Occupational Health and Injury Prevention

Occupational Disease: an abnormal coniditon or disorder, other than one

resulting from an occupational injury, caused by factors associated with

employment
Occupational Injury: injury that results from exposure to a single incident in
the work environment
Scope of the Problem
o Each day, 14 Americans die from work-related injuries (>5,700 per
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year)
4.2 million nonfatal injuries & illness per year
Rates have dropped greatly over last 100 years, but U.S. is behind

many other countries

Economic costs: $142 billion per year, of that, $73 billion in lost wages
and productivity, $26 billion in medical expenses, $31 billion in

administrative costs
Community Impact
o Works are usually healthiest people in a community, get highest
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Most
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concentration when exposed

Hazardous agents can affect areas around workplace; children, elderly
and pregnant more sensitive
Community disasters
dangerous industries
Goods-producing sector: highest injury rate in manufacturing
Service-producing sector: highest rate in transportation and
warehousing
Farmers at considerable risk for injuries, lung diseases, noise-induced
hearing loss, skin diseases, certain cancers
Farm machinery also associated with many deaths, especially

the tractor; rollovers a concern

Prevention and Control of Unintentional Injuries in the Workplace
o Anticipation: of future adverse events and to prevent them
o Recognition: surveillance and monitoring of injuries and disease
o Evaluation: assessment of data
o Control: interventions to improve safety
o Leadership comes from OSHA and NIOSH

Workplace Violence
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1.7 million Americans are victim to workplace violence each year

Categories of workplace violence: Criminal intent (Type I),
Customer/client (Type II), Worker-on-Worker (Type III), Personal

relationship (Type IV)

More assaults occur in service settings such as: hospitals, nursing

homes, and social service agencies

Risk factors: public contact, money exchange, deliver, mobile
workplace, working alone/at night, high-crime areas, working with
unstable individuals, guarding something, working in a community

setting
Workplace Violence Prevention Strategies
o First a workplace violence prevention policy should be in place
o Environmental design; safe cash-handling procedures, separate
workers from customers, better lighting, security system at entrances
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and exits
Administrative controls: staffing policies; procedures for opening and

closing, reviewing employee duties that are risky

Behavior strategies: training employees in nonviolent response,
conflict resolution, risks associated with work

Exposure to Hazardous Substances

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Dose: amount of exposure

Dose dependent on several variables:
o Concentration
o Length of exposure
o Route of entry
o Synergism
o Antagonism
o Individual sensitivity
Routes of entry
o Inhalation
o Absorption
o Ingestion
o Injection

Acute Health Effects: An effect that is usually caused by short duration of

exposure to a moderate or high concentration to a hazardous substance.
However, an effect may be caused by a low concentration when an individual

is sensitive to something. Usually short duration

Chronic Health Effects: An effect that is usually caused by exposures to low or
moderate concentrations of materials over a long duration. Chronic effects
last for a long period of time and may never be cured.

Control Methods
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Administrative
o Substitution replace solvents like benzene or carbon tetrachloride
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with less toxic or non-toxic materials

Job rotation reduce amount of exposure by one worker by exposing

more individuals for shorter durations

Frequent breaks Reduces amount of exposure by limiting time of

exposure
Following exposure limits
TWA (time weighted average) based on 8-hour day or 40-hour

work week
TLV (Threshold Limit Value) the concentration of a hazardous
material that an individual can be exposed to over an 8 hour day

and not have any ill effects

PEL (Permissible Exposure Limit) an exposure limit set by OSHA
Ceiling Value a level of exposure that should never be

exceeded
Engineering
o Isolation by time
Limit exposure to a substance by limiting time of exposure
o Isolation by place
Divider walls, separate enclosed rooms for workers to work in,
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guards
Isolation by enclosure
Splash guards, glove boxes
Ventilation

Local exhaust ventilation exhaust a substance away from a

worker. May need permits for such a system

Dilution Ventilation reduce dose by diluting concentration of

material
Housekeeping and personal hygiene
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Respirators N-95, Half and Full face masks and filters, SCBA
Protective clothing steel-tipped shoes, safety gates, Tyvek

coveralls
Disposable clothing gloves, masks