Introduction to Occupational

Safety and Health

Chapter 1
Safety, Health and the Environment

• What does safety mean to you?

• What is a hazard? Are there really “accidents”?

• What is a safety “culture”?

• What is the difference between occupational safety and

occupational health?

• How does safety and health interact with the

environment?
 Safety vs Health
• Safety and health although closely related are
not the same.
• One view is that
– Safety is concerned with injury-causing situations,
whereas health is concerned with disease causing
situations.
– Another view is that safety is concerned with hazards
to humans that result from sudden severe
conditions; health deals with adverse reactions to
prolonged exposure to dangerous but less
intense hazards.
• An acute effect is a sudden reaction to a severe condition,
while a chronic effect is a long-term deterioration due to a
prolonged exposure to a milder adverse condition (Asfahl).
 Safety vs Health
• Both concepts are accurate in portraying
safety and health issues. However, there
is no clear line between the two concepts.
– For example, stress is a hazard can cause
both
– problems over a prolonged period. So, it is a
________concern. On the other hand, an
overly stressed worker may be prone to
accidents generating a __________concern.
 Safety vs Health
– Long term exposure to noise levels in the
range of 90 -100 decibels causes permanent
damage._____
– A sudden acute exposure to impact noise can
injure the hearing system. ______ (Asfahl)
– Let’s come up with a similar example or
two
 Hazards
• Something that can cause harm.

• A condition that, either by itself or in combination

with others, can result in an accident.

• For example: “Employee was not paying

attention” or “lack of proper training.”
 Accident
• An event or series of events that results in, or has the potential
to result in
– Death, injury, or illness
– Property damage
– Environmental harm
• Webster Dictionary defines an accident as “… an unforeseen
and unplanned event or circumstance. An unfortunate event
resulting from carelessness or ignorance.”
– Could it have been foreseen?
• Struck by lightning an accident?
• Ever been in a car “accident?”
• Because we can identify a risk – does not mean we can
control it.
 Why We Strive To Prevent
Accidents
• Accidents and occupational illnesses severely
limit efficiency and productivity.
• Accidents and occupational illnesses can
produce far-reaching social harm.
• There are techniques available and effective in
reducing accident rates and promoting efficiency
and productivity.
• Regulations mandate management responsibility
to provide a safe and healthful workplace.
 Results of Injuries
• Lost income since they could not work because
of disabilities.

• Charities and other means of assistance were

limited.

• Court proceedings were expensive and drawn

out.

• Threw families into conditions of poverty.

Safety and Health Movement, Then
and Now
• The safety area in the US has developed
steadily since early 1900s.
• In the early 1900s, industrial accidents
were common.
– In 1907 over 3200 people were killed in
mining accidents.
– Then, legislation and public opinion all
favored management..
– There were a few protections for workers’
safety.
Safety and Health Movement, Then
and Now
• Working conditions for industrial
employees have improved significantly.
– Chance of a worker being killed is less
than half of what it was 60 years ago.
– the current death rate from work-related
injuries is approx. 4 per 100,000 or less than
a third of the rate 50 years ago.
Safety and Health Movement, Then
and Now
• Improvements have been the result of:
– The pressure for promote safety and health,
– The steadily increasing costs associated
with accidents and injuries,
• The future improvements will be driven by cost
effectiveness and resultant competitiveness gained
from a safe and healthy workplace.
– The professionalization of safety as an
occupation.
 Development Before the Industrial
Revolution
• Code of Hammurabi contained clauses
pertaining to safety and health.
– “If a man has caused the loss of a gentlemen’s eye,
his own eye shall be caused to be lost”.
• Egyptians used slaves in building temples and
pyramids.
– Rameses II to ensure the maintenance of a workforce
sufficient to build his major project, created an
industrial medical service and required each
worker to bathe daily.
 Development Before the Industrial
Revolution
• The Romans were very concerned about
safety and health.
– ___________________________________
• In the 16th Century, Philippus Aureolus
looked at pulmonary disease of
miners/diseases of smelter
workers/metallurgists and Georgius
Agricola emphasized the need for
ventilation systems in the mines.
 Development Before the Industrial
Revolution
• In the 18th Century, Bernardino Ramazzini drew
parallels between diseases suffered by
workers and their occupations.
– Handling of harmful materials, irregular or unnatural
movements of the body
• The Industrial Revolution change the nature of
production:
– Introduction of inanimate power
– Substitution of machines for people
– Introduction of new methods in fabrication
– Organization and specialization of work
Milestones in the Safety Movement

• The safety movement traces its roots to

England.
• Industrial Revolution
– Outbreak of fever among the children
working in cotton mills led people in
Manchester demand better working conditions
in the factories.
Milestones in the Safety Movement

• When the industrial sector began to

grow in the US, hazardous working
conditions became common.
– Following the Civil War, the seeds of the
safety movement were sown.
• Factory Inspection – 1867
• First barrier safeguard patent – 1868
• mine safety law – 1869
• Bureau of Labor Statistics established - 1869
Milestones in the Safety Movement
– a law requiring safeguards for hazardous
machinery – 1877
– Employer’s liability law – 1877
– First recorded safety program established in IL –
1892
– Frederick Taylor conducts first systematic study
on efficiency in manufacturing – 1900
– Bureau of Mines created – 1907
– Concept of Workers Compensation introduced –
1908
Milestones in the Safety Movement
– First cooperative study congress 1912
– National Council of Industrial Safety
formed – 1913
– NCIS changed name to National Safety
Council – 1915
Milestones in the Safety Movement
– Total Safety Management concept
introduced – 1996
– US firms begin to pursue ISO 14000
registration for ESM 2000
– Workplace terrorism is an ongoing concern
of safety and health professionals - 2003
 Role of
• Organized Labor
– Seeked safe and healthy work environments
– Some say they focused too much on wages and
benefits
– Overturn the antilabor laws relating to safety
• Assumption Risk
• Specific Safety and Health Problems
– Lung Disease in Miners
– Explosion in a mine in WV in 1968
 Role of
– Mercury Poisoning in 1930s Japan due to
release of methyl mercury into the sea
• Mercury nitrate was used in hat-making in the US
– Asbestos exposure
• Asbestosis or (Mesothelioma) Cancer
Debate
 Development of Accident
Prevention Programs
– Improved engineering could prevent
accidents.
– Employees were willing to learn and accept
safety rules.
– Safety rules could be established and
enforced.
– Financial savings from safety improvement
could be reaped by savings in compensation
and medical bills.
Development of Accident
Prevention Programs
 Safety and Health Movement
Today
• Came a long way from Industrial
Revolution ways.
• Tone was set during the WWII.
– Need for various specialists arose: safety
engineers, safety managers, industrial
hygienists, occupational health nurses,
and physicians.
 Safety and Health Movement
Today
• H.G. Dyktor proposed the following objectives of
integration (cooperation):
– Learn more through sharing knowledge about
health problems in the workplace, particularly those
caused by toxic substances
– Provide a greater level of expertise in evaluating
health and safety problems.
– Provide a broad database that can be used to
compare health and safety problems experienced
by different companies in the same industry.
– Encourage accident prevention
– Make employee health and safety a high priority
Integrated Approach to Safety and
Health
• By working together and drawing on their areas
of expertise, S & H professionals are better able
to identify, predict, control, and correct S & H
problems.
• OSHA reinforces this integrated approach by
requiring companies to have a plan for doing:
– Providing appropriate medical treatment for injured
or ill workers
– Regularly examining workers who are exposed to
toxic substances
– Having qualified first-aid person available during
all work hours
Integrated Approach to Safety and
Health
• Small companies may contract, while the large
ones have their own staff:
– Industrial Hygiene Chemist and/or Engineer
• Periodically test the work environment and the workers
• Dust levels, ventilation, and noise levels..
– Radiation Control Specialist
• Electrical Engineer and Physicist
• Test radiation levels
• Prepare plans for accidents/decontamination procedures
– Industrial Safety Manager or Engineer
• Developing Programs
– Other
 Development of Safety
Organizations
• Alliance for American Insurers
• American Board of Industrial Hygiene
• American Conference of Government Industrial
Hygienists
• American Industrial Hygiene Association
• American Insurance Association
• American National Standards Institute
• American Occupational Medical Association
• American Society of Testing and Materials
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers
 Development of Safety
Organizations
• Chemical Transportation Emergency Center
• Human Factors Society
• National Fire Protection Association
• National Safety Council
• National Safety Management Society
• Society of Automotive Engineers
• System Safety Society
• Underwriter’s Laboratories
 Government Organizations
• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Bureau of National Affairs
• Environmental Protection Agency
• National Institute for Standards and Technology
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration
• Superintendent of Documents, US Government
Printing Office
• US Consumer Product Safety Commission
 Other Organizations
• American Public Health Association
• Commerce Clearing House
 Technical Progress
• Sharp rise in accident costs that resulted from compensation laws and
tighter employers’ liability initiated the modern concern with work safety.

• Managers look for hidden dangers and require workers wear hard hats
and safety glasses.

• Air brakes and automatic couplers for rail cars.

• Machine guarding, fire prevention, etc.

• Mining industry shifted to strip mining.

• The steel industry and railroads were some of the earliest to advance
safety as a concern.
 Insurance
• Rates were based on a company’s accident record.

• Insurance companies hired safety inspectors to get clients’

injury rates down.
– Widely used today.

• Insurance companies also kept statistics on injuries.

– Actuarial uses probability statistics to set industry rates.

• Some companies misuse Experience Modification Rate

(EMR) to portray a better incident rate.
– How do you suppose a company could underreport losses?