Occupational health hazards and safety

practices

LECTURE 8

Industrial Hygiene and

Sanitation
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 INTRODUCTION

The World Health Organisation estimates

that globally there are:
 2,000,000 work-related deaths per year (228 people/hr).
 386,000 deaths each year from exposure to airborne
particulates.
 152,000 deaths per year from carcinogens in the
workplace.
 37% of Lower Back Pain is attributed to occupation.
 Lecture contents

 Meaning of industrial hygiene

 Scope of IH
 Connection between Industrial hygiene and OSHA
 Importance of IH in the workplace
 Ways to protect workers/society (family)
 How to promote industrial hygiene on
the job
 What is Occupational/industrial
Hygiene?

The International Occupational Hygiene Association (IOHA)

defines Occupational Hygiene as:
'The discipline of anticipating, recognizing, evaluating and
controlling health hazards in the working environment with
the objective of protecting worker health and well-being and
safeguarding the community at large.'

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 DEFN..

 Industrial Hygiene – the

Science and Art of protecting
the health and safety of
workers through:
 Anticipation,
 Recognition,

 Evaluation, and

 Control

…of workplace conditions that

may cause workers’ injury or
illness.
 defn…….
 Industrial hygiene also known as occupational
hygiene deals with the assessment of the extent of
risk posed by the hazards and the development of
effective strategies to eliminate or control the risks
(risk management) at workplaces.

 Key factors:
 Employee exposure to hazards
 Control for hazards to protect workers

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 E.G. OF INDUSTRIAL CAREERS- HI

• Manufacturing • Public utilities

• Health care • Construction
• Research/education • Energy
• Transportation • Waste management
• Insurance • Mining
• Agriculture Etc..

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 Historical development of IH
 4th century BC- Hippocrates noted Lead toxicity in mining
industry
 1st Century AD-Pliny the Elder devised a face mask made from
animal bladder to protect workers from exposure to dust and Lead
fumes
 2nd Century AD-The Greek Physician, Galen, described accurately
the pathology of Lead poisoning and also recognized the
hazardous exposure of copper miners to acid mists
 In 1556, Agricola (German scholar), advanced IH further after
writing a book which described the diseases of miners, prescribed
preventive measures as well as worker’s protection.
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 History..
 In 1700, IH gained further respectability when Bernardo
Ramazzini (known as the further of industrial medicine) came
with a comprehensive book called ‘The disease of Workmen’.
It contained a accurate descriptions of occupational diseases of
most of the workers of his time.
 18th Century, Percival Pott: effect of soot on chimney sweepers
 This was a major force in getting the BP to pass CSA of 1788
 To date, the science of IH well known many countries have
various Acts to protect workers from various WP hazards

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OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
HAZARDS-Rev….

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 Pathways of
Exposure
 Air Significant Routes
 Water of Exposure
 Food
 Inhalation (RT)
 Animals
 Ingestion/Oral (GIT)
 People
 Absorption (Skin)
 Surfaces
 Percutaneous*
 Types of exposure

 Acute
 An exposure that occurs over a short period
 Chronic
 A lower level exposure that occurs over a long
period of time
 Days, weeks, months, years

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 Scope of Industrial Hygiene

 Anticipation (Anticipate potential hazards)

 Recognition (Recognize potential hazards)

 Evaluation (Evaluate exposure and risk)

 Control (Control exposure and risk)

Note: the goal:- Worker safety and well-being

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 ANTICIPATION

Involves identifying potential hazards in the workplace before

they are introduced.
through knowledge of materials, operations, processes,
and conditions in the workplace.
Using available information from a variety of sources.
Importance;
 Design of process, equipment
 Future legislation/regulations
 Research
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 RECOGNITION

 Involves observation and discovery of the hazardous

materials and conditions in the workplace.
 Understanding and documenting processes and possible
exposures to workplace hazards.
 HOW
 Raw materials, by-product, products
 Process and operations
 Records of accidents and diseases
 Walk around – senses, talk to workers, etc
 Grab samples
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 EVALUATION
 Measure exposures and doses, FOLLOWED by
comparing the measurements to regulatory,
professional, and other exposure standards and limits.

 Measurement is done at the relevant interface between the

environment and the body, e.g. breathing zone, hearing zone

 There after, it is important to prioritize jobs with the

most significant hazards

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 CONTROL

 Involves elimination or reduction of identified and

measured hazards.
 When necessary, CONTROL of the chemical, physical,
biological agent or any adverse ergonomic situations is

recommended based on: Principles and Hierarchy of

control measures

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I/OH- stage.

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 What Is the Connection Between
IH & OSHA?
OSHA rely on industrial hygienists to evaluate jobs for
potential health hazards.

 Industrial hygienists are involved in:

 Compliance
 Standards

 Technical assistance

 Enforcement

 Hazard ID & elimination

 Industrial hygienist

A professional qualified by education, training and

experience to anticipate, recognize, evaluate and
develop controls for occupational health hazards and
environmental issues.

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 Role of O-Hygienist

 Occupational Hygiene Inspection

 Monitoring of occupational hazards
 Biological monitoring
 Enforcement
 Investigation of complaints / accidents
 Training
 ……..

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 Industrial Hygienists..
 They are GENERALLY responsible for ANALYSING, IDENTIFYING
and MEASURING workplace Hazards or Stresses that can cause
sickness, impaired health, or significant discomfort in workers. These
hazards can be
Chemical
Physical
Ergonomic
Biological
Broadly, I Hygienists roles are
1. To spot the above conditions (hazards)

2. To help eliminate or control them

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 WORKSITE ANALYSIS

 An essential first step that helps an industrial hygienist determine

what stations are the sources of potential problems.
 During WS analysis, I hygienists measures and identifies
exposures, problem tasks and risks
 The most effective WS Analyses include; all jobs, operations, and
work activities.
 If situation hazardous to health of workers is discovered, the I
Hygienists recommends the appropriate corrective actions

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 OSHA

 Is responsible for;
1. Develops and sets mandatory Occupational
safety and health Standards/requirements
applicable to almost all workplaces
2. Inspecting workplaces and issue certificates
and/or civil penalties to employers who are not
in compliance.

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 OSHA Standards

o OSHA adapts and develops broad standards

that apply to all industries.
o These standards may be
 Performance Standards which state the objective to
be obtained or the hazard to be abated
 Specification Standards which describe the
specific means of hazard abatement

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INSTITUTIONS LINKING WITH OSHA

GCL TPRI

DMU OSHA
TBS

Private OHS institutions HL-Institutions

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Control methods in IH

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 Hierarchy of Controls

1. Engineering controls: Remove hazard

 Process change, Chemical substitution
 Ventilation, Shielding, Guarding
 Requires little or no employee action
2. Administrative controls: Manage
exposure
 Worker rotation, Procedures, Training
 Trench shoring, Controlled access
areas
 Requires employee action

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 Hierarchy of Controls….

2. Work practice controls: alter the manner in

which a task is performed.
 following proper procedures that minimize exposures
 inspecting and maintaining process and control equipment on
a regular basis;
 implementing good house-keeping procedures;
 providing good supervision and
 mandating that eating, drinking, smoking, chewing tobacco
or gum, and applying cosmetics in regulated areas be
prohibited.
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 Hierarchy of Controls….
4. Personal protective equipment (PPE)
 Respirators, Gloves, Boots, Clothing
 Fall protection equipment, Hard hats
 Requires individual employee action
 Last line of defense, behind engineering and
administrative controls

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 Benefits of IH Programs

 Improve health and hygiene

 Reduce compensation
 Improve job satisfaction
 Reduce absenteeism
 Improve productivity
 Improve workers’ attitude towards
management

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Remember

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