Occupational Health

and Safety
An Introduction
Mr. D.T. Dzvene - 0773770085
Definition of Terms

• Hazard – A potentially damaging physical environment, phenomenon

or human activity that may cause the loss of life or injury, property
damage, social and economic disruption or environmental
degradation.
• Safety – Practical certainty that injury will not result from exposure to
the hazard under defined conditions or high probability that injury will
not result.
• Occupation – a job, profession, livelihood, career or employment.
• Health – a state of complete physical, social and mental well-being
and not merely the absence of diseases or infirmity
• Occupational health and safety – safety issues related to the workplace
OR the discipline concerned with preserving and protecting human
facility resources in the workplace.

• Risk – probability or frequency of the occurrence of a particular hazard

or event and some measure of severity of the consequence
OR
• the potential harm that may arise from some present processes or from
some future events.
• It is often mapped to the probability of some event which is seen to be
undesirable.
• Accident – an unplanned event that interrupts the completion of an
activity and may not include injury or property damage OR anything
that happens by chance without an apparent cause OR an
unforeseen, unexpected and unintended event.

• Incident – an occurrence or event OR a single distinct event OR an

occurrence either human caused or by natural phenomenon
Introduction
Occupational Health is a science concerned with health in its relation to
work or working environment.
This involves four main concepts to ensure total care of the individual
and these are;
• surveillance of working environment
• surveillance of workers health
• information, education and training and advice
• treatment and health programmes
• emergency preparedness - response planning (first aid etc.)
It is therefore the maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and
social well-being of workers in all occupations.
The hazardous human work factors include;
• chemicals
• ergonomics
• physical hazards
• Mechanical
• electrical
• biological
• Psychological/psycho-social
Reasons for OHS Management
There are basically 3 good reasons why organizations should promote
OHS.
1. Moral
2. Social
3. Economic
Moral
• Injury, accidents and ill-health can cause great pain and suffering
among those who are affected.
• A worker must not be worried about his hand or limp when coming to
work.
• Therefore promoting OHS is seen as a right way of doing business and
harming people as a wrong way
Social
• Moral reasons of OHS are reinforced by social expectations of
behaviour which require consideration of others that may be affected
by interaction with them.
• This social expectation is also expressed in both civil and criminal law
as without the potential for litigation or regulatory action many
employers would not act upon their implied obligation to provide
protection.
Economic
• Accident/ incidents and ill-health cost a great deal of money.
• We have direct and indirect costs which arise of incidents and ill-
health.
• Costs of equipment damage, hospital bills, insurance and litigation
fees.
Societal expectations of OHS
• Societal expectations of OHS vary across the world.
• In developed world, society expects good OHS and it is a strong force
which actually cause organizations to comply.
• In developing countries societal expectation of OHS can be more of an
aspiration and have less influence leading to smaller number of OHS
standards.
Sources of information in OHS
• Management of OHS is supported by various structures set by
different jurisdictions to manage OHS at workplaces.
• At national level sources of information include national legislation,
official government guidance and code of practice to support
legislation, information provided during enforcement and court
actions.
Legislation
• Legislation is the core foundation of OHS management at a
workplace.
• Every organization in any jurisdiction aims to comply with OHS legal
requirements which are relevant to its activities.
• Legislation in OHS vary in their type but basically can be prescriptive
or non-prescriptive type of OHS law
• Legislation lay out requirements in the statutes as duties
Duties in OHS law
There are four levels of duties in any OHS law ;
1. Absolute
2. Practicable
3. Reasonably practicable
4. Reasonable
Absolute
• This duty does not allow choice and take no allowance of how much is
required to meet them.
• Employer is expected to comply fully with an absolute duty.
• These duties relate to fundamental preventative measures which all
employers must comply and to high risk activities
• Example of an absolute duty- in the Zimbabwe law….
• No person shall operate a machinery under the influence of alcohol-
RGN 302 on Machinery safety
Practicable duties
• This duty have to be met to an extent only limited by the current state
of knowledge and invention, irrespective of cost or difficulty.
• This duty is usually used to control high risk areas that involve
application of a technical issue.
• Example- Factories and Works Act RGN 302 on Machinery requires
that all machinery with rotating parts should have a machine guard.
Reasonably practicable
• This duty has to be carried out ‘as far as reasonably practicable’-
which allows employers to balance the costs of actions to comply
with requirements against the risk.
• The costs of compliance can include time, trouble and money.
• The risk will depend on the likelihood and severity of harm from non-
compliance.
• This type of duty ensures that the costs of actions taken to control risk
are correctly balanced against the risk.
• It applies to situations where national standards have to fit on a wide
range of risk.
OHS Management Systems
• A health and safety management system is a set of interrelated
elements established to effectively manage health and safety in an
organization.
• These systems are usually voluntary but aid in managing OHS in a
systematic manner rather than a piecemeal approach.
• In this course ISO 45001; 2018 is the OHSMS which will be discussed
in detail.
What is ISO 45001 of 2018
• It is a voluntary standard which was published by International
Standard Organization.
• ISO 45001;2018 is the first standard by ISO on Occupational health
and safety management.
• It clears spells out general steps which can be taken by the
organization to implement OHS on any organization in an industry.
• It is written using the High Level Structure and have 10 clauses which
basically explain what need to be done by the organization to manage
effectively OHSMS.
• Advantages of ISO 45001;2018 is
Advantages of ISO 45001
• Reduction of OHS incidents and illness
• Increase in employee morale
• Increased international recognition
• Stakeholder confidence
• Conformity

Read the standard!!

Organisation of Occupational Health and Safety
in Zimbabwe

In Zimbabwe, safety organisation falls into two main categories that is;
• as a government organisation
• safety in the private sector
National level
NSSA is responsible for occupational health and safety and workers
compensation
Purpose of the OHS division in NSSA is to assure the creation and
maintenance of ideal work environments, which are free from
occupational hazards, that may cause injury or illness to all employees
in work environments
Safety organisation in the private
sector
• The employer to have a laid down company safety policy
• To ensure education and training is given to workers
• Both management and workers to be involved in prevention of
accidents through e.g. safety committee meetings, hazard monitoring
and control programmes
• accident investigations and recommendations for improving the
overall health and safety environment of the workplace.

Safety is everyone's business/responsibility

Implementation of OHS in
Zimbabwe
Tripartite approach
• government
• employer
• labour

Approach is in line with the ILO convention and reccomendations.

Role of the Government/NSSA in
OHS
• § To establish OHS legislation, national standards and guidelines in
OHS
• § Monitoring and enforcement of the OHS legislation
• § Promote training and awareness of OHS
• § Recording and maintenance of national accident/incident statistics
• § Setting up and maintaining workers accident/incident compensation
insurance funds
• § Set aside funds and institutions that can deal with with workplace
emergencies and remediation etc.
OHS Legislation
Role of the employee in accident
prevention
• taking reasonable care of health and safety of themselves and others
• reporting absence or defective equipment or protective devices
• reporting to employer existence of hazards which the employee is
aware of
• cooperate with employer in creating and maintaining a safe working
environment
• going for medical examinations
• working in compliance with such requirements for the protection of
health and safety of workers
• proper use/wearing of PPE provided by the employer
• not allowed to take away PPE from workplace for purposes which are
not in line with OHS
• ensure that operations are not endangering fellow workers
• not remove or make defective any device required for the health and
safety of the workplace.
• reporting of all accidents/incidents. etc.
Duties/Role of employers

• provide a safe and healthy working environment i.e. ventilation, exits,

sanitary facilities etc
• provide training and awareness to employees on hazards and control
measures as well as operating procedures/working instructions
• provide PPE for use in areas where hazard can not be completely
eliminated
• investigate the cause of all accidents and /or incidents encountered
• report to NSSA any fatalities and or accidents in the workplace to
enable workers to be compensated
• dispose of waste such that there is no harm to the employees
• comply with the set OHS standards and regulations.
• ensuring that information, instructions,training and supervision is
provided to support the safety of employees etc.
Safe Systems of Work

Hierarchy of Control

• Elimination
• Substitution
• Isolation/Separation
• Engineering Controls
• Administration controls
• Personal Protective Equipment
• Elimination - the most satisfactory method of dealing with a hazard.
Once the hazard has been eliminated, the potential for harm has
gone.
• Substitution - this involves substituting a dangerous process or
substance with one which is not as dangerous. This may not be as
satisfactory as elimination as there may still be a risk even if it is
reduced.
• Isolation/Separation - separate/isolate the hazard from people. This
method has its problems in that the hazard has not been removed.
The guard or separation device is always at risk of being removed or
bypassed.
• Engineering Controls - this includes the designing of the machine so as
to ensure that it is safe for use as well as the modification of the
machine such as putting guards over rotating or moving parts.
• Administration controls – usually involves the modification of the
likelihood of an accident occurring and this can be done by reducing the
number of people operating the machine, danger signs, lock out and
tag out systems etc.
• Personal Protective Equipment - this is the least desirable control
option. When it is not feasible to render the work environment
completely safe, it may be nescessary to protect the workers from
hazards with personal protective devices.
• Monitoring and review - review is an important aspect of any risk
management process.
• It is essential to review what has been done to ensure that the
controls put in place are effective and that they have not introduced
new hazards.
Behavioural and Organisational
Considerations
• Some common behavioural and organisational errors include the
following;
• mix up of hazardous substances
• safety devices disconnected due to frequent false alarms
• improper maintenance or repair work
• wrong communication between personnel
• What else??
Behavioural Controls
systems which prevent behavioural and organisational errors
• Proper labelling, packaging, receiving inspection and analysis to avoid material
mix up
• Inter-locking of safety related valves and switches which may not operate
simultaneously.
• Use of different sized connections at loading stations to prevent mix up of reactive
substances
• Clear markings and displays on control panels, knobs and switches
• Safeguarding against inadvertent switching actions
• Proper communication devices for personnel
• Appropriate training of personnel
Risk Management Process

• Risk is the unwanted and uncertain future events/occurrence OR the

potential harm that may result from some present processes or from
some future events,
• Risk Management is a technique or a group of techniques for
minimising the adverse financial effects of pure risk upon an
individual, family or firm.
• It seeks to identify alternative methods an organisation can adopt to
handle risks and show the interdependence between these options.
• ISO31001
Objectives of Risk Management

• reduce or minimise the likelihood of the loss producing events

occurring
• reduce or minimise the adverse (financial) effects once the event has
occurred
• deal (physically) with the event while it is occurring in an attempt to
recover from the loss with the least possible consequences.
Risk Management is essentially concerned with the preservation of an
organisation's assets and earning power from sudden losses.
It is concerned with the formulation of some form of strategy, which
takes account of direct and indirect losses which results from;
• the exposure of the organisation's property and assets to losses
caused by fire, explosion, floods, accidental damage and similar perils
• the exposure of the organisation's labour to injury and diseases etc.
• exposure of the organisation's capital structure to liabilities to
employees and the public at large, which results from unwanted
human behaviour or by products of the firm's activities.
• Risk = Probability of occurrence x Financial consequence

• By reducing either the probability of the event or impact on the firm,

the expected cost can be reduced.
• Risk Management process describes the total procedure associated
with identifying and assessing risks associated with the hazard,
putting in place mechanisms to control those hazards and reviewing
the outcome.
 Accident Theories/Models

• An Accident Model is a design of the cause, impact and effect of an

accident.
• It is a model used in the investigation of an accident as well as the
prevention of an accident by identifying the factors that lead to an
accident as well as its impacts.
• The purpose of the model is to provide a classification system for the
accident as well as to assist in hazard identification and to aid in
accident investigation and prevention.
The Domino Effect
This is a multiple factor theory that postulates that accidents occur when a number of
factors act together to cause an accident.
The domino effect is represented by the following dominos;
1. Management lack of control
– this happens due to:
• failure to assert management commitment to a situation at hand (total loss
control),
• unclear goals,
• lack of motivation programs,
• no proper selection of employees,
• no skills development and training for workers
• undefined and unspecified delegation and performance measurement not done etc.
2. Basic causes
– which include
Personal factors such as:
• inadequate physical and mental capability,
• physical stress,
• lack of knowledge and skill as well as
• improper motivation,
• attitudes and attributes.
.
Job factors such as:
• inadequate and incompetent leadership,
• unclear and conflicting assignment of responsibility,
• lack of proper and safe instructions,
• induction and training,
• inadequate engineering,
• lack of assessment of loss exposure,
• ergonomics,
• standards,
• specification or design,
• lack of evaluation of changes,
• lack of planned preventive maintenance programs,
• inadequate purchasing policies,
• inadequate work standards etc
3. Immediate causes
– personal and job factors when they are not controlled results in:
• substandard actions which are characterized by:
1. violations of accepted safe procedures and or behaviour and
2. substandard conditions which are hazardous, (physical, mechanical,
chemical, biological, psychological) situation/state which could
directly permit the occurrence of an accident/incident.
4. Incident/Accident
– an accident is an undesired event that could or does result in loss or
downgrade the efficiency of business operation.
It could result in physical harm to a person or damage to property or
both.
Incidents/accidents are a manifestation of substandard acts or
conditions unattended and neglected over a period of time.
5. Injury/Property Damage/Business Interruptions
– these factors precede an incident or accident and always have an
impact to business.

6. Loss
– the cost (loss) can be direct or indirect.
Direct costs are the obvious e.g. medical costs, compensation costs and
insured costs.
The indirect costs are the hidden costs e.g. property damage, material
and product damage, production delays, hiring of replacements,
overtime, clerical time etc.
Emergency Preparedness and Response
Planning

• Disaster - a crisis event natural or man-made, sudden or progressive

disrupting normal functions causing loss or damage.
• Emergency - an embryonic which if not managed properly may grow
into a full disaster.
NB:
An organisation should establish and maintain plans and procedures to
identify the potential for, response to, incidents and emergency
situations and for preventing and mitigating the likely illness and injury
that may be associated with them.
These arrangements are meant to identify the potential for accidents and
emergency situations and to address the prevention of occupational safety
and health risks associated with them.
Deliberate intervention to minimise vulnerabilities and disaster risks include:
• prevention
• mitigation
• preparedness
• Prevention - activities to provideoutright avoidance. It can be done
through planning and legislative measures i.e. building codes, industry
safety codes etc.
• Mitigation - structural measures to limit adverse impacts of hazards.
• Preparedness - ability to predict, respond and cope with effects of a
disaster
Measures include;
- forecasting and early warning systems
- contingency plans
- stock piling of appropriate supplies
- arrangement for providing funds for management operations
Emergency Response Planning
Actions necessary to save lives and reduce suffering
These should include:
• safety of workers, visitors etc
• care of injured
• evacuation protocol
• protection of assets and environment
• clean-up procedure
Hazard Identification and
Control Measures
Hazard - possible source of danger with potential to cause harm to people,
environment or property.
Hazard Identification - this involves;
i) Pro-active approach - done before an accident/incident occurs
(preventive) through inspection /surverys .
It follows logical sequence of production processes, maintenance
work, repair, breakdown, emergency and cleaning area should be
considered.
ii) Reactive Approach - hazard only identified after an occupational
mishap, incident/accident.
Classification of Hazard
1. Mechanical - unguarded moving parts of machinery (e.g. v - belts,
drive chains. gears, rotating shafts etc.)
2. Non- mechanical - falling objects, broken or uneven floors, dangerous
openings on floors, overcrowding, bad housekeeping etc.
3. Physical - e.g. noise, climatic conditions, radiation etc.
4. Chemical - e.g. solvents, corrosive substances, organic dust in the
form of fumes, smoke etc
5. Biological - bacteria, viruses and fungi
6. Physiological (ergonomic) - e.g. por work station, physically heavy
work, poor work postures, worng working methods etc.
7. Psycho-Social - e.g.stressful situations , job dissatisfaction, job
uncertainity, long working hours, quantity of work, human relations etc.
Hazard Identification Methods

a) Examination of accidents
b) Use of checklist
c) Work safety analysis
d) Investigations
e) Inspections
f) Risk map
g) Surveillance
Health and Safety
Surveys/Inspections
Definition - Systematic procedure aimed at recognition of actual and/or
potential health and safety hazards at various workplaces.
Objectives of Inspections;
• identify possible health and safety hazards
• evaluate effectiveness of control measures/procedures
• establish or maintain appropriate health and safety hazard control
systems
• give practical and feasible recommendations or control measure
• ensure compliance with health and safety regulations
Types of inspections
• Housekeeping - e.g. waste removal, clear walkways, proper storage,
stacking of materials
• Floors - e.g. slippery floors, dirty, obstruction, spillages etc
• Lighting - e.g. amount of both natural and artificial lighting, glare,
reflections
• Fire precautions - e.g. possible sources of ignition, availability and
suitability of fire-fighting equipment, training, alarm systems etc
• Materials handling - e.g. transportation of goods, safe manual lifting,
etc
• Hand tools - e.g. defective tools, wrong tools for the job, incorrect
method of use, poor storage etc.
• Safety of machinery - e.g. check for guards etc
• Welfare facilities - e.g. change rooms, adequate toilets, clean drinking
water, canteen etc
• Ventilation - efficiency of local exhaust ventilation etc.
• Other Physical Hazards - e.g. noise, vibration, heat etc
• Use and storage of hazardous substances - provision of material safety
data sheets (MSDS)
• PPE - types, suitability, usage, condition etc
• Electrical Equipment - installation, earthing, broken switches,
insulation. etc.
Benefits of Inspection
a) Hazard and safety hazards are identified and eliminated before
workers' health and safety suffers.
b) Increased productivity is achieved through elimination of loss
producing incidents
c) Enables organisation to identify training needs which then helps
management to formulate appropriate training programmes
Occupational Health Hazards
In occupational health, there is concern for the preservation of the
worker's health both in the course of his/her work and after he has left
his/her work.
Occupational health hazards:
• are much more difficult to recognise than safety hazards and may act
very slowly on the body
• can cause harm which compounds the effects of non-occupational
health hazards (such as smoking)
• are of many different kinds, all of which can act simultaneously on the
body, and
• can manifest themselves in sickness while the worker is no longer at his
job. The task of preserving the health of workers must necessarily be
more complicated and difficult than that of assuring workers' safety.
There are four types of occupational health hazards;
• physical - noise, heat, vibration and radiation
• chemical - dusts, poisonous fumes and gases, toxic metals and
chemicals and carcinogens
• biological - bacteria, fungi, insects
• stress - including that caused by physical, chemical, ergonomic factors
and psychological factors such as disciplinary pressure on the job.
Noise
In addition to contributing to hearing loss and accidents, noise has a
potentially serious effect as a stressor and causative factor in disease.
Noise triggers changes in:
• cardiovascular,
• endocrine and
• neurologic functions that are suggestive of a stress reaction
i.e. noise induces physiological and psychological adjustments to the body and
mind similar to the response that one would have under an alert condition.
The most serious effect of noise as a stressor may be its interaction with
chemical or physical hazards
Harmful Dusts
Many occupational poisoning that affects the internal organs of the
body occurs as a result of breathing airborne materials.
Such materials, whether generated by grinding, crushing or some other
mechanical means of alteration, are categorised as dusts.
Dusts can be inorganic or organic in nature.
Some common dust related diseases are silicosis (from inhalation of
silica dust), asbestosis (from inhalation of asbesto dust), etc.
The extent of biological damage done when they are inhaled depends
on:
• the size and density of the particles,
• the concentration of the dust particles in the breathing zone,
• the composition of the dust itself,
• the length of exposure,
• the solubility of the dust and
• the rate of elimination from the body.
Some Toxic Gases, Metals and
Chemicals
A toxic material is one which demonstrates the potential to:
• induce cancer,
• provide long term disease or bodily injury,
• affect health adversely,
• produce acute discomfort or
• endanger the life of man or animals through exposure in the:
• resiratory tract,
• skin,
• eye,
• mouth or
• other routes.
Toxic materials may also be:
• carcinogenic,
• teratogenic or
• Mutagenic
Heat stress
The immediate effect of heat stress may be physiological or
psychological.
It has been noted that heat stress:
• accelerates fatigue,
• causes sensory motor coordination to deteriorate,
• decreases learning capacity and
• increases the rejection rate in production lines.
Chronic heat stress has been found to be deleterious to the
cardiovascular system.
Vibration
At resonant frequencies (when the body is in tune with the source of
vibration) the gut mass [that entire area between the pelvis and the rib
cage] tends to move up and down and creates pressure on the heart
and the lung area.
Such movement can cause lesions in some organs and blood vessels.
It also affects speech and vision.

NB: Relate these sysmptoms to the tasks employees are doing

Radiation
Exposure to high intensities of UV light is common to:
• welders,
• glassblowers,
• steel-mill workers,
• foundry workers,
• electricians etc.
•
The effects occur mainly in the:
• skin,
• eyes [may become severely burned if inadequate precautions are
taken].
• The action of infrared radiation is thermal.
Workers exposed to this form of radiation include:
• blacksmiths,
• furnace and foundry workers,
• glassblowers,
• kiln operators,
• welders and
• steel-mill workers.
• Ionising radiation includes both electrically charged or neutral
particles and electromagnetic radiation that interacts harmfully with
body tissue.

Unlike safety hazards, health hazards are often:

• slow acting,
• cumulative,
• irreversible, and
• complicated by non-occupational factors (list some of these factors).