Case 4 EPH2022 Flashcards
(111 cards)
What is occupational health (OH)?
Promotion & maintenance of physical, mental & social wellbeing of workers in all occupations & extends to improvement of working environment & work to be good for safety & health
What are the main components for OH?
- OH legislation & policies to protect health of workforce
- Reduction of risks from exposure to workplace hazards
- Health promotion for those at work
What considerations must OH practice include?
Environmental health considerations & holistic management of workforce.
E.g. hazardous waste management & disposal in chemical plant, prevention of outbreaks of occupational infections, emergency preparedness & response.
What does a holistic approach mean?
To provide support that looks at the whole person, not just their mental needs.
What are occupational exposures that can have negative health effects?
- Safety: objects, substances that injure worker e.g. working heights, spills, confined spaces, electrical wiring
- Chemical: environmental smoke, acids, pesticides, carbon monoxide, flammable liquids, paints, etc
- Biological: e.g farms, zoos, hospitals, vets exposed to biological hazards (blood, fungi, virus, insect bites, etc)
- Physical: harm body without touching e.g. radiation, sunlight, noise, extreme high/low temperatures
- Ergonomic: hazard put strain on body over time. E.g. sedentary lifestyle, repeated movements, vibrations
- Work organisation hazards: WP violence, discrimmination, harrassment, etc
- Psychological: stress, burnout, etc
What are the major types of occupational diseases & injuries?
- Occupational lung diseases
- Occupational cancers
- Occupational & work-related skin diseases
- Occupational reproductive disorders
- Occupational noise-induced hearing loss
- Occupational infections
- Occupational traumatic injuries
Explain occupational lung diseases
- Respiratory system easily accessible for airborne toxic agents
- Common: occupational asthma, LC, bronchitis, pulmonary infections, dust disease
Explain occupational cancers
- Occupational carcinogens include chemical substances, e.g. benzene, asbestos, radiation, viruses
- Most common cancers due to workplace exposures: lung, bladder, skin & liver
Explain occupational & work-related skin diseases
- Workers in agriculture, forestry, manufacturing (e.g. metal workers), florists, hairdressers, etc higher risk due to range of irritants or alergens exposed to skin.
- Most common are dermatitis & skin cancer
Explain occupational reproductive disorders
- Limited researh
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Exposures in females: menstrual cycle irregularities, infertility, early menopause, cross placenta to baby.
* Foetal & developmental effects from maternal exposures: peterm delivery, prenatal death, low birth weight, hearing dysfunction
Explain occupational noise-induced hearing loss
- Workers in manufacturing, mining, transportation, agriculture & military at high risk
Explain occupational infections
- Blood-borne diseases (hep B,C, HIV) & droplet-borne infections (measels, TB, varicella) can be transmitted from patients to healthcare workers (HCW).
- Also vector-borne diseases (malaria, dengue, Lyme disease), water & food-borne diseases (from poor sanitation & unsafe water = cholera & typhoid), zoonoses among veterinarians, farmers, agricultural & forestry workers (rabies, lepospirosis)
What are 2 examples of work-related diseases?
- Work-related MSDs
- Stress-related ill-health
Explain work-related MSDs
- Physical risk factors: rapid work pace, repetivie motion, vibration, sedentary lifestyle
- Pyschosocial factors: high job demands, lack of job control, boring (monotous) work = increased risk
- Interventions such as stretching exercises, implementation fo ergnomic measures = help prevent MSDs
What are MSDs?
injuries & disorders that affect body’s movement or musculoskeletal system (i.e. muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, discs, blood vessels, etc.)
What is work related stress?
‘Harmful physical & emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources or needs of the worker’
Explain work-related stress
- New forms of work organisation & employment patterns (more temporary & independent contracting) bring job flexibility but also lower control & increase job insecurity.
- Present as: emotion lability, anxiety, depression, insomnia, suicide.
- Adverse health outcomes: risk of CVD, MSDs symptoms, impaired immune functions, gastrointestinal disorders
What are the most common occupational diseases?
Lung & skin cancer coz of substantial surface area in direct contact with toxic substances
NIHL & MSDs from physical factors in workplace.
Why are occupational & work-related diseases underdiagnosed?
- Difficulty in establishing cause-and-effect relationships (skin cancer can be due to exposure of hydrocarbons or excessive sunlight exposure)
- Long latency between occupational exposure & onset of illness
- Lack of good understanding among health practitioners about hazards at work
- Limited ability of workers to provide an accurate report of (past) exposures. Many developing countries, not required to inform workers of hazards.
- Financial liability associated with finding a disease of occupational origin - employers maybe reluctant to recognize disease
Technological evolutions & changees in employment patterns = new occupational disease, making even more complicated
What are special populations of workers?
- Child labour
- Female workers
- Disabled workers
- Migrant workers
- Shift workers
Why is child labour a special population of workers?
- Greater exposure to hazards than adults coz tend to do menial jobs & involve high exposures of toxins
- Using hand tools designed for adults = higher risk of fatigue & injury
Why are female workers a special population of workers?
- Work for smaller industries/organisations & have less opportunity for work control
- More likely to work in informal sectors (domestic work, street vending, sex work) with accompanying low social status and lack of legislative protection.
Why are disabled workers a special population of workers?
- Reasonable accomodations are: changes made to work environment, job responsibilities, etc
- Aim is to ensure disabled people have same access to everything involved in performing & keeping a job as a non-disabled person.
Why are migrant workers a special population of workers?
*
* many perform 3D (dirty, dangerous, demanding) jobs