Air Quality
Alcoholism and substance abuse
The problems of job stress and burnout
Asbestos exposure at work
Computer monitor health problems and
how to avoid them
7. Repetitive motion orders
8. Infectious diseases
9. Workplace Smoking
Air Quality
Problems:
Downsides of org opting for environmentally
green office buildings is that sealed
buildings can produce illnesses such as
itchy eyes and trouble breathing.
Emissions from printer and photocopiers
and other chemical pollutants can reduce
air quality
Remedies:
Institute continuous monitoring system
Problems
There are 4 major sources of occupational
respiratory diseases: asbestos, silica, lead
and carbon dioxide. Asbestos is the major
concern, due to publicity surrounding huge
lawsuits alleging asbestos-related diseases
Remedies:
Companies to monitor the air whenever an
employer expects the level of asbestos to rise
to one half the allowable limit.
Engineering controls- walls, special filters and
so forth- are required to maintain an asbestos
level that complies with OSHA standards
Respirators can be used only if they are then
still required to achieve compliance
Problems
Problems include short-term eye
burning, itching and tearing as well as
eyestrain and eye soreness.
Backaches and neck aches are also
widespread
Carpal tunnel syndrome, caused by
repetitive use of hands and arms at
uncomfortable angles
Infectious diseases
Problems
With many employees traveling to
and from international destinations,
monitoring and controlling infectious
diseases has become an important
safety issue
Infectious Disease
Remedies
1. Closely monitor the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention travel alerts
2. Provide daily medical screenings for employees
returning from infected areas
3.Deny access for 10 days to employees or visitors
who have had contact with suspected infected
individuals
4. Tell employees to stay home if they have a fever or
respiratory system symptoms
5. Clean work areas and surfaces regularly. Make
sanitizers containing alcohol easily available
6. Stagger breaks. Offer several lunch periods to
reduce overcrowding
Workplace Smoking
Problems
States include Delaware, Connecticut,
California and New York have barred
smoking in most workplaces. Yet smoking
continues to be a problem for employees
and employers
Cost derive from higher health and fire
insurance, increased absenteeism and
reduced productivity. (Eg. smoker takes
10min break to smoke a cigarette outside)
Workplace smoking
Remedies
Deny a job to a smoker as long as you dont
use smoking as a surrogate for prohibited
discrimination
Adopt no-smokers-hired policy
Ban indoor smoking, design small outdoor
areas for smoker
Smoke-cessation policies (First to give
15months warning and offered smokingsecession-assistance then began firing or
forcing out all its workers who still smoked)