OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH HAZARDS – A PRIMER
RATIONALE
As the society moves ahead in time and space, it evolves and practices
varied and new professions and vocations.
Every time a technology /innovation injects a utility tool to be used by the
social system, it comes along with all its pros and cons. Unfortunately,
the delivery system and society gets driven by the 'pros' and (most of the time) ignores to take care of the 'cons' associated with the work, space
and the tool. The ignorance to the associated hazards could be due to various
reasons, namely, lack of technical know-how/ policy support/ legislation/
societal awareness and so on. The most glaring example of the day being the
electro-magnetic radiation (EMR) dominated environment by the presence of mobile
telephony networks. The rush for the development / the target oriented work
culture / the indiscriminate use of unscientific and loosely understood
technology had lead to exposure of human society to one or the other "Occupational Health
Hazard/Problem" in present times. The state of Uttarakhand is also
into the fast track of development, trying to achieve double digit growth, if
not achieving it, but at least getting near to it (7.87% GDP growth rate in
2012-13). This scenario also adds a new dimension to the entire development
management concept and that is "Occupational
Health Hazards/Problems and their Management". The recent nature fury
of June, 2013 in the state has also forced the system to rethink the various
development approaches and hazards associated with them. So, there is imminent
need to take up the issue of "Occupational Health Hazards", in
association with all sectors of society and development in the state. Thus
building up a "safer workplace environment"
for one and all in the state.
BACKGROUND
The definition of occupational health as give by WHO/ILO in 1950 was “Promotion and
maintenance of highest degree of physical, mental and social wellbeing of
workers in all occupations.” In 1972, the WHO/ILO further defined it as
“Occupational health is concerned with physical, mental and social well being
in humans in relation to his work and work environment, their adjustment to
work and adjustment of work to humans.”
Earliest examples of Occupational Health Problems (OHP) can
be referred to the ones faced by the captive prisoners of defeated armies. The
kings used to put the soldiers of defeated army into mining and quarry work
with inhuman working conditions, leading to acute OHP’s, which included tuberculosis,
dehydration, deformities, severe injuries, cancers and so on.
Historically, reporting of occupational
infections goes back to Hippocrates, who in his seminal work ‘On Airs, Waters
and Places’ written in 400 BC, wrote that “if you wish to investigate
medicine properly”, including ‘epidemic diseases’, you should look
at, among other things, “the mode in which inhabitants live, and what are
their pursuits”. Historical works were also done by Agricola
(1494-1555), Paracelsus (1493-1541), Bernardino Ramazzini (1633-1714) on the
occupational health scenario of there times. Employers like Robert Owen
(1771-1858) had a definitive role in taking up the issue of workplace
environment by refusing to employ young persons of bellow 10 years of age.
It was estimated that global workforce has grown by
500 million by year 2000 requiring that new job opportunities be created for
young people. In addition, employment was
to be organized for over 800 million people, who are currently unemployed. This implies that total employment shortage was
about 1 – 1.3 billion jobs by year 2000.
Increasing rate of unemployment are also expected because of increase in
productivity as a result of technological development, new divisions of work,
high population growth and economic recession in different region. Unemployment has been found to be associated
with health hazards due to adverse economic difficulties. Social and mental health problems are seen
due to unfavourable lifestyle resulting in higher morbidity and mortality. Thus unemployment is likely to remain a major
long-term problem with adverse effect on health, productivity and economy.
Several recent surveys on psychological stress at work
show increasing trends particularly in industrialized countries. Such hazards
have been shown to cause remarkable loss of health, well being and working
capacity and thus to affect productivity, quality of working life, and economic
status of individuals, companies and nations.
·
Highly
industrialized (in top 10 nations of the world).
·
Agriculture
single largest occupation.
·
Majority employed
in unorganised sectors.
·
Poverty, social
and geographical factors influence workers health.
In India
The frequency
of occupational diseases is much more than reported, the reasons being:
·
Lack of awareness
amongst occupational physicians, safety welfare officers, employees’, employers, farmers and general population at large.
·
Inability of
physicians to differentiate occupational disease from non-occupational ones.
·
Lack of
infrastructure facility.
·
Lack of latest
diagnostic equipments.
·
Rapid progress in
science and technology creating new occupational diseases, previously not
known.
·
Fear of
involvement in lengthy medico-legal and compensation procedures.
·
Fear of legal
action.
Causative Agents of Occupational Hazards
Physical agents - heat, cold, pressure changes,
vibrations, radiation, electricity, light and so on.
Chemical agents - organic and inorganic chemicals in
solid, liquid and gaseous state.
Biological agents - fungi, virus, bacteria, protozoa,
vectors of various diseases and so on.
Psychological agents - monotonous job, shift work,
organizational problems and so on.
Physiological agents
- maladjustment of man and machine, wrong postures restrictive muscular
movement deformities of long run.
In India
·
Legislations
·
Occupational
health services at place of work/employment
·
Research and
field surveys in occupational health and safety
Motivating
factors in development and progress in occupational health:
·
Humanity of
society.
·
Wealth and
economic needs of society to conserve a healthy and efficient work force.
·
Status of worker
in society.
·
Knowledge of
occupational health risks.
·
Dignity and
respect for human life.
·
Obligation
towards safety and preservation of employees by employer.
Occupational
history has following five key parts:
·
Description of
patients all pertinent jobs, past and present.
·
Review of
exposures faced by patient in his jobs.
·
Information on
timing of symptoms in relation to work.
·
Data on similar
problems in co-workers.
·
Information on
non-work factors like, smoking, alcoholism, nutrition, personal habits/hygiene
etc.
Major
relevant legislations for Indian workers:
·
The Factories Act
– 1881
·
The Factories
Act- 1947
·
Workmen’s
Compensation Act- 1924
·
Personal Injuries
(Compensation Insurance) Act
·
Employees State
The ESI Act is the most important act, which provides
for social security, health insurance, cash and medical benefits and lifetime
compensation for all occupational diseases.
Major
problems in the current context, related to work/occupation are:
·
Problems of
musco-skeletal systems of human body e.g. drivers, ladies, heavy engineering
workers and so on.
·
Posture problems
of workers e.g. miners, call center workers, IT industry, workers, industry
shift workers.
·
Unorganized
sector is the ‘High Risk Group’ due to unsafe work conditions, unregulated work
schedule, lack of medical and legal safe guards.
·
Compensation
recovery mechanism is very tedious in case of eventuality and at times
impossible and bogus.
Some of the
safety measures and precautions in relation to various industrial and
non-industrial works/occupation are:
·
Use of protective
gears like - facemasks, gloves, boots, anti-fire, fire retardant materials.
·
Correct sitting
and working postures, especially, in long sitting hours.
·
Yoga and
physiotherapy as a mitigation to reduce stress of work and posture.
Prevention
of occupational accidents, injuries and diseases and protection of workers
against physical and psychological overload imply a prudent use of resources,
minimizing unnecessary loss of human and material resources.
The potential sector of works and
occupation requiring attention and concerted efforts to address and mitigate
"Occupational Health Problems" in Uttarakhand are:
·
Agriculture and animal husbandry.
·
Forests and forestry based works.
·
Building and road, especially dams and bridges.
·
Human health management systems.
·
Industries and industrial environment i.e. nature of
industries, nature of work, exposure to hazardous conditions, workers awareness
and safety compliances.
·
Tourism industry i.e. hotels, paying guest houses, home
stays, restaurant, trekking outfits related environment and hazards.
·
Municipal and Palika (Human settlement) area management,
especially the Waste Management sector related hazards.
·
Women centric - work and health related issues, specially
the drudgery related issues
·
Natural calamities vis-à-vis occupational safety issues
of Disaster mitigation professionals / workforce.
Objectives
The aim and focus of the brainstorming session:
·
Discuss the status of occupational health related
scenario in the state of Uttarakhand.
·
Identification of sectors / vocations requiring 'occupational
health' related attention.
·
Sector wise listing of ‘occupational health problems'.
·
Methodology and tools need to be adopted by the government,
regulatory bodies, planners, society / workforce and its managers to address
'Occupational Health' issues effectively.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hari Raj Singh
B.Sc.Ag&A.H.(Hons.);
M.Sc.(Soil Sc.); C.E.S.; C.D.M.
Subject Specialist (Watershed /
Disaster Mgt.)
Contacts: 110,
Indira Nagar Colony, (P.O. New Forest )
Tel: 91 +135 +2768962; 0 941 2768962(cell)
Email:
harirajsingh@hotmail.com
Blog:
http://harirajsingh68.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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