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HEALTH HAZARDS & INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE. BWU 10302 Occupational Safety & Health. Introduction to Occupational Health. S tarted at the early period of Renaissance middle ages
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HEALTH HAZARDS&INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE BWU 10302 Occupational Safety & Health
Introduction to Occupational Health • Started at the early period of Renaissance middle ages • Define by International Labour Organization (ILO) as promotion and maintenance of the physical, mental and social levels of staff in all work sector • Prevention from illnesses and diseases due to the workplace or process, protection from risk at work, and placement of workers in environments and job task suitable to their physiological and psychological capabilities • Increase quality of work environment and work processes suitable to worker safety and health conditions
The objective of occupational health service • Identify and control hazards (provision of early treatment) and educate both management and workers on the joint responsibility of ensuring and safeguarding safety and health at work • Promotion of healthy lifestyle programs such as health promotion and education, exposure monitoring, health risk assessment, hazard control, occupational fitness assessment and medical surveillance at least once a year • Suiting the work and work environment to the worker, general medication treatment, first and medical aid, disability assessment and data collection, analysis and recordkeeping can be part of occupational health services
Organizations that related to occupational health and function description in Malaysia:- • Department of Occupational Safety & Health (DOSH) : provides legislation, standards, enforcement and promotion. • National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) : provides training, consultation, research and information dissemination. • Social Security Organization (SOCSO) : provides compensation and promotion. • Ministry of Health Malaysia Organization related to occupational health for internationalservices:- • United Kingdom : Health Safety Executive (HSE) • United State : National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) & American Conference of Industrial Hygienist (ACGIH) • International Labour Organization (ILO) • International Agency for Research into Cancer (IARC)
Epidemiology • Is an introduction to human anatomy and physiology are important as human body comprises many part and each part have its own function • Determines the distribution and cause of disease • Application of epidemiology such as:- • Clearly understand the causes of the various diseases • Asses the level of harm and disease causing agent or material (e.g. benzene cause cancer) • Determine the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) • Plan occupational safety and health programs.
Chemical hazards • Chemical for which there is statistically significant evidence (based on at least one study conducted according to established scientific principles) that acute or chronic health effects may occur in exposed employees. • Substances that can cause harm or damage to the body, property or the environment. • Chemical hazards can be both natural or human made origin
Chemical Hazards Asbestos Mineral Dust Lead
Asbestos • Asbestos is a generic name for magnesium silica that is formulated through the natural process • Human can expose to asbestos through inhalation and ingestion • Due to asbestos harmful ability, DOSH had been introduced two legislations which are Factories and Machinery (Asbestos Process) Regulation 1986 and Occupational Safety and Health (Use and Standards of Exposure of Chemicals Hazardous to Health) Regulation 2000 • Major occupations at risk due to asbestos process are factory workers for products using asbestos and workers that are exposed to the use of asbestos materials such as shipbuilding, oil rigs etc. • Due to asbestos hazard, control measures approach through elimination which prohibition of use crociodolite. If eliminate possible, minimize exposure through work process and practice, engineering controls and personal protective equipment. All expose workers should undergo health surveillance program either by exposure monitoring, medical removal protection and medical assessment by occupational health doctor (OHD). OHD will perform qualitative and quantitative evaluation such as history (medical, occupational & smoking), clinical examination, chest x-ray and lung function test.
Mineral Dust • Mineral dust specific characteristics consist of 2 major elements which are mineral dust and silica (Silicon dioxide). • The mineral dust examples are silica, kaolin, quartz etc. • A method of mineral dust exposure is through inhalation process. • Occupations which at risk due to mineral dust are mining, quarry, works involving rocks containing silica and boiling works (sand preparation & sand blasting).
Two related legislation in mineral dust activity which are Factories and Machinery (Mineral Dust) Regulations 1989 and Occupational Safety and Health (Use and Standards of Exposure of Chemicals Hazardous to Health) Regulations 2000. • Health effect due to mineral dust is pneumoconiosis (fibrosis of the lung due to inhalation of mineral dust), lung cancer, lung failure and risk of whooping cough. • Control measure of mineral dust by using elimination or substitution approach. For example the used of local exhaust ventilation (LEV) or water spraying. Other control measure is developing safe work procedure. Take care of cleanliness, hygiene, changing room, cupboard and warning signage. Personal protective equipment (PPE) such as respirator and clothing should be correct type, suitable, good maintenance and hygiene.
Lead • The specific characteristics of lead have two types which are non-organic lead and organic lead. The non-organic lead used as metallic compound, alloy and chemical mixture. On the other side, organic lead used as additives for internal combustion. • Methods of lead exposure into human body are through inhalation and ingestion. The inhalation process depends on particle size, particle dose, duration and frequency of exposure. Beside, ingestion process depends on lack of personal hygiene work procedure and smoking while working. • Related legislations in lead exposure are Factories and Machinery (Lead) Regulations 1984 and Occupational Safety and Health (Use and Standards of Exposure of Chemicals Hazardous to Health) Regulations 2000. These regulations stated about permissible exposure limit, risk assessment, exposure monitoring, control measures and health surveillance. • Some of occupations at risk to lead including car battery, plastic PVC(Pb – stabilizer), paint and printing (Pb – pigment), glass making, cable and pipes lining. • Due to lead hazardous occupation, health effect such as anemia, system reproduction (impotence & miscarriage), kidney failure, high blood and nervous system (behavioral change & neuropathy) cause chronic diseases.
Physical hazards • Physical hazards are conditions or situations that can cause the body physical harm or intense stress. • Physical hazards can be both natural and human made elements.
Physical Hazards Noise Radiation Vibration
Noise • Defined as changes of pressure in the air, water and specific medium that is identifiable by the human ear. Any unwanted sound is called noise. • Sound components consist of frequency and amplitude or loudness of sound. For layman term, frequency can be same as pitch (degree of highness or lowness) and the unit is Hertz (Hz) or cycles per second. • In other side, the unit for amplitude is decibel (dB). Sound level and their sources determine by dB(A).
Related legislation is Factories and Machinery (Noise Exposure) regulations 1989. Salient point in this regulation is permissible exposure limits, noise exposure monitoring, methods of compliance such as engineering and administrative controls, audiometric testing, hearing protection equipment, information, instructions and training as well as recordkeeping by the employer. • This regulation also stated permissible exposure limit (PEL) for continuous noise for 8 hours is 90 dB(A) while the ceiling limit is 115 dB(A). Impulsive noise ceiling limit stated at 140 dB. Control measure should be implemented if the exposure exceed action level (AL) which is 85 dB(A). • Occupations at risk are quarrying activities, mining activities, textile industry, construction activities, carpentry activities and car manufacturing. • Some of health effects are including emotional disturbance and sensitive, communication problems, loss of hearing, tinnitus, psychological disturbances and high blood pressure. • Some control measures can be used are isolation of processes with high noise level, minimize exposure (engineering controls, modification of work process & use of personal protective equipment) and safe work practices. For health monitoring, it is compulsory to undergo exposure monitoring conducted by a competent person.
Radiation • Defined as emission and propagation of energy in the form of rays or waves. Energy radiated or transmitted as rays, waves in the form of particles. A stream of particles or electromagnetic waves which is emitted by the atoms and molecules of a radioactive substance as a result of nuclear. • In industry, there are two types of radiation 1) ionized and 2) non-ionized. Source of ionized radiation is from natural and artificial. The natural consist of cosmic, photon, neutron (particles – alpha (α) & beta (β)), gamma (from earth & stone) and radon. Meanwhile, artificial ionized radiation comprises medical procedures (radiology test), nuclear energy test and radioactive waste. • Source of non-ionized radiation are ultraviolet (i.e; welding works), visible rays, laser, infrared (i.e; metal manufacturing workers), microwaves and radio waves. • Related legislations in radiation hazard stated in Atomic Energy Licenses Act 1984. Parts of regulation are Radiation Protection (Licensing) Regulations 1986 and Radiation Protection (Basic Safety Standards) Regulations 1988. • Occupation at risk are welding activities, metal manufacturing, metal boiling / melting, diagnostic radiology test workers, printing, communication and army. Besides that, medical patient whom purpose of investigation and disease treatment can expose to radiation. Not to forget, community will expose from natural sources.
Three basic principles in control measures are justification, optimum protection and dosage level (risk). As low as reasonably achievable concept consider time, distance and shielding the hazard. Hence, make sure that the dosage level is not exceeding the permissible exposure limit. Radiation control measures protection program are as below:- • Risk assessment on new equipment • Reduction of optimum exposure by time, distance and shielding – isolation guarding & engineering controls • Written standard operating procedures • Training x-ray technician and radiation protection officer • Maintain and observation • Radiation safety audit • Risk communication • Health surveillance including exposure monitoring for individual (i.e; film badge) and workplace (i.e; ionizing chamber) should be perform. Meanwhile, employee history (medical & occupational), clinical assessment and medical transfer protection should be evaluated by medical officer.
Vibration • Refers to the movement of solid objects where amplitude and frequency produced causes harm to those exposed to it. • Human organs have their own frequencies. When the human body comes into contact with vibration, and the frequency of the vibration is similar to the frequency for an organ, the organ will also vibrate so called resonance. • Two types of vibration which are wholebody vibration (WBV) and hand arm vibration (HAV). The WBV is usually transferred to the body via the buttocks or the feet. Occupations at risk of WBV are ship workers and drivers including lorries, buses andtractors. • Meanwhile, HAV is transferred through the hand via the use of vibrating hand tools. Risk factor of HAV depend on grip force, push force, duration, frequency of use, posture and temperature. • Occupation at risk to HAV are workers who use vibrating equipment such as grinder, electric saw, drills and grass cutter machine.
Vibration Health Effect • Related legislations stated in Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA) 1994 (General) referring to objective 3: to promote a working environment that is conducive and suitable to the worker’s psychological and physiological needs.
Control measures of vibration hazard including conduct risk assessment before purchasing vibrating equipment, hazard elimination through applied automatic equipment or use of robot technology, hazard substitution through selection of less vibrating machine or anti vibration equipment and reduce duration of working time. • Workers should done regular maintenance of equipment as well as training, information and working instructions. Thus, exposure monitoring using measurement of vibration magnitude (i.e; human vibration meter) should be done to determine the quantity of vibration severity. • Health surveillance objective assessment such as cold provocation test, grip strength test and vibrotactile threshold test must be perform to acquire health condition. History of medical, occupational, vibration exposure and grading symptoms of vascular and sensory neural effect can be part of health surveillance.
Biological hazards • Biological hazards are biological agents / substances that pose a threat to the health of living organisms, primarily that of humans. • These some biological agents can be viruses, parasites, bacteria, food, fungi, and foreign toxins.
Biological Hazards Identification of biological agents that causes Legionnaire’s disease, Hepatitis B, HIV and E-bola are biological hazard. Industries which expose to high biological risk are agriculture, healthcare, biotechnology, research and clinical lab.
Infection Chain • Factors for the onset of diseases are including pathogenic agent, existence of a reservoir, agent capable of retention, agent mobility, entry in new host and susceptible host. Infection control may be successful by breaking one or more of the links in the infection chain.
Characteristics of biological agents have no threshold exposure limit, it can exist in any environment, effected and influenced by biological competition make the biological hazard very dangerous to human. Hence, safety precautions need to determine when working with biological agents such as: • Management of Bio-Safety Program • Administrative controls • Physical isolation • Disinfection and sterilization • Accident and emergency planning • Transportation of biological agents • Biological communication risk
Ergonomics Hazards History Purpose Risk Factors
History of Ergonomic • The ergonomics itself means work or effort (ergon) and rules (nomos). This word first used by WojciechJastrzebowski in the year 1857. It is a field of science that tries to harmonies the system of work with human capacities.
Purpose of Ergonomic • There have two major objectives of ergonomic:- • To increase levels of work efficiency and effectiveness or any related activity undertaken such as through reduction of mistakes, increase of productivity and simplification of tasks. • To increase positive human values such as increased safety, reduce fatigue and stress, increased work comfort ability and increased quality of work and life in general. • Based on the SOCSO statistics the number of reported cases for musculoskeletal disorder (MSDs) increased every year. Hence, ergonomic hazard had been identified the related legislation under third objective of OSHA 1994: to promote an occupational environment for persons at work which is adapted to their physiological and psychological needs.
Purpose of Ergonomic • The best ergonomics approach is to fit the task to the worker rather than fit the worker to the task. • Purpose of ergonomics is to provide tolerable, acceptable and optimal work system. Thus, the branches of ergonomics field separated into four parts which is anthropometrics, biomechanics, physiology and psychology.
Ergonomic Risk Factors • Factors that induce to musculoskeletal disorder (MSDs) are doing repetitive work, use of excessive force, improper or static body posture, work in long duration, vibration due to hand tools and contact stress on the blood veins, muscles and tendons due to contact stress from hand tools or equipment. A situation arising by excessive use resulting in wear and tear to muscles, tendons, joints and surrounding tissues contribute to MSDs. Thus, in the long term, it may result incapability to use the related body part.
Ergonomic Risk Factors Due to ergonomics hazard induce to human incapacity, job ergonomic analysis should be perform based on the step below: • Determination of measurement criteria and work target • Compilation of history for targeted job task • Identification of ergonomics risk factors • Discovery of preventive measures • Selection of preventive measures • Implementation of preventive measures • Monitoring of preventive measures.
Industrial Hygiene Overview Principle Risk Assessment Risk Control
Overview of Industrial Hygiene • Defined as the science and art devoted to the anticipation, recognition, evaluation and control of those environmental factors and stresses arising in or from the workplace, which may cause sickness, impaired health and well-being, or significant discomfort among workers or among citizens of the community. • Industrial hygiene activities in Malaysia began in the 1970 when DOSH started to conduct factory inspections to identify health hazards. Four regulations related to the practice of Industrial Hygiene were gazette under the Factories & Machinery Act (FMA) 1967. • Regulations related to the practice of Industrial Hygiene were gazette under OSHA 1994. Role of Industrial Hygiene Practitioners are prevention of exposure to or contact with health hazards and control of health risk in the workplace environment.
Principle of Industrial Hygiene • Anticipation of hazard, hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control of chemical hazards, physical and biological agents from work activities with the objective to prevent or reduce the risks to health. • It is important to Industrial Hygiene practitioner to understand the hazard. • Hazard is a source or a situation with a potential for harm in term of human injury or ill health, damage to property, damage to the environment or a combination of these. • In general, health hazard consist 5 major elements which is chemical, physical, biological and psychosocial and ergonomics.
Hazard Identification • Hazard identification can be known through information source such as chemical inventory, chemical safety data sheet (CSDS) and product specification. Others identification approaches are by process flow, factory layout plan, observation or inspection, related feedback and medical records. This information on plant, process and material is important to understand layout plan of machinery and equipment. • Chemical inventory is including raw material, end product, by-product and waste. Also, process inventory such as process flow, material used, conditions, standard operating procedures, potential hazards and control system should be documented. • Human resource department responsibility to provide employee information comprises of number of employees and employee name list by department or unit based on gender, total working hours, work shift, position and age. • In several cases, information regarding on hazard can be determine through observation and inspection (O&I). The objective of O&I is identification of hazards to health at the workplace and ensure that occupational safety and health procedures are implemented. The workplace observation has three approaches: Geographical, Hazard Tracking and Process Flow. • From workplace observation, it’s able to identify health hazards from both planned and unplanned activities. Hence, communicate with operators or workers who handle the process or control the equipment. Measurement of unseen hazard severity by using direct reading equipment such as dosimeter for noisy workplace.
Risk Assessment • Objective of risk assessment is to enable decisions on the necessity of exposure controls and measures and determine the level of exposure as well as its relationship to the risk of disease. An exposure standard is the limit of worker exposure to a hazard without risk of adverse health effects. It is useful in determining the necessity of risk control measures and permissible exposure limits (PEL). The element of risk assessment as below: • To know the properties of the hazard and its risk to health • Characteristics of exposure: Who is exposed? How many are exposed? What are they exposed to? How are they exposed? (inhalation, skin absorption or ingestion) Are there any existing control measures? • Level of exposure Frequency – daily, weekly or monthly? Duration – by seconds, minutes or hours? Intensity – high, medium or low? • Analysis of results
Level of exposure intensity consists of two parts which is quantitative and qualitative. • The quantitative method is using equipment to measure the intensity or magnitude of exposure while qualitative method is using observation and professional judgment. Quantitative assessment has two sampling techniques. • For sampling strategy, the questions of why, what, who, when, duration and how many sample should be determine before run the assessment. An assessment results should be compare with exposure standards based on the rate of hazard or agent production, its existence in the workplace and its level of absorption or contact as well as sufficiency of control measures. • Levels of controls for exposure exceeding the permissible limits need to be monitored to ensure the protection of worker health such as permissible exposure limits (PEL) and threshold limit value (TLV) in ACGIH.
Risk Control • The principle of risk control comprises priorities the control measures at the source, not the worker and priorities the elimination of hazards, not the reduction of exposure. Controls should target below the permissible exposure limits and as low as practicable, especially in cases where there is no data on the permissible exposure limit. The use of personal protective equipment (PPE) as a last resort. The hierarchy of risk controls is as bellow: • Hazard elimination (Prohibition of use & employment of other methods) • Substitution (Substituting the hazard with a less hazardous material or process • Isolation (Distance & guard) • Engineering control • Administrative control (Work practices & procedures) • Personal protective equipment • As conclusion, the basis of occupational safety & health assessment is the identification of hazard, risk assessment and risk control (HIRARC).
