Introduction to Safety and Health Preface and Chapter.1 (Goetsch)

Introduction to Safety and Health

Preface and Chapter.1 (Goetsch)

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

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.


• 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.


• 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.


• 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.


• 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.


• 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


– 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


– First cooperative study congress 1912– National Council of Industrial Safety

formed – 1913– NCIS changed name to National Safety

Council – 1915


– 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

Development of Accident Prevention Programs

– Will be covered with the Accident related chapters.

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

New

• Materials, Processes, and New Problems