Basic Principles of

Occupational Hygiene

By
Ir Roslenda Hasan
 Learning outcomes
1. Define occupational health and occupational hygiene
and explain their relationship;
2. Explain the contributions made by individuals in the
development of occupational hygiene;
3. Identify the roles of the occupational hygienist and
occupational health physician;
4. Describe the four occupational hygiene principles; and
5. Explain the basic occupational hygiene principles of
anticipation, recognition, evaluation and control
 Occupational Health &
Occupational Hygiene
Occupational health has been defined as „the maintenance
of the individual worker state of well-being and freedom
from occupational diseases or injuries

Occupational hygiene is the practice whereby

occupational health is achieved.

Important disciplines related to occupational health issues

are: (a) Occupational medicine; (b) Occupational hygiene; (c)
Epidemiology; (d) Ergonomics; (e) Safety engineering; and (f) Law.
 What is Occ. Hygiene?

Work Activity

Occupational
Exposure
Hygiene
Occupational
Health
Occupational
Disease
Medicine
 Definition of Occupational Hygiene

(a) According to International Occupational Hygiene Association

(IOHA), - discipline of anticipating, recognising, evaluating and
controlling health hazards in the work environment with the
objective of protecting workers health and well-being and
safeguarding the community at large;
(b) The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) - the science
of protecting and enhancing the health and safety of people at
work and in their communities. Health and safety hazards cover a
wide range of chemical, physical, biological and ergonomic stressors;
and
(c) British Occupational Hygiene Society - the scientific discipline of
protecting people against a wide range of health risks that can arise
from potential hazards in the workplace.
 Recognition of Occupational Hygiene
Practitioner
(a) Malaysian Industrial Hygiene Association (MIHA)

(b) International Occupational Hygiene Association

(IOHA)

(c) Department of Occupational Safety and Health,

Malaysia (DOSH)

(d) National Institute of Occupational Safety and

Health, Malaysia (NIOSH)
Ir Roslenda
 Development of Industrial
Hygiene in Malaysia
• Industrial Hygiene activities in Malaysia began in
the 1970s when DOSH started to conduct
factory inspections to identify health hazards.
• Four regulations related to the practice of
Industrial Hygiene were gazetted under the FMA
1967.
• Two regulations related to the practice of
Industrial Hygiene were gazetted under OSHA
1994.
Ir Roslenda
 Occupational Hygienist?
Occupational hygienist is a person having college or university
degree(s) in engineering, chemistry, physics, medicine, or related
physical and biological sciences, who has also received specialized
training in recognition, evaluation, and control of workplace stressor
and therefore achieved competence in industrial hygiene.
The role of an occupational hygienist ;
- to prevent occupational injury, poisoning or disease through
preventive actions by removing the hazards at the source, reducing
the transmission of the hazardous agents or controlling worker
exposure.
- determine if the worker exposure has exceeded the occupational
exposure standards or if the workers are at significant risk of
occupational disease or poisoning.
 PREVENTION TREATMENT

INDUSTRIAL HYGIENIST

DISEASE
HAZARD
WORKER

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH DOCTOR

Ir Roslenda
Occ. Hygiene Duties
 Principles of Occupational Hygiene

Anticipatio Evaluatio
n/
Recognition Control
n

• Commitment • Hazard • Elimination

• Planning
Identification • Substitution

• Design • Exposure • Engineering

Asessment • Administration
• Training • Monitoring • Personal
• Studies protective

• Observations equipment
 Factors or stresses
Chemical agents
such as powder, dust or fumes, in liquid form such as mists or
sprays or in the form of vapour or gas.
Physical agents
agents include noise, vibration, hot and cold conditions, radiation
whether ionising or non-ionising, extremes of pressure and lighting.
Biological agents
include bacteria, virus, mites, spores, insects and others.
 Anticipation of Health Hazards
(a) Process or equipment characteristics;
(b) Physical and chemical properties of the chemicals
being formulated;
(c) Possible health effects from past experiences and
reported cases of occupational diseases, poisoning or
illnesses; and
(d) Similarities of the chemical structure to any known
hazardous chemicals.
 Recognition of Health Hazards
(a) Direct indicators such as: (i) Cases of injuries; (ii) Ill
health; (iii) Poisoning; (iv) Diseases; and (v) Fatalities.

(b) Previous experiences and available information such

as: (i) Case studies; and (ii) Safety data sheets.

(c) Observations or use of specialist expertise on: (i)

Material inputs; and (ii) Work processes
 Evaluation of Health Hazards
 Potential health hazards (hazardous chemicals, noise
and biological agents) are identified and quantified
through the use of measuring instruments and
application of certain sampling and analytical
techniques then compared against occupational
standards.
 Control strategies to be adopted (where necessary) to
ensure that workers are not at significant risks to
occupational poisoning, diseases or injuries.
 Chemical health risk assessments and control banding
approaches have been developed and these qualitative
assessment approaches are being applied to chemicals
 Control of Health Hazards
Control measures that eliminate the risks are preferred over
those that reduce the risks according to hierarchy of control
measures
(a) Elimination or substitution of hazard; and
(b) Minimising exposures through:
(i) Engineering controls;
(ii) Administrative and work practice controls; and
(iii) Personal protection.
 Basic elements of OH

Elements Examples
Anticipation/ recognition • Watching
of health hazards • Asking questions
• Observing work practices
• Reviewing chemical inventories

Evaluation of health • Air sampling

hazards • Noise exposure
• Ergonomic stress
• CHRA

Control of health hazards • Determining appropriate and effective

control measures
Occ. Hygiene Profession

Registered Competent Person

CHRA Assessor
Hygiene Technician
IAQ Competent Person
Noise Monitoring Competent Person
Mineral Dust Competent Person
Lead Competent Person