CHAPTER 5:

OCCUPATIONAL
HEALTH AND
HYGIENE
• Importance of Occupational Health and Hygiene
• Occupational Health Illness and Diseases
• Stress Management
• Environmental Work Hazards - Chemical, Physical,
Biological and Ergonomics
• Occupational Health Programs
Importance of Occupational Health and
Hygiene
 Prevention of exposure to or contact with health hazards and control of health risks in
the workplace environment.
 Address the source of problems by identifying the hazard and method of contact and
how to prevent or minimize exposure and/or its effects
Occupational Safety and Health
for Technologists, Engineers, and Managers
EIGHTH EDITION

CHAPTER
11
Stress and Safety

Occupational Safety and Health, 8e, Global Edition Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Ltd.
David L. Goetsch All Rights Reserved
 Workplace Stress Defined
■ Emotions are affected in the workplace by social, occupational, environmental,
and psychological factors we perceive as threats.
– Stress is the reaction of the human body to these stimuli.
■ The amount of stress felt depends as much on the individual's ability to deal
with the external stimuli as the relative intensity of the stimuli.
■ Managers tend to view stress as an individual problem tied to the personality
and emotional makeup of the employee.
■ Employees often view stress as a problem induced by poor supervision,
unrealistic expectations, and other management shortcomings.
■ Workplace stress involves the emotional state resulting from a perceived
difference between the level of occupational demand and a person's ability to
cope with this demand.
– Considered a subjective state
■ The relation between job demands and the worker's ability to meet those
demands further influence workplace stress.
Sources of Workplace Stress

■ Sources of on-the-job stress may involve:

Human Reactions to Workplace
Stress
■ Some human reactions to workplace stress:
Human Reactions to Workplace
Stress
■ There are three stages of human stress response:
Occupational Safety and Health
for Technologists, Engineers, and Managers
EIGHTH EDITION

CHAPTER
20
Industrial Hygiene
and Confined
Spaces

Occupational Safety and Health, 8e, Global Edition Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Ltd.
David L. Goetsch All Rights Reserved
 Overview of Industrial Hygiene

■ Industrial hygiene is concerned with predicting, recognizing,

assessing, controlling, and preventing workplace environmental
stressors that can cause sickness or serious discomfort to workers.
■ Hygiene = conditions or practices conducive to maintaining health
and preventing disease especially through cleanliness
■ An environmental stressor is any factor that can cause enough
discomfort to result in lost time or illness. May come in the forms of:
– Gases, fumes, vapors, dusts, mists, noise, and radiation.
 Hazards in the Workplace

■ Environmental stressors on which industrial hygiene focuses can be

divided into the following categories:
 CHEMICAL HAZARD
FIGURE 20–4 Common airborne contaminants.
Airborne Contaminants

■ Dusts are various types of solid particles produced when a given type of
organic or inorganic material is scraped, sawed, ground, drilled, handled,
heated, crushed, or otherwise deformed.
– Degree of hazard depends on parent material toxicity and the size &
concentration level of the particles. (asbestos)
■ The most common causes of fumes are welding, heat treating, and
metalizing, which involve the interaction of intense heat with a parent
material. An amount of gas or vapour that smells strongly or is dangerous to
inhaled
– Heat volatilizes portions of the parent material, which then condenses as
it comes in contact with cool air.
– The result is the formation of tiny particles that can be inhaled.
Airborne Contaminants

■ Smoke is the result of the incomplete combustion of carbonaceous

materials, leaving tiny soot or carbon particles remain in the air,
which can be inhaled.
■ Aerosols are liquid or solid particles so small that they can remain
suspended in air long enough to be transported over a distance.
– These particles can be inhaled.
Airborne Contaminants

■ Mists are tiny liquid droplets suspended in air, formed in two ways:
– When vapors return to a liquid state through condensation.
– When the application of sudden force or pressure turns a liquid into particles.
■ Gases are actually formless fluids, particularly hazardous when they fill a
confined, unventilated space.
– The most common sources are from welding and the exhaust from internal
combustion engines.
■ Certain materials that are solid or liquid at room temperature and at normal
pressure turn to vapors when heated or exposed to abnormal pressure.
– Evaporation is the most common process by which a liquid is transformed
into a vapor.
Toxic Substances Defined

■ A toxic substance is one that has a negative effect on the health of a

person or animal.
■ Toxic effects are a function of several factors including the following:
– Properties of the substance and route of entry.
– Amount of the dose and level of exposure
– Resistance of the individual to the substance.
■ Response can vary widely and might be as little as a cough or mild
respiratory irritation or as serious as unconsciousness and death
FIGURE 20–1 Common routes of entry of toxic substances.
Inhalation

■ Airborne toxic substances such as gases, vapors, dust, smoke, fumes,

aerosols, and mists can be inhaled and pass through the nose, throat,
bronchial tubes, and lungs to enter the bloodstream.
– Amount inhaled depends on concentration of the substance,
duration of exposure & breathing volume.
■ Inhalation is particularly important due to the rapidity with which
toxic material can be absorbed in the lungs, pass into the
bloodstream & reach the brain.
– Inhalation is the major route of entry for hazardous chemicals in
the work environment.
Absorption
■ The second most common route of entry in an industrial setting is
absorption, or passage through the skin and into the bloodstream.
– Unprotected cuts, sores, and abrasions facilitate the process, but
healthy skin also absorbs certain chemicals.
■ Body parts differ in absorption capabilities.
– The forearms have a lower absorption potential than the scalp &
forehead.
Ingestion

■ An ingested substance is swallowed and moves through the stomach

into the intestines and from there into the bloodstream.
■ Toxic agents can enter the body when accidentally consumed by
workers eating lunch or a snack.
– Airborne contaminants can also rest on food or hands and, as a
result, be ingested during a meal or snack.
■ It is critical to confine eating and drinking to sanitary areas away from
the work site & ensure that workers practice good personal hygiene.
– Such as washing their hands thoroughly before eating or drinking.
Injection

■ Injection is introduction of a substance into the body by way of a needle and

syringe, compressed air, high-pressure hydraulic leaks, etc.
– Not often a route of entry for a toxic substance in the workplace.
Effects of Toxic Substances
■ Effects of toxic substances vary widely, as do the substances themselves, but
all can be categorized as being either acute or chronic.
■ Acute effects and exposures involve a sudden dose of a highly concentrated
substance.
– They are sudden, severe, typically involve just one incident, cause
immediate health problems, and are not the result of an accumulation
over time.
■ Chronic effects/exposures involve limited continual exposure over time, and
health problems develop slowly.
– Progressive accumulation of toxic substances in the body and progressive
worsening of associated health problems, and little or no awareness of
exposures on the part of affected workers
■ Part of the liver's function is to collect toxic substances, convert them to
nontoxics, and send them to the kidneys for elimination in the urine.
– When the dose is more than the liver can handle, toxics move on to other
organs, producing a variety of effects.
FIGURE 20–3 Selected toxic substances and the organs that they endanger most.
 PHYSICAL HAZARD
■ Noise is sound that is unwanted or that exceeds safe limits, and can
cause problems ranging from annoyance to hearing loss.
– OSHA mandates that an employee's exposure level be limited to 90
decibels (dB) calculated as an eight-hour, time-weighted average.
■ Temperature control is the most basic way to eliminate environmental
hazards—people function efficiently in a very narrow body temperature
range.
– Fluctuations in temperatures exceeding about 2 deg F below, or 3
deg F above, normal temperature impair performance markedly.
– If this five-degree range is exceeded, a health hazard exists.
■ Radiation hazards are increasingly prevalent in the age of high
technology.
■ Five kinds of ionizing radiation:
– Alpha, beta, X-ray, gamma, and neutron.
■ Alpha radiation is least penetrating, which makes shielding simple—the
others are more difficult to shield against.
– Meters and other instruments are available to measure radiation
levels in the workplace.
■ The greatest risk for nonionizing radiation in the modern workplace
comes from lasers.
■ Pressure extremes are a potential workplace hazard.
■ A common troubles encountered by workers under compressed air is pain
and congestion in the ears.
– From inability to ventilate the middle ear properly during
compression and decompression.
■ Workers subjected to increased air pressures can suffer temporary or
permanent hearing loss.
■ Effects of reduced pressure are much the same as the effects of
decompression from a high pressure.
– If pressure is reduced too rapidly, decompression sickness & ear
disturbances similar to the diver's conditions can result.
 BIOLOGICAL HAZARD
■ The now-famous outbreak of what has come to be known as Legionnaire's
disease is an example of what can result from biological hazards.
– It first appeared at an American Legion convention, where numerous
participants became sick and soon died.
■ Identification of biological agents that causes Legionnaire’s disease, Hepatitis
B and HIV
■ High risk industries - agriculture, healthcare, biotechnology, research and
clinical labs
■ No threshold exposure limit
■ Can exist in any environment
■ Effected and influenced by biological competition
■ The cause was eventually traced back to bacteria that grew in the
cooling/air-moving systems serving the convention center.
– That bacterium has since been named Legionnella.
Occupational Safety and Health
for Technologists, Engineers, and Managers
EIGHTH EDITION

CHAPTER
10
Ergonomic Hazards:
Musculoskeletal
Disorders (MSDs) and
Cumulative Trauma
Disorders (CTDs)

Occupational Safety and Health, 8e, Global Edition Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Ltd.
David L. Goetsch All Rights Reserved
Ergonomics Defined

■ Ergonomics is defined as:

– …a multidisciplinary science that seeks to conform the workplace
and all of its physiological aspects to the worker.
■ Ergonomics involves the following:
– Using special design and evaluation techniques to make tasks,
objects, and environments more compatible with human abilities
and limitations.
Ergonomics Defined

■ Ergonomics involves the following:

– Seeking to improve productivity and quality by reducing
workplace stressors, reducing the risk of injuries and illnesses,
and increasing efficiency.
■ Ergonomic hazards are conditions that require unnatural postures and
unnatural movement.
– The human body can endure limited amounts of unnatural
postures or motions, but repeated exposure to such conditions
can lead to physical stress and injury.
FIGURE 10–1 Benefits of ergonomics.
Human Factors and Safety
■ The science of human factors can help reduce both product and
workplace hazards…
Factors Associated with Physical
Stress
■ Eight variables can influence the amount of physical stress
experienced on the job are as follows:
Ergonomic Problem-Solving
Strategies
■ Back, neck, shoulder & lower leg pain are often associated with
seated repetitive work on light parts.
– It may be necessary to modify the job & the workstation.
■ Rotate workers between one or more different jobs.
■ Seated work with larger parts involves interacting with objects that
may be too large to manipulate manually, associated with assembly &
welding jobs.
– Problems are typically related to posture, illumination, reach, and
lifting.
Ergonomic Problem-Solving
Strategies
■ Use technology to lift & position the
work for easy access that does not require bending, twisting &
reaching.
■ Use supplemental lighting.
■ Use adjustable chairs/work surfaces.
Ergonomic Problem-Solving
Strategies
■ Seated control work involves sitting in one location and using wheels,
levers, knobs, handles, and buttons to control a process, system, or
equipment.
– Use an adjustable swivel chair with inflatable back and seat
support, and keep both feet on the floor.
– Provide comfortable/convenient locations for controls.
■ Most jobs performed while standing do not involve a great deal of
repetitive motion, but do involve handling medium to heavy materials.
– Physical stress includes leg, arm, and back strains.
■ Occasionally, side strains occur when bending/twisting.
Ergonomic Problem-Solving
Strategies
■ Ergonomic strategies for improving work conditions:
– Adjust machines/work surfaces for height/position.
– Make sure there is a recess at the bottom for feet, to allow
operators to stand close to the machine without bending.
– Machines with easily accessible controls, within a comfortable
reach zone for operators.
– Ample free space around machines for moving material in & out,
and for ease of movement in servicing machines.
Ergonomic Problem-Solving
Strategies
■ Hand tools introduce a variety of potential hazards indigenous to their use.
– Most commonly carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), and muscle strains of
the lower arm, hands, and wrist.
– Tools designed to keep hands in the rest position.
– Select tools with thick, rather than thin, handles, enhanced gripping
surfaces, such as knurling, filing, etc.
– Eliminate twisting by selecting tools designed so the direction of
movement or function is the same as the direction in which force is
applied or by using technology.
– Select tools with handles made of hard, nonpermeable materials that
will not absorb toxic liquids harmful to skin.
FIGURE 10–7 Ergonomics of VDTs. The left of the diagram highlights optimal postures and positions for the computer user.