WEST Yangon Technological university

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH

KEY PRINCIPLES IN OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH

Dr. Sandar Hlaing 17.1.2020

Outline of presentation

• Introduction

• Aim and Objectives

• Advantages

• Disadvantages

• Basic Principles

• Conslusion
Introduction

• Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) is an interdisciplinary activity concerned with

the prevention of occupational risks inherent to each work activity.

• According to the International Labour Organization OSH encompasses the social,

mental and physical well-being of workers.

• The scope of the occupational safety and health has evolved gradually and
continuously in response to social, political, technological and economic changes.

• OSH is an extensive multidisciplinary field.

• Related to scientific area – Medicine, Physiology, Toxicology, Ergonomics, Physics,

Chemistry, Technology, Economics, Law and other areas.
Continued

Some key concepts in OSH are:

• Hazard
• Risk
• Risk assessment 
• Safety
• Health
• Occupational disease
• Work accident
• Prevention
Aim and Objective

• The aim of OSH is to ensure safe and healthy working environment.

• It is a management field focused on the safety and health protection of

people during the working process.

• To develop the organizations and working cultures in a direction that

supports safety and health at work
Advantages
• Demonstrate that your business is addressing its health and safety obligations.

• Show that your business is committed to working within a set of health and safety principles.

• Clarify functions and responsibilities in your business.

• Ensure that safe systems of work are recorded, communicated to workers and implemented in
a consistent way throughout your business.

• Guide the future actions of workers in a formal way.

• Help your business to manage staff more effectively by defining acceptable and unacceptable
behaviour in the workplace.

• Save time by allowing health and safety matters to be handled quickly through an existing
procedure, rather than staff dealing with problems as they occur or responding differently
each time the same issues arise.
Disadvantages

• More Cost such as medical staff, off time work and equipment.

• In order to have an efficient and effective occupational health service need to train
managers, HR and employees on what they can and can't do through your OSH
service.  Without the training, an OSH service is often perceived as dysfunctional.

• Also need to write policies and procedure's for company, covering the main points
of referral, health surveillance and management actions.
Basic Principles

• All workers have rights.

Workers ,employers and governments protect and maintain these rights
such as-
1) Work should have take place in a safe and healthy working
environment;
2) Conditions of work should be consistent with workers’ well-being
and human dignity;
3) Work should offer real possibilities for personal achievement, self-
fulfilment and service to society.
• Occupational safety and health policies must be established.
Such policies must be implemented at both national and enterprise
levels.

• A national system for occupational safety and health must be

established.
Such system must include all the mechanism and elements necessary to
build & maintain a preventive safety and health culture.

• A national programme on occupational safety and health must be

formulated, implemented, monitored, evaluated and reviewed.
• Social partners and other stakeholders must be consulted during
formulation, implementation and review of all policies, systems and
programmes.

• OSH programme and policies must aim both prevention and

protection.
Efforts must be focused above all on primary prevention at workplace
level.

• Continuous improvement of OSH must be promoted.

It is best done by the development and implementation of national
policy, national system and national programme.
• Information is vital for the development and implementation of effective
programme and policies.

• Health promotion is a central element of occupational health practice to

enhance workers’ physical, mental and social well-being.

• Occupational health services covering all workers should be established.

• Compensation, rehabilitation and curative service must be made available to

workers who suffer occupational injuries, accidents and work-related
diseases.

• Education and training are vital components of safe, healthy working,

environments.
Trainers must be trained in areas of special relevance to particular industries so
they can addres the specific oocupational safety and health concerns.
• Workers, employers and competent authorities have certain
responsibilities, duties and obligations
Workers must follow safety procedures, employers must provide safe
workplace and access to first aid and the competent authorities must
devise, communicate, review and update OSH policies.

• Policy must be enforced.

Conclusion

• Key Principles structure occupational safety and health programmes

and policies ,the above list is by no means exhaustive.

• More specialized areas have corresponding principle on their own.

• Ethical considerations regarding such matters as individuals’ rights to

privacy must be taken into consideration when devising policies.