Occupational health has been defined as “enabling people to undertake their occupation in a way that causes the least harm to their health.” Workplace health and safety is about promoting positive wellbeing, in terms of comfort, happiness and contentment; not simply preventing people from getting ill and having accidents. And it places several serious responsibilities on employers.

Occupational health and safety focus on:

• Promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social wellbeing of workers in all occupations
• Prevention of worker absence due to poor health caused by their working conditions
• Protection of workers in their employment from risks resulting from factors adverse to health
• Assessment of an employee’s occupational environment, and adapting to their physiological and psychological capabilities

 WORKPLACE HEALTH HAZARDS

A workplace health hazard is a condition in the workplace, which has a potential to adversely affect the health of a worker at his/her workplace

Workplace hazards are classified as follows;

• Physical– noise, vibrations, extreme temperature, poor or inadequate lighting, radiation, pressure, air movement, slip, trip and fall hazards, lifting, handling and moving office equipment and supplies, fire hazards, chemical hazards (e.g., cleaning products, fumigation chemicals)
• Airborne-dusts, vapors, fumes, gases
• Biological– insects, mites, yeasts, bacteria, virus, fungi, contagious illnesses spread by sick workers etc.
• Ergonomic– man-made machine interactions e.g., body position in relation to a task on machine, monotonous work especially on a computer, sitting for long periods, workstations designs
• Psycho-social– terms and condition of employment, inappropriate work hours, social support or human relations at the workplace, workplace bullying, harassment and occupational violence, work-related stress

Creating an environment that is safe is the responsibility of everyone; do your part by following safety guidelines and policies. If you are injured on the job, notify your supervisor immediately and get assistance. Avoid taking risks when it comes to safety, be aware and do your part to maintain a safe workplace environment.