BASIC PRINCIPLES OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND

SAFETY
Objectives
1.) By the end of this session, you will know the:
2.) Hazards associated with your workplace and best methods to control for them
3.) Key elements for well-functioning health and safety committees
4.) Basic legal requirements for health and safety in your workplace
Accdg. To the International Labor Organization (ILO 1975) occupational health
is a discipline that aims:
1.) To promote the best possible adjustment of man to his work and of work to
man
(ergonomics).
2.) To promote and preserve the health and working capacity of workers.
3 .) To promote the restoratiob of health and working capacity as soon as
possible after
injuries or diseases have occurred.
4.) To integrate occupational health into the industrial production
5.) To prevent departures from health caused by working conditions.
6.) To protect workers from risks resulting fron factors adverse to health.
7.) To place and maintain workers in an occupational environmenr adapted to
theurs physiological and psychological capacity.
OH should aim at the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of mental,
physical, emotional, and psychological health of workers (Joint ILO/WHO Committee on
OH, First Session in 1950.)
OH services should conform with the provisions of the Occupational Safety and
Health Legislation embodied in the Labor Code of the Philippines.
In OH service, the work environment plays a vital role in the prevention of disease and
injury, (as well as productivity.)
The composition of an OH services or an OH program:
1.) OH physicians, nurses, and other medical staff;
2.) safety, chemical, industrial, mechanical and other types of engineers;
3.) Industrial hygienists;
4.) record-keeping personnel;
5.) professionals (epidemiologists, environmentalists, sanitarians, toxicologist,
clinical psychologists, public health practioners, psychiatrist, social workers,
and sociologists.)

The need for an OH Program

{Accdg. To the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labor
Organization, 1.1 million people die annually because of unsafe and unhealthy work
environments.
About 250 million work-related accidents, and 300,000 of these fatalities result in
partial or complete disabilities.
In 2003, ILO reported that there were about 358,000 fatal, and 337 million nonfatal
occupational accidents in the world and 1.95 million deaths resulted from work-related
diseases. The number of deaths caused by hazardous chemicals alone was estimated at
651,000 (Barcelona 2009).}
Occupational disease
-defined as an abnormal condition or disorder caused by exposure over a period of time
to work-related risk factors and hazards
Most prevalent occupational-related diseases (WHO 1995b, 2010)
1.) respiratory disease
2.) muscuskeletal disorder
3.) occupational cancers
4.) occupational injuries
5.) cardiovascular diseases
6.) reproductive disorders
7.) neurotoxic disorders
8.) noiseinduced hearing loss
9.) dermatological disorders
10.) psychological disorders
Recommended key elements of an OH program:
1.) hazard identification
2.) risk assessment of hazards
3.) Surveillance and Monitoring
4.) control strategies at work
5.) Health protection
6.) health promotion
Developing an OH program
- involves all key people in the organization who must be involved at the very
inception of the program.
Framework for an OH Program:
1.) Definition of the problem
2.) Specification of the OH program objectives
3.) Identification of strategies on how to meet the objective
4.) Planning for evaluatio

Whats going on in your workplace?

1.) CHEMICAL & DUST HAZARDS
(cleaning products, pesticides, asbestos, etc.)
2.) ERGONOMIC HAZARDS
(repetition, lifting, awkward postures, etc.)
3.) PHYSICAL HAZARDS
(noise, temperature extremes, radiation, etc.)
4.) SAFETY HAZARDS
(slips, trips and falls, faulty equipment, etc.)
5.) BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS
(mold, insects/pests, communicable diseases, etc.)
6.) WORK ORGANIZATION HAZARDS
Things that cause STRESS!