Industrial hygiene is devoted to the recognition, evaluation and control of those environmental factors, arising in or from the workplace, which may cause sickness, impaired health and well-being, or significant discomfort and inefficiency among workers.
The kinds of factors are presented in the Table 5.1.
Table 5.1. The kinds of production factors
| | | |
High level of noise, vibration, ultrasound, infrasound, ultraviolet, infrared radiation, ionizing radiation; extremes of temperature and pressure; dust laden atmosphere of workplace; magnetic fields; inadequate illumination | Vapors, Gases, Fumes, Mists | Microorganisms and their toxins; arthropods, allergens and toxins from higher plants; protein allergens; lower plants; invertebrate animals | Labor heaviness: significant physical effort, load weight, repeated motions, long distance movements, static load, awkward postures. Labor intensity: mental strain, attention strain, sense organs strain, emotional stress, monotonous work, work at night shift |
Example
The working conditions: A worker use electrical screwdriver. Noise level is 95 dB. Concentration of metallic dust is above MAC in 2.5 times in the air of the working zone. The job deals with significant physical effort. A worker sits a lot of time in uncomfortable posture.
The questions: What kind(s) of production factors affect(s) the worker in this case? Name factor(s) of each kind.
Answer. Physical factors - noise, vibration, metallic dust; psychophysiological factors - forced working posture, significant physical effort.
The general labor protection system.
1. Legislative measures.
2. Administrative methods of management.
3. Technological measures.
4. Sanitary-technical measures.
5. Treatment-and-prophylactic measures.
One of the treatment-and-prophylactic measures is the medical examination of workers' health. The goals of different kinds of medical examinations are presented in the Table 5.2.
Table 5.2. The goals of different kinds of medical examinations
Pre-employment medical examinations (preliminary examinations) | In-employment medical examinations (Periodic check-ups) |
• Whether the job for which the worker is applying or which is being offered to him entails any risk to his health. • Whether there are any particular jobs to which he should not be assigned or posts for which he is better suited. • Whether the worker is suffering from any disease that is dangerous for his fellow workers | • Periodic observation of the workers health state. • Early detection of health disorders (detection some disorder hitherto unnoticed). • Find out whether there is some connection between the upset to the worker?s health and his job. • Risk group identification. • Health rehabilitation. • Improving prevention in the enterprise. • The identification of common diseases that are counter-indications for continuation of work. • Determination whether the worker is still fit to do his job |
THEME 1. ASSESSMENT INFLUENCE OF PHYSICAL PRODUCTION FACTORS ON THE WORKERS' HEALTH
Noise
Industrial noise is a collection of sounds of varying intensity and diapason, randomly varying in time, arising in a production environment and has adverse impacts on the body. A person perceives sounds of a frequency from 20
to 20 000 Hz.
Noise causes two types of adverse effects - specific and non-specific