Unit 1

INTRODUCTION TO OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH

OS&H
Ocuupational Safety and Health is a cross disciplinary area concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. The goal of all occupational safety and health programs is to foster a safe work environment.

HISTORY OF O S & H (cont.)

History of OSHA as early as 2500 BC in Babylon, by Hammurabi. Here are the history of occupational safety and health act in Malaysia

ACT/LAW
BOILER ENACTMENT MACHINERY ENACTMENT MACHINERY ORDINANCE AKTA KILANG DAN JENTERA AKTA KESELAMATAN DAN KESIHATAN PEKERJAAN

YEAR/PERIOD
1892-1908 1913-1932 1953-1967 1967 1994

HISTORY OF O S & H
Department of Occupational Safety & Health (DOSH) was introduced in April 1994 by Jabatan Kilang dan Jentera Malaysia from the Ministry of Human Resources due to the incident of fireworks factory explosion in Sungai Buloh which occurred in 1991. In the incident, 26 people were killed.

Importance of Safety in the Workplace

Safety measures are required to ensure safe life. - Many people die due to faults in safety measures and this create very bad situation Safety of the worker is important for keeping the family safe which is dependent - Large numbers of people are working in factories and industries. Worker earns money to feed the family members and any mishap can ruin the life of the worker and even whole family Workplace safety is important for the very reason of improved productivity. - It is only when the employees feel safe at work that they can invest the fullest of their capacities and exploit the best of their potentials to work.

Importance of Safety in the Workplace (cont.)

You can employ talented people by providing safe working environment - Working conditions of the workplace help in attracting the workers to join the job. If the working environment is full of danger then less people prefer job option. No one likes to work in the job where life is at stake. Workplace safety involves training programs that are meant to teach the employees to handle risks - If there is any accident, they were trained to face risks and deal with accidents at work

Accident
..An unplanned unexpected event which may result in loss, injury or damage. ..Contact with energy resulting in a loss (injury, damage). ..Contact with substances resulting in a loss. ..Or any combination of the above.

Types of Accident
Injuries (fatal or not) Property losses Occupational Disease Near misses

Accident Triangle

Safety Terminologies
ALLERGEN: An antigen (molecule capable of being recognised by the immune system) that causes an allergic reaction. APPOINTED PERSON: One who is trained in accordance with the appropriate schedule, competent to carry out the duties and appointed in writing. CARCINOGEN: A substance or physical agent that causes cancer. CARCINOGENIC: Inherent potential of a substance or physical agent to be a carcinogen

Safety Terminology (cont.)

DANGER: A state or condition in which personal injury and/or asset damage is reasonably foreseeable. DERMATITIS: Inflammation of the skin. When the condition is due to contact with a substance at work it is called occupational or industrial dermatitis. ERGONOMICS : The study of the relationship between workers and their occupation, equipment and environment and particularly, the application of anatomical, physiological and psychological knowledge to the problems arising there from. ERROR: Mistake; error of judgement leading to action resulting in an accident and its subsequent effects.

Safety Terminologies (cont.)

FIRE PREVENTION: The concept of preventing outbreaks of fire, of reducing the risk of fire spreading and of avoiding danger to persons and property from fire. FIRST AID: The skilled application of accepted principles of treatment on the occurrence of an accident or in the case of sudden illness, using facilities or materials available at the time. FREQUENCY RATE : = Number of injuries in the period x 100,000 Total hours worked during the period

Safety Terminologies (cont.)

HARM: Injury or damage. HAZARD : The exposed danger, a condition or practice with potential for loss. A situation that may give rise to Personal injury or asset damage or both. INCIDENCE RATE: = Total number of accidents x 1000 Number of persons employed during the period INCIDENT: An event where there is no shown damage, injury or loss, but which may cause problems to an organisation

Safety Terminology (cont.)

LOSS: Personal injury and/or asset damage. MISTAKE: A human action that produces an unintended result NEAR MISS: An incident, which does not show a visible result, but had the potential to do so. NEGLIGENCE: The omission to do something, which a reasonable person, guided upon those considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of human affairs would do, or something, which a prudent and reasonable man would not do. RISK : The potential for harm, not actual harm. Risk reflects both the likelihood that harm and/or damage will occur and its severity.

Safety Terminologies (cont.)

SAFETY: Freedom from risk of injury or asset damage/loss. SAFETY AUDIT: Monitoring of the implementation of a safety policy by subjecting each area of an activity to a systematic critical examination with the purpose of minimising loss, and providing a quantified assessment of performance

Safety Terminologies (cont.)

SAFETY COMMITTEE: A committee representative of all staff with the objective of promoting cooperation in investigating, developing and carrying out measures to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the employees. TOXIC: Inherent potential of a substance to cause harm WORKPLACE: The workplace may be described as any place where people are at work.

Tutorial 1