under-supported, part of the infrastructure of health care...

  • Mine safety
  • Occupational health psychology
    Occupational health psychology
    Occupational health psychology emerged out of two distinct applied disciplines within psychology, health psychology and industrial/organizational psychology, and occupational health. OHP is concerned with the psychosocial characteristics of workplaces that contribute to the development of...

  • Process Safety Management
    Process Safety Management
    Process Safety Management is a regulation, promulgated by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration . A process is any activity or combination of activities including any use, storage, manufacturing, handling or the on-site movement of Highly Hazardous Chemicals as defined by OSHA...

  • Psychology
    Psychology
    Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

  • Public health
    Public health
    Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...

  • Safety engineering
    Safety engineering
    Safety engineering is an applied science strongly related to systems engineering / industrial engineering and the subset System Safety Engineering...

  • Toxicology
    Toxicology
    Toxicology is a branch of biology, chemistry, and medicine concerned with the study of the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms...


Workplace environmental standards

  • ISO 8518
  • ISO 8672
  • ISO 8760 - ISO 8762
  • ISO 9486 - ISO 9487
  • ISO 11041
  • ISO 11174
  • ISO 14001
  • ISO 15202
  • ISO 15767
  • ISO 16107
  • ISO 16200
  • ISO 16702
  • ISO 16740
  • ISO 17733 - ISO 17734
  • ISO 17737
  • ISO 20552
  • MS 1722 (Malaysia Standard)

Other

  • Active Agenda
    Active Agenda
    Active Agenda is an open source risk management tool.Active Agenda is designed to support operational risk management in organizations and is optimized for high reliability organizations. It is a browser-based multi-user enabled software...

     is a free and open source project to reduce workplace risk.
  • Advocates for Injured Workers
    Advocates for Injured Workers
    Advocates for Injured Workers is a student legal clinic operating in Toronto and affiliated with the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. This clinic is supervised by the Industrial Accident Victims' Group of Ontario - itself a community legal clinic funded by Legal Aid Ontario...

     (AIW)
  • Asbestosis - Compensation and Liability Disputes
  • Canadian Society of Safety Engineering
    Canadian Society of Safety Engineering
    The Canadian Society of Safety Engineering is a Canadian association which promotes accident prevention. It was founded in 1949 by a small group of dedicated individuals drawn together in the common cause of accident prevention...

  • Disability Management
  • Examinetics
    Examinetics
    Examinetics, Inc. is the largest provider of mobile and on-site occupational health screening and data management services in the United States. The company was established in 2004 following the consolidation of a number of small businesses providing occupational health screening and compliance...

     - mobile occupational health screening
  • Hazards a UK-based, independent, union-friendly health and safety magazine
  • Institute of Occupational Medicine
    Institute of Occupational Medicine
    The Institute of Occupational Medicine was founded in 1969 by the National Coal Board as an independent charity. The IOM is a major independent centre of scientific excellence in the fields of occupational health and environmental health, occupational hygiene and occupational safety...

  • Juliana Mateo Foundation for Disabled Farmworkers
    Juliana Mateo Foundation for Disabled Farmworkers
    The Juliana Mateo Foundation for Disabled Farmworkers is a non-profit organization officially incorporated with the State of Florida on July 3, 2007....

  • NIOSH Power Tools Database
    NIOSH Power Tools Database
    The NIOSH Power Tools Database contains sound power levels, sound pressure levels, and vibrations data for a variety of common power tools that have been tested by researchers. Data are collected for both the unloaded and loaded use of power tools...

  • Occupational hygiene
    Occupational hygiene
    Occupational hygiene is generally defined as the art and science dedicated to the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, communication and control of environmental stressors in, or arising from, the workplace that may result in injury, illness, impairment, or affect the well being of workers and...

  • Occupational illness
  • Occupational rehabilitation
    Occupational rehabilitation
    Occupational Rehabilitation is the science and practices of returning injured workers to a level of work activity that is appropriate to their functional and cognitive capacity, both of which are influenced by the severity of a worker's injuries....

  • Occupational risk assessment
  • Occupational therapy
    Occupational therapy
    Occupational therapy is a discipline that aims to promote health by enabling people to perform meaningful and purposeful activities. Occupational therapists work with individuals who suffer from a mentally, physically, developmentally, and/or emotionally disabling condition by utilizing treatments...

  • Prevention through design
    Prevention through design
    Prevention through design is the concept of mitigating occupational hazards by "designing them out". This method for reducing workplace safety risks lessens workers' reliance on personal protective equipment. Each year in the U.S., 55,000 people die from work-related injuries and diseases, 294,000...

  • Safe-In-Sound Award Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Award
  • Safeguard (magazine)
    Safeguard (magazine)
    Safeguard is a New Zealand magazine devoted to occupational health and safety. It features articles and information on managing health and safety in the workplace and is aimed at employers in all industries and at health and safety professionals. The magazine was launched as a quarterly in 1988...

     (in New Zealand)
  • Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health
  • Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work
    Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work
    On June 29, 2008, the XVIII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work signed the Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work. The declaration included statements concerning national governments' responsibility for perpetuating a "national preventative safety and health culture", for improving...

  • Workers' compensation
    Workers' compensation
    Workers' compensation is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her employer for the tort of negligence...


Further reading

  • OHSAS 18000 series: (derived from a British Standard, OHSAS is intended to be compatible with ISO 9000 and 14000 series standards, but is not itself an ISO standard)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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