Course:SPPH381B/Essays/Why is it important to study occupational health? - Samin

Introduction

Occupational health is a field of public health concerned with the prevention of diseases caused by work, the maintenance and promotion of health among employed persons in their group setting. It is important for both the company and the employees to be aware of the occupational diseases and how to prevent them at their workplaces. Therefore, it is important to study occupational health because it can help decrease job accidents, injuries, medical illnesses and death. There are workers around the world that despite the vast differences in their physical, social, economic, and political environments, face virtually the same kinds of workplace hazards . These hazards are more common in developing countries especially due to lack of regulation, enforcement, their ignorance and illiteracy. In order to cure the diseases or to prevent the hazards related to workplaces, one should study occupational health. Creating a safe work environment is critical to the success of any business, and one of the best ways to retain staff and maximize productivity.

Burden of disease

Vast majority of deaths occur from diseases, this is important because we are putting our energy in saving people but we are ignoring that most of these deaths occur at workplaces. In a study conducted in 2012, it was estimated that there were 2.3 million deaths annually for reasons attributed to workplace all over the world. The biggest component was linked to work-related diseases, 2 million and 0.3 million were due to occupational injuries . Dramatic changes in the global labor force will occur as globalization and population growth continue to affect the global economy. For example, the labor force in Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the fastest growing in the world, with 217 million workers recorded in 2000 . And not everyone reports to their company or company reports further. They rather keep the incidents that happened in dark. Therefore it is difficult to find good data because people do not send all the data in. The burden of disease and injury related to workplace in the formal and informal sectors is grave and will continue to rise. Therefore, we need to make changes to workplaces in order to prevent the deaths linked to workplace.

Types of diseases

Work stressors, such as job strain and long working hours, are linked with a moderately elevated risk of coronary heart disease and stroke . Most of them are due to stress in the workplace, which further leads to high blood pressure and other health-related problems.

Work stressor associations with cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions in recent cohort studies: This is an example image

Other problems can include respiratory diseases like asbestos, lung cancer from silica, solar radiation leading to skin cancer and exposure to formaldehyde in furniture can cause ill effects. Asthma is classic obstructive lung disease and caused by closed airways, certain chemicals cause this restriction and what we call them are respiratory sensitizers. Lung cancers are very common, and one of the mechanisms which it occurs is through chemicals (mechanism of particle deposition). Furthermore, if you are working in a lab, wearing a lab coat is a requirement in order to prevent spills of harmful chemicals, like lead. Lead can be poisonous if it gets in the bone, leading to poor muscle coordination and seizures. There are other dangerous chemicals that can pose health hazards at workplace as well. Some chemicals, such as DDT (a pesticide), are absorbed and stored in fat cells at a rate faster than the body can metabolize and excrete it, leading to bioaccumulation.

Discovering new, emerging diseases

There are new, emerging diseases as well that need to be taken care of. The prevention side is driven by regulation under WorkSafeBC Act; there are also guidelines that put law into the practical terms. It really tells the employers to force the regulations for example when you are taking measurements of air born toxins, regulations say you must use specific ways to do it. Regulation has 3 components that every employee must follow: core requirements is one of them. That could include sprinklers in ceiling. Another one is the CYA statements, for example when people would hide the bullet, so one cannot endanger their worker. One cant put their employers in cage of tigers. The last one is the use of very specific chemicals like chloroform. But there is another central issue that includes that every employee and owner has responsibility. You must report on certain time, can’t wait for employer to report; the owner has the ultimate responsibility if things get worse.

Cost to society

There are other factors as well that make it important for us to study occupational health, especially for the employees. This includes worker’s compensation that is insured and is linked to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) performance. This includes other costs as well, such as costs to the community; for example health services, rehabilitation and loss of skilled labor, costs to employees through reduced quality of life as a result of workplace injury and disease, reduced income for the injured and their family and grief by everyone involved.

Problems in developing countries

In a study, it was seen that current deficiencies of occupational health in the developing world—reported in such disparate locations as Bangladesh, Central America, Lebanon, South Africa and Thailand- are attributed to mostly lack of governmental interest in occupational health, poor data collection systems, and due to weak enforcement of regulations related to health and safety. There are other types of occupational hazards as well that many people in the developing countries aren’t aware of due to lack of education and therefore bringing awareness to the workers can help prevent the workplace related hazards. Workplace exposure to hazards may already start in infancy in these countries, including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Due to industrialization, workers in developing countries are also facing new conditions with a lack of relevant knowledge and skills. With the help of information, these nations can direct resources and skills for regulatory and safety measures at work

Conclusion

Workplace health and safety practices can help prevent inter-office violence and raise employee awareness regarding the hazards that they can face. Violent acts and aggressive behaviors of employees within the workplace are another cause for concern because they threaten a company’s overall reputation. Companies and the government must take an active approach and make them more aware of the hazards by educating workers on the importance of practicing safe habits in order to maintain a healthy and safe working environment. Occupational health and safety is the joint responsibility of the government, worker and the employer.