Occupational Health and Its Hazards

Definition of Occupation

Occupation is a type of work or job that may be found in a number of different types of work or industries. Occupation focuses on positions that require skills that may be used in a number of work setting.

Definition of Occupational Health

"Occupational health nursing is the application of nursing and public health philosophy and skills to the relationship of people to their occupation of disease and injury and the promotion of optimal health, productivity and social adjustment." This definition is the modification and combination of statements made - by Brown and Page

Occupational Health Hazards

Occupational health hazards refer to the potential risks to health and safety for those who work outside the home. There are an unlimited number of hazards that can be found in almost any workplace. An industrial worker may be exposed to five types of hazards, depending upon his occupation:

• Psychological hazards.
• Mechanical hazards.
• Biological hazards.
• Chemical hazards.
• Physical hazards.

Physical Hazards

Heat and Cold:

The common physical hazard in most industries is heat. The direct effects of heat exposure are burns, heat exhaustion, heat stroke and heat cramps; the indirect effects are decreased efficiency, increased fatigue and enhanced accident rates. Many industries have local "hot spots" - ovens and heating systems, which radiate heat. Radiant heat is the main problem in foundry, glass and steel industries, while heat stagnation is the principal problem in jute and cotton textile industry. Physical work under such conditions is very stressful and impairs the health and efficiency of the workers.

Light:

The workers may be exposed to the risk of poor lighting or excessive brightness. The acute effects of poor lighting are eye strain, headache, eye pain, and lachrimation, congestion around the cornea and eye fatigue. The chronic effects on health include "miner's nystagmus". Exposure to excessive brightness or "glare" is associated with discomfort, annoyance and visual fatigue. Intense direct glare may also result in blurring of vision and lead to accidents. There should be sufficient and suitable lighting, natural or artificial, wherever persons are working.

Noise:

Noise is health hazard in many industries. The effects of noise are of two types:

Auditory effects which consist of temporary or permanent hearing loss

Non- auditory effects which consist of nervousness, fatigue, interference with communication by speech, decreased efficiency and annoyance. The degree of injury from exposure to noise depends upon a number of factors such as intensity and frequency range, duration of exposure and individual susceptibility.

Vibration:

Vibration, especially in the frequency range 10 to 500 Hz, may be encountered in work with pneumatic tools such as drills and hammers. Vibration usually affects the hands and arms. After some months or years of exposure, the fine blood vessels of the fingers may become increasingly sensitive to spasm. Exposure to vibration may also produce injuries of the joints of the hands, elbows and shoulders.

Ultraviolet Radiation:

Occupational exposure to ultraviolet radiation occurs mainly in arc welding. Such radiation mainly affects the eyes, causing intense conjunctivitis and keratitis (Welder's flash). Symptoms are redness of the eyes and pain; these usually disappear in a few days with no permanent effect on the vision or on the deeper structures of the eye.

lonizing Radiation:

lonizing radiation is finding increasing application in medicine and industry, eg. X-Rays and radio active isotopes. Important radio- isotopes are cobalt 60 and phosphorus 32. Certain tissues such as bone marrow are more sensitive than others and from a genetic standpoint; there are special hazards when the gonads are exposed. The radiation hazards comprise genetic changes, malformation, cancer, leukemia, depilation, ulceration, sterility and in extreme cases death.

Chemical Hazards

There is hardly any industry which does not make use of chemicals. The chemical hazards are on the increase with the introduction of newer and complex chemicals. Chemical agents act in three ways; local action, inhalation and ingestion. The ill-effects produced depend upon the duration of exposure, the quantum of exposure and individual susceptibility.

Local action: Some chemicals cause dermatitis, by an allergic action. Some chemicals, particularly the aromatic nitro and amino compounds, are absorbed through the skin and cause systemic effects. Occupational dermatitis is a big problem in industry.

Inhalation

Dusts: Dust is finely divided solid particles with size ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 microns. They are released into the atmosphere during crushing, grinding, abrading, loading and unloading operations. Dusts are produced in a number of industries - mines, foundry, quarry, pottery, textile, wood or stone working industries. Dust particles larger than 10 microns settle down from the air rapidly, while the smaller ones remain suspended indefinitely. Particles, smaller than 5 microns are directly inhaled into the lungs which are retained there.

Gases:

Exposure to gases is a common hazard in industries. Gases are sometimes classified as simple gases (eg. oxygen, hydrogen), asphyxiating gases (eg. carbon monoxide. cyanide gas, sulphur dioxide, chlorine) and anesthetic gases (eg. Chloroform, Ether, Trichloroethylene). Carbon monoxide hazard is frequently reported in coal- gas manufacturing plants and steel industry.

Metals and their Compounds:

A large number of metals and their compounds are used throughout industry. The chief mode of entry of some of them is by inhalation as dust or fumes. The industrial physician should be aware of the toxic effects of lead, antimony, arsenic, cobalt, mercury, phosphorus, zinc and others. The ill-effects depend upon the duration of exposure and the dose or concentration of exposure.

Ingestion: Occupational diseases may also result from ingestion of chemical substances such as lead, mercury, arsenic, zinc, chromium, cadmium, phosphorus etc. Usually these substances are swallowed in minute amounts through contaminated hands, food or cigarettes. Much of the ingested material is excreted through faeces and only a small proportion may reach the general blood circulation.

Biological Hazards

Workers may be exposed to infective and parasitic agents at the place of work. The occupational diseases in this category are brucellosis, leptospirosis, anthrax, hydatidosis, psittacosis, tetanus, encephalitis, fungal infections etc. Persons working among animal products (e.g. hair, wool, hides) and agriculture workers are specially exposed to biological hazards.

Mechanical Hazards

The mechanical hazards in industry center round machinery, protruding and moving parts and the like. About 10% of accidents in industry are said to be due to mechanical causes.

Psychosocial Hazards

The psychosocial hazards arise from the workers' failure to adapt to a strange psychosocial environment. Frustration, lack of job satisfaction, insecurity, poor human relationships, and emotional tension is some of the psychosocial factors which may undermine both physical and mental health of the workers. The capacity to adapt to different working environments is influenced by many factors such as education, cultural background, family life, social habits and what the worker expects from employment.