Occupational Health and Safety Notes
Occupational Health and Safety Notes
Occupational Health and Safety Notes
Introduction
Occupational Health is a science concerned with health in its relation to work or working
environment. This involves four main concepts to ensure total care of the individual and these
are;
surveillance of working environment
surveillance of workers health
information, education and training and advice
treatment and health programmes
emergency preparedness - response planning (first aid etc.)
It is therefore the maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of
workers in all occupations. The hazardous human work factors include;
chemicals
ergonomics
physical hazards
mechanical/electrical
biological
psychological
Defination of Terms
ii) Safety – Practical certainty that injury will not result from exposure to the hazard
under defined conditions or high probability that injury will not result.
iii) Occupation – a job, profession, livelihood, career or employment.
iv) Health – a state of complete physical, social and mental well-being and not merely
the absence of diseases or infirmity
v) Occupational health and safety – safety issues related to the workplace OR the
discipline concerned with preserving and protecting human facility resources in the
workplace.
vi) Risk – probability or frequency of the occurrence of a particular hazard or event and
some measure of severity of the consequence OR the potential harm that may arise
from some present processes or from some future events. It is often mapped to the
probability of some event which is seen to be undesirable.
vii) Accident – an unplanned event that interrupts the completion of an activity and may
not include injury or property damage OR anything that happens by chance without
an apparent cause OR an unforeseen, unexpected and unintended event.
viii) Incident – an occurrence or event OR a single distinct event OR an occurrence either
human caused or by natural phenomenon.
Organisation of Occupational Health and Safety in Zimbabwe
National level - NSSA is responsible for occupational health and safety and workers
compensation
Purpose of the OHS division in NSSA is to assure the creation and maintenance of ideal work
environments, which are free from occupational hazards, that may cause injury or illness to all
employees in work environments.
Zimbabwe Occupational Health and Safety Council (ZOHSC) drives the tripatite arrangement.
All parties agreed position is implemented.
Approach is in line with the ILO convention and reccomendations.
National Pensions and other Benefits Scheme S.I. 393 of 1993 (NSSA)
The Pension and Other Benefits Scheme is for every working Zimbabwean above the age of 16
years and uncer the age of 65 who is in permanent employment, seasonal contract and/or
temporary employment (excluding domestic workers and the informal sector). It is a legal
requirement for all Zimbabweans to contribute to the scheme. The benefits offered by the
scheme include;
retirement benefit
invalidity benefit
survivor's benefit
funeral grant
Other Legislation
Foods and Food Standards Act Chapter 15:04
Environmental Management Act Chapter 20:27
Mines and Minerals Act Chapter 21:05
Hazardous Substances and Articles Act Chapter
Labour Relations Act etc.
Duties/Role of employers
provide a safe and healthy working environment i.e. ventilation, exits, sanitary facilities
etc
provide training and awareness to employees on hazards and control measures as well as
operating procedures/working instructions
provide PPE for use in areas where hazard can not be completely eliminated
investigate the cause of all accidents and /or incidents encountered
report to NSSA any fatalities and or accidents in the workplace to enable workers to be
compensated
dispose of waste such that there is no harm to the employees
comply with the set OHS standards and regulations.
ensuring that information, instructions,training and supervision is provided to support the
safety of employees etc.
Hierarchy of Control
Elimination
Substitution
Isolation/Separation
Engineering Controls
Administration controls
Personal Protective Equipment
Elimination - the most satisfactory method of dealing with a hazard. Once the hazard has
been eliminated, the potential for harm has gone.
Substitution - this involves substituting a dangerous process or substance with one which
is not as dangerous. This may not be as satisfactory as elimination as there may still be a
risk even if it is reduced.
Isolation/Separation - separate/isolate the hazard from people. This method has its
problems in that the hazard has not been removed. The guard or separation device is
always at risk of being removed or bypassed.
Engineering Controls - this includes the designing of the machine so as to ensure that it is
safe for use as well as the modification of the machine such as putting guards over
rotating or moving parts.
Administration controls – usually involves the modification of the likelihood of an
accident occurring and this can be done by reducing the number of people operating the
machine, danger signs, lock out and tag out systems etc.
Personal Protective Equipment - this is the least desirable control option. When it is not
feasible to render the work environment completely safe, it may be nescessary to protect
the workers from hazards with personal protective devices.
Monitoring and review - review is an important aspect of any risk management process. It is
essential to review what haas been done to ensure that the controls put in place are effective and
that they have not introduced new hazards.
Training
Selection and training of personnel should include relevant information covering;
i. Hazards of the process or substances used
ii. Operating conditions
iii. Emergency response in case of malfunctions or accidents
iv. Historical cases of accidents and near misses
External Factors - External accidents need to be considered e.g. neighbouring plants mishaps,
sabotage or misuse etc.
Mitigation of consequences
Emergency response plans and procedures must be developed taking into account any
eventualities. Management can do the following;
1. Provide the inhouse fire brigade teams training that can immediately responding to
emergencies
2. Provide alarm systems directly alerting the fire brigade and public emergency services
3. Fomulate an emergency plan explaining the organisational procedures.
4. Alarm and communication routes
5. Guidelines for fighting the energency
6. Develop with the relevant authorities the possible plan for escape
7. Medical personnel
Provision of PPE - it is the duty of the employer to provide items of PPE at no cost to the
employee.
Risk Management is essentialy concerned with the proservation of an organisation's assets and
earning power from sudden losses. It is concerned with the formulation of some form of strategy,
which takes account of direct and indirect losses which results from;
the exposure of the organisation's property and assets to losses caused by fire, explosion,
floods, accidental damage and similar perils
the exposure of the organisation's labour to injury and diseases etc
exposure of the organisation's capital structure to liabilities to employees and the public
at large, which results from unwanted human behavior or by products of the firm's
activities.
Risk = Probability of occurence x Financial consequence
By reducing either the probability of the event or impact on the firm, the expected cost can be
reduced.
Rissk Management process describes the total procedure associated with identifying and
assessing risks associated with the hazard, putting in place mechanisms to control those hazards
and reviewing the outcome.
Accident Theories/Models
An Accident Model is a design of the cause, impact and effect of an accident. It is a model used
in the investigation of an accident as well as the prevention of an accident by identifying the
factors that lead to an acccident as well as its impacts. The purpose of the model is to provide a
classification system for the accident as well as to assist in hazard identification and to aid in
accident investigation and prevention.
Simple Model
The Simple Model attempts to illustrate that the cause of any accident can be grouped into five
categories i.e. task, material, environment, personnel and management.
Task - Here the actual work procedure being used at the time of the accident is explored
e.g the procedure used to perform the task is checked for efficiency
Material - This is to seek out possible causes resulting from the equipment and materials
used e.g. the material used is checked for defects or other problems
Environment - The physical environment and especially sudden changes to that
environment are factors that need to be identified
Personnel - The physical and mental state of the individuals directly involved in the event
must be explored e.g. checking for the level of training
Management - It holds the legal responsibility for the safety of the workplace and
therefore the role of supervisors and higher management must always be considered in an
accident investigation.
This is a multiple factor theory that postulates that accidents occur when a number of factors act
together to cause an accident .
Accident Investigation
These are conducted for the following purposes;
Compliance with legislation or to fulfill legal requirements
To determine the cause of the accident/incident in order to reduce probability of
recurrence
As a hazard identification tool
As a monitoring tool for OHS management systems and standards
For risk management purposes thereby enabling proper planning to take place
To come up with corrective action to address the effects/impacts of the incident
To process workers’ compensation claims
To classify the incident for organizational and national accident/incident statistics
To determine preventive action and measures in order to prevent the accident from
occurring again
To determine the cost, effects and/or impacts of the incident
To aid in emergency planning and procedures formulation
To improve on existing work procedures and standards
To identify training needs
In every shape of human activity, there is the possibility of an accident, and work is no
exception. Industrial accidents are the end products of unsafe acts and unsafe conditions.
How to Prevent Accidents
The various means generally used to promote safety are;
i) Regulations - include mandatory prescriptions concerning the general working conditions, the
designs, construction, maintenance, inspection, testing ans operation of equipment, the duties of
employers and employees, training and medical supervision, first aid and medical exams.
ii) Standardisation - the laying down of official, semi official or unofficial standards concerning
ths safe construction of certain equipment (boilers) safe hygiene practices or PPE.
iii) Inspection - the enforcement of mandatory regulations
iv) Technical Research - of the properties and characteristicof harmful materials, study of
machine guards etc.
v) Medical Research - industry investigations of the physiologicaland pathological effects of
environmental and technological factors.
vi) Psychological Research - i.e. investigation of the psychological patterns conducive to
accidents.
vii) Statistical Research - to ascertain what kinds of accidents occur, their numbers, to what
group of people, in which operations and from what causes.
viii) Education - involving the teaching of safety as a subject in colleges etc.
ix) Training - i.e. the practical instruction of workers and especially new employees, in safety
matters.
x) Persuation - through financial incentives to promote accident prevention
xi) Safety Measures - within the individual management systems. Probabbly the most effective
method covering all the other methods of accident prevention.
An organisation should establish and maintain plans and procedures to identify the potential for,
response to, incidents and emergency situations and for preventing and mitigating the likely
illness and injury that may be associated with them.
These arrangements are meant to identify the potential for accidents and emergency situations
and to address the prevention of occupational safety and health risks associated with them.
Deliberate intervention to minimise vulnerabilities and disaster risks include:
prevention
mitigation
preparedness
Measures include;
- forecasting and early warning systems
- contigency plans
- stock piling of appropriate supplies
- arrangement forproviding funds for management operations
Emergency Response Planning - actions necessary to save lives and reduce suffering
These should include:
safety of workers, visitors etc
care of injured
evacuation protocol
protection of assets and environment
clean-up procedure
Hazard - possible source of danger with potential to cause harm to people, environment or
property.
Classification of Hazard
1. Mechanical - unguarded moving parts of machinery (e.g. v - belts, drive chains. gears, rotating
shafts etc.)
2. Non- mechanical - falling objects, broken or uneven floors, dangerous openings on floors,
overcrowding, bad housekeeping etc.
3. Physical - e.g. noise, climatic conditions, radiation etc.
4. Chemical - e.g. solvents, corrosive substances, organic dust in the form of fumes, smoke etc
5. Biological - bacteria, viruses and fungi
6. Physiological (ergonomic) - e.g. por work station, physically heavy work, poor work postures,
worng working methods etc.
7. Psycho-Social - e.g.stressful situations , job dissatisfaction, job uncertainity, long working
hours, quantity of work, human relations etc.
Control Measures
- Engineering controls - e.g.building design, equipment etc.
- Process change -
- Substitution -
Types of inspections
- Housekeeping - e.g. waste removal, clear walkways, proper storage, stacking of materials
- Floors - e.g. slippery floors, dirty, obstruction, spillages etc
- Lighting - e.g. amount of both natural and artificial lighting, glare, reflections
- Fire precautions - e.g. possible sources of ignition, availability and suitability of fire fighting
equipment, training, alarm systems etc
- Materials handling - e.g. transportation of goods, safe manual lifting, etc
- Hand tools - e.g. defective tools, wrong tools for the job, incorrect method of use, poor storage
etc.
- Safety of machinery - e.g. check for guards etc
- Welfare facilities - e.g. change rooms, adequate toilets, clean drinking water, canteen etc
- Ventilation - efficiency of local exhaust ventilation etc.
- Other Physical Hazards - e.g. noise, vibration, heat etc
- Use and storage of hazardous substances - provision of material safety data sheets (MSDS)
- PPE - types, suitability, usage, condition etc
- Electrical Equipment - installation, earthing, broken switches, insulation. etc.
Benefits of Inspection
a) Hazard and safety hazards are identified and eliminated before workers'health and safety
suffers.
b) Increased productivity is achieved through elimination of loss producing incidents
c) Enables organisation to identify training needs which then helps management to formulate
appropriate training programmes.
In occupational health, there is concern for the preservation of the worker's health both in the
course of his/her work and after he has left his/her work.
Noise - In addition to contributing to hearing loss and accidents, noise has a potentially serious
effect as a stressor and causative factor in disease. Noise triggers changes in cardiovascular,
endocrine and neurologic functions that are suggestive of a stress reaction i.e. noise induces
physiological and psychological adjustments to the body and mind similar to the response that
one would have under an alert condition. The most serious effect of noise as a stressor may be its
interaction with chemical or physical hazards.
Some Harmful Dusts - Many occupational poisoning that affects the internal organs of the body
occurs as a result of breathing airborne materials. Such materials, whether generated by grinding,
crushing or some other mechanical means of alteration, are categorised as dusts. Dusts can be
inorganic or organic in nature, and the extent of biological damage done when they are inhaled
depends on the size and density of the particles, the concentration of the dust particles in the
breathing zone, the composition of the dust itself, the length of exposure, the solubility of the
dust and the rate of elimination from the body. some common dust related diseases are silicosis
(from inhalation of silica dust), asbestosis (from inhalation of asbesto dust), etc.
Some Toxic Gases, Metals and Chemicals - A toxic material is one which demonstrates the
potential to induce cancer, to provide long term disease or bodily injury, to affect health
adversely, to produce acute discomfort or to endanger the life of man or animals through
exposure in the resiratory tract, skin, eye, mouth or other routes. Toxic materials may also be
carcinogenic, teratogenic or mutagenic.
Heat stress - Tje immediate effect of heat stress may be physiological or psychological. It has
been noted that heat stress accelerates fatigue, causes sensory motor coordination to deteriorate,
decreases learning capacity and increases the rejection rate in production lines. Chronic heat
stress has been found to be deleterious to the cardiovascular system.
Vibration - At resonant frequencies (when the body is in tune with the source of vibration) the
gut mass - that entire area between the pelvis and the rib cage - tends to move up and down and
creates pressure on the heart and the lung area. Such movement can cause lesions in some organs
and blood vessels. it also affects speech and vision.
Unlike safety hazards, health hazards are often slow acting, cumulative, irreversible, and
complicated by non-occupational factors.