OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY & HEALTH │ BETMECT N3A │ ABRAMAPOLO RESANE

OCCUPATIONAL

HAZARDS AND

RISKS
What is it?
Occupational hazards are risks
associated with working in specific
occupations.

The Occupational Safety and Health

Administration (OSHA) describes FIVE
categories of occupational hazards:

Physical safety hazards, Chemical hazards,

Biological hazards, Physical hazards, and
Ergonomic risk factors.
Physical safety hazards
Physical safety hazards include anything that could
lead to injury in a workplace accident. This could be
slipping hazards, the operation of machinery,
electrical hazards, or any other potentially dangerous
condition that could exist in a workplace.
The latter FOUR hazards are described as OSHA as
health hazards. Unlike physical safety hazards, they
describe risks of injury after cumulative exposure to a
harmful condition or substance rather than a singular
accident.
 Chemical hazards
Chemical hazards include solvents, adhesives, paints,
toxic dusts, among other potentially toxic fumes or
acids.
 Biological hazards
Biological hazards include infectious diseases, molds,
toxic or poisonous plants, or animal materials.
 Physical hazards
Physical hazards include excessive noise, elevated or
low temperatures, or radiation.
 Ergonomic Risk Factors
Ergonomic risk factors include awkward postures,
repetitive actions, such as heavy lifting or the use of
tools with significant vibration.

Reference: https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/occupational_hazard#:~:text=Occupational%20hazards%20are%20risks%20associated,hazards%2C%20and%20ergonomic%20risk%20factors.
 PHILLIPINE
S TAT I S T I C S
REGARDING
O C C U PAT I O N A L
MEDICINE
 HIGHLIGHTS OF (ISLE) ON (OID)

• ISLE – Integrated Survey on Labor and Employment

• OID – Occupational Injuries and Diseases

The survey happens in 2019, and the statistics were released on June 20, 2022.
 Figure 1:
HIGHLIGHTS OF • A total of 37,513 occupational
(ISLE) ON (OID) accidents, and over 40,892
occupational injuries were
recorded in the Philippines in
2019.
• A total of 38,235 occupational
accidents, and 46,283
occupational injuries were
reported in 2017.
• The cases of occupational
accidents decreased from 2017-
2019 by 1.9%.
• The cases of occupational injuries
decreased by 11.6%.
HIGHLIGHTS OF (ISLE)
ON (OID)

Figure 2:
• The most common type of injury received by
workers are open wounds.
• The most common body part to be injured
were the wrists and hands.
• The leading cause of occupational injury is
being caught by or in between objects with
the agent of injury being the machine and
equipment in the workplace.
• The occupation who are most prone in
getting injuries are plant and machine
operators and assemblers.
HIGHLIGHTS OF (ISLE) ON (OID)

Figure 3:
• A total of 54,551 occurrences of work-
related diseases were recorded in 2019.
While a total of 101,851 work-related
diseases were recorded in 2017.
• There is a 60.5% decrease of
occupational diseases recorded from
2017-2019.
HIGHLIGHTS OF (ISLE) ON (OID)

Figure 4:
• The top 3 occupational diseases that
were reported are occupational
dermatitis (9.4%), neck and/or shoulder
pain (12.1%), and back pain (39.0%).
HIGHLIGHTS OF (ISLE) ON (OID)

Figure 5:
The top 3 industries that have the biggest
share of cases of work-related diseases
are:
• Human Health and Social Network
Activities except Public Health Activities
(9.8%)
• Administrative and Support Service
Activities (24.3%)
• Manufacturing (31.8%).
WAY S T O P R E V E N T O C C U PAT I O N A L
M E D I C I N E R E L AT E D H A Z A R D S A N D R I S K
• Occupational illness - means a condition that results due to an exposure to risk
factors such as physical, chemical, or biological agents in a workplace during work
activity to the extent that the normal physiological mechanisms are affected, and the
health of the worker is thereby impaired. The term “occupational illness” includes
occupational diseases as well.
• The term “surveillance” is derived from the French word meaning “to watch over.” In
public health, surveillance was originally developed as part of efforts to control
infectious diseases, but the principles of surveillance can potentially be applied to
other problems such as chronic diseases (diabetes, cancer, or high blood pressure),
occupational diseases, or social problems (drug addiction). Health surveillance is a
public health methodology, which aims to detect undesired health effects in a given
population, with the primary aim to eliminate the source of the problem.
• A health-surveillance program is composed of a systematic set of procedures that
will detect the early signs of work-related health changes that could indicate damage
to the individual's well-being. This program may include specific medical surveillance
by health professionals which in itself may include clinical examinations or
biological/biological effect monitoring to measure and assess both uptake and/or the
effects of exposure to certain environments. Health surveillance is an important part
of health-risk management and seeks to confirm whether employees are potentially
exposed to existing workplace hazards, whether the control measures are effective and
the worker is showing no biological or clinical changes that could indicate damaging
exposure. Health surveillance needs not be conducted when there is no exposure or
reason to expect an exposure unless specifically required by legislation.
• According to the definition of the International Labor Office at page 22,
“Occupational health surveillance is the ongoing systematic collection, analysis,
interpretation, and dissemination of data for the purpose of prevention.” It is designed
to detect potential workplace hazards before irreversible health effects occur and
provide information on where, how, and why workers get sick or hurt on the job.
WHEN IS HEALTH SURVEILLANCE NEEDED?

• There is an identifiable disease or other identifiable adverse health outcome which

may be related to exposure
• There are suitable safe/simple/valid tests/techniques for detecting indications of the
disease or health effects
• There should be a recognizable latent or early symptomatic stage (detectable
preclinical phase)
• There should be an agreed policy on criteria of diagnosis for occupational disease.
A well-run medical surveillance program can aid in:

• Occupational health surveillance can detect ill-health effects at an early stage, so you
can introduce better controls to prevent them from getting worse
• It can provide data to help you evaluate health risks within your business
• It will enable employees to raise concerns about how work affects their health
• It can highlight lapses in workplace control measures, providing invaluable feedback
to your risk assessment
• It can provide an opportunity to reinforce training and education of employees (eg on
the impact of health effects and the use of protective equipment)
 STEPS FOR CONDUCTING
O H S U RV E I L L A N C E
• Risk assessment – Exposure assessment and risk assessment for target-organ damage;
identify hazardous agents, materials, and processes; find out what health risk are;
review work processes and toxicity of materials and prepare risk matrix; identify who
might be at risk from exposure to those hazards and how; screenable health effects are
those that can be detected during the preclinical phase and where intervention at this
stage is more beneficial than during later stages of the disease
• Selection of goals and target population – Identification of the group(s) of workers for
which surveillance or screening activities will be appropriate; periodic medical
examinations at scheduled intervals
• Choice of testing modalities – Selection and standardization of test procedures and
quality control for each screenable health effect dependent on target organ; do certain
workers need special tests?
• Collection of data and reconfirmation of abnormal results.
 PREVENTION OF
O C C U PAT I O N A L
H E A LT H H A Z A R D S
AND RISKS
P R E V E N T I O N O F O C C U PAT I O N A L H E A LT H
HAZARDS AND RISKS

- Effective controls protect workers from workplace hazards; help avoid injuries,
illnesses, and incidents; minimize or eliminate safety and health risks; and help
employers provide workers with safe and healthful working conditions. The
processes described in this section will help employers prevent and control
hazards identified in the previous section.
P R E V E N T I O N O F O C C U PAT I O N A L H E A LT H
HAZARDS AND RISKS
To effectively control and prevent hazards, employers should:
• Involve workers, who often have the best understanding of the conditions that create
hazards and insights into how they can be controlled.
• Identify and evaluate options for controlling hazards, using a "hierarchy of controls."
• Use a hazard control plan to guide the selection and implementation of controls, and
implement controls according to the plan.
• Develop plans with measures to protect workers during emergencies and nonroutine
activities.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of existing controls to determine whether they continue to
provide protection, or whether different controls may be more effective. Review new
technologies for their potential to be more protective, more reliable, or less costly.
OTHER PRACTICES
TO DO TO
M I T I G AT E
O C C U PAT I O N A L
H E A LT H R I S K S
 O T H E R P R A C T I C E S T O D O T O M I T I G AT E
O C C U P AT I O N A L H E A L T H R I S K S
1.) Clearly communicate your health and safety policy.
- First and foremost, be sure that every employee is familiar with your workplace
safety policy and how it pertains to his or her specific job. Hold regular training
sessions so that the information is fresh in everyone’s minds, and ensure every
new employee is brought up to speed right away.
2.) Deal with hazards quickly.
Be sure to reconcile all risks right away. And remember: slippery floors, clutter
and other relatively small problems can actually cause significant risks in the
workplace. The majority of work injuries are slip-and-fall claims, most often from
preventable dangers.
 O T H E R P R A C T I C E S T O D O T O M I T I G AT E
O C C U P AT I O N A L H E A L T H R I S K S
3.) Make health and safety part of your culture.
Workplace health and safety isn’t the sole responsibility of one individual or
department; it is a goal that belongs to everyone. That’s why a safety “culture”
should be the objective of every organization.
4.) Equip employees for health and safety.
- It can be challenging for employees to avoid injuries and illnesses if your
organization doesn’t provide them with the tools needed to stay safe and
healthy. This is particularly true in industries such as manufacturing or energy,
where simple steps such as requiring personal protective equipment and
providing first-aid supplies can significantly reduce everyday hazards.