Occupational safety and health is the discipline concerned with preserving and protecting human and facility resources in the workplace.
Standards of occupational safety and health (OSH) are normally set in legislation; Governments have long realized that poor occupational safety and health performance results in cost to the State (e.g. through social security payments to the incapacitated, medical costs for treatment, but also through the loss of the "employability" of the worker).
In the European Union, Member States have enforcing authorities to ensure that the basic legal requirements relating to occupational safety and health are met. In many EU countries, there is strong cooperation between employer and worker organizations (e.g. Unions) to ensure good OSH performance as it is recognized this has benefits for both worker (maintenance of health) and enterprise (improved productivity and quality).
In the USA, OSHA has been regulating occupational safety and health since the 1970s.
Occupational safety and health interacts strongly with other disciplines, such as ergonomics, toxicology, and psychology.
Hazards, risks, outcomes
The terminology used in OSH varies between Countries, States and Provinces, but generally speaking:
For example, repetitively carrying out manual handling of heavy objects is a hazard (it can cause harm). The risk can either be expressed mathematically, (0.5 = a 50/50 chance) or just as "high/medium/low". The outcome would be a musculoskeletal disorders (MSD's).
Risk assessment
Modern occupational safety and health legislation usually demands that a risk assessment be carried out prior to making an intervention. This assessment should:
The assessment should be recorded and reviewed periodically and whenever there is a significant change to work practices.
Common workplace hazard groups
In the automotive industry individuals can be subjected to coming into contact with the following hazards during their daily operations, as such it is vitally important that you should be aware of the these hazards and of who to deal with them. Most items have specific safety recommendations attached to them. Always follow any approved recommendations and instructions when using such substances or when coming into contact with such potential hazards.
Some of the major changes in industrial safety brought about by OSH:
External links
Source: CDX Global & Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org
