Course:SPPH381B/Essays/Hazards in the modern workplace - Soham

Figure 1.1 Estimates of Occupational Cancer Death per EU Country in 2011

Introduction

Workplace hazards today include various broad categories comprised of chemical, physical, psychosocial, biological, and safety hazards . Deaths from various work-related illness and injury belonging to these broad categories have been estimated to be 2.3 million . It is noteworthy that occupational deaths from both injuries and especially disease are highly underreported . Two general trends have been noted for the current impact of workplace hazards. First, possibly due to hazardous industries steadily and increasingly moving to developing nations, the proportion of occupational mortality caused by cancer has risen in the EU and other regions identified as high-income countries ;. Secondly, the majority of deaths related to the workplace are attributable to illness rather than injury . Therefore, the focus of current occupational hygienists and researchers should be to prevent altogether or reduce the impact of occupational diseases, rather than solely focusing on historical trends of injury prevention in the workplace .

How modern hazards are identified in the modern workplace

There are several methods used currently to identify associations of disease and mortality to modern workplace hazards. Compensation claim data from insurers can be used to identify possible trends related to workplace hazards, although not all claims are accepted and not all injuries result in claims . For example, examining British Columbia (BC) trends for silicosis, a disease of the pulmonary system largely attributable to silica dust from industrial applications, it was found that far fewer claims were made than medically reported . Surveillance can be used to routinely visit sites containing potentially hazardous substances, through air quality sampling by occupational hygienists and health monitoring by physicians. Finally, epidemiology is used to find models and associations of deaths with specific hazardous material industries using procedures such as the attributable factor to find occupational causes of disease ; . Once a hazard has been identified, an occupational exposure limit is calculated for the particular agent or substance. The occupational exposure limit (OEL) represents the concentration at which most workers who are healthy could live a disease-free life, should she or he be exposed to the substance for a typical work duration (8 hours for 40 hours per week). The TWA or time-weighted average used in the OEL represents the average exposure of a worker during work .

Types of hazards

Chemical hazards

Chemical hazards are very common and are found across several industries . Chemical hazards are found in gas, liquid or solid form and thus can either be ingested, inhaled or absorbed through the skin . The gaseous, vaporous or particulate types of chemical hazards tend to be the most common and thus one of the most important types of workplace hazard . The term “gas” refers to a substance in gas form at room temperature, while “vapor” refers to a gas which is in solid or liquid form at room temperature. Airborne particles may be categorized as solids, including dust, fibers or fume, or as liquids, including mists and fogs. An example involves the toxic vapors formed from pulp and paper mills activities . The concentration of such airborne chemicals is measured in parts per million, or milligrams per cubic meter . Exposure concentrations are generally measured using sampling tubes . These sampling tubes come in two forms: grab (instantaneous) sampling and integrated (long term). Grab sampling involves taking one sample over a period of seconds to minutes using a pump, which then gives the concentration of a specific chemical at that time and in that place. Integrated sampling requires a worker to attach a sampling pump to the body along with sampling media, usually located near the lapel, to represent the "breathing zone." Measurements are then taken over the course of hours, and thus represent a more realistic level of chemical a worker will be exposed to throughout the day, as they perform multiple tasks throughout the workplace .

Physical, ergonomic and safety hazards

Physical hazards in the workplace involve noise, vibration, radiation, temperature extremes as well as electricity . Safety hazards include injuries such as falls, cuts, burns and collisions . Ergonomic hazards are related to posture and repeated movement in the workplace. The most common hazard in the physical category involves noise with an occupational exposure limit set at 85 dBA . Tools such as noise dosimeters are used to determine exposure to noise levels at work . It has been found that concrete layers, roof bolter operators, formwork fixers and air duct workers suffered the most noise-related health damage in the construction industry . For safety hazards, falls constitute a big proportion of injuries sustained in the workplace . For example, in populations of health care workers, up to 75% of falls were classified as “serious” for support workers such as care aides, facility, and community health workers . Registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and other support workers also had the greatest amount of healthcare costs with relation to falls . In terms of ergonomic hazards, carpal tunnel syndrome is a highly prevalent disease . (It was found that people who worked in jobs which involved regular usage of hand-held vibration tools or repeated wrist flexion and extension coupled with a forceful grip had significantly increased the risk of acquiring carpal tunnel ).

Biological hazards

Biological hazards involve pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, fungi and other infectious agents . These are further categorized as airborne pathogens including infectious agents such as Tuberculosis and avian flu, infection via injection (AIDS), and percutaneous agents such as schistosomiasis, in which the skin membrane is penetrated . A prominent example involved the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak. Healthcare workers were particularly susceptible to acquiring the infection due to poor control measures, lack of awareness, and lack of training in infection control . Workers in the healthcare industry made up one-fifth of deaths attributed to the infection worldwide .

Psychosocial hazards

Psychosocial hazards in the workplace involve various factors including stress, bullying, and violence . In a prominent example of the effects of psychosocial hazards on human occupational health, Stebbing & Powles found that workplace stress and anxiety related to bullying was a significant cause of concern among doctors in Malaysia and India . While stress may be a motivator in some specific circumstances, junior physicians had poor work performance, depression, and altered quality of care provided when faced with a stressor such as bullying . Workplace violence involves a wide range of behaviors including intimidation, harassment, stalking, emotional abuse, threatening and homicide . The most common type of workplace violence is violence directed at employees committed by clients, rather than criminals or colleagues .

Emerging Trends in Workplace Hazards

Recently, there has been an increase in the automation of tasks that may have previously required manual labor, as well as increased use of computers in the workplace . This has lead to a trend of both physical inactivity in the workplace and an increase in obesity among workers . Researchers have noted that an increased productivity demand has lead to more time being spent in a fixed body posture . Furthermore, increased travel time to work and sedentary time away from work have exacerbated negative health effects ([[ http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J013v36n02_01%7CSanderson, Littleton, Pulley, 2002]]). Emerging research has indicated that continuous sitting (such as during work) has risk factors that are independent of the activity level of an individual . Thus, interventions that address the amount of time an individual spends being inactive may need to be implemented in the modern workplace.