HSS 2104: Occupation Health
Textbook Notes - Final 2017
FIRST PART
Occupational & Environment Recognizing occupational & Environmental Disease and Injury
- Many hazardous exposures occur in both workplaces and general environment
- Contamination of the ambient air and water near a chemical factory, where
its workers are also exposed to hazardous substances
- Application by agricultural workers of pesticides that may contaminate surface
and groundwater
- Inadvertent transport of lead, asbestos, and other hazardous substances home on
workers’ clothes, shoes, skin, and hair
- Exposure of workers and community residents to hazardous wastes from an industrial
facility
- Hippocrates recognized the importance of air quality for health
- Occupational hazards were not addressed systematically until 1700
- Even though the nature of many occupational and environmental health problems
is similar, workers tend to be exposed more intensively than community
residents to various hazards
- governmental regulatory agencies and various health and safety disciplines have
evolved in ways that have separated occupational health and environmental health
à Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Mine Safety
and Health Administration (MSHA) — and environmental health — such as
OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH 5 the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
Occupational and environmental safety and health hazards can be classified
- 1. Safety hazards, which result in injuries through the uncontrolled transfer of energy
to vulnerable recipients from sources such as electrical, thermal, kinetic, chemical, or
1
, radiation energy
- 2. Health hazards, which result in environmental or occupational illnesses, including the
following:
- a. Chemical hazards, including heavy metals, such as lead and mercury;
pesticides; organic solvents, such as benzene and trichloroethylene; and
many other chemicals.
- b. Physical hazards, such as excessive noise, vibration, extremes of temperature
and pressure, and ionizing and nonionizing radiation.
- c. Biomechanical hazards, such as heavy lifting, repetitive or awkward or
forceful movements that result in musculoskeletal disorders, like carpal tunnel
syndrome and low back pain.
- d. Biologic hazards, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B
and hepatitis C viruses, the tubercle bacillus, and many other bacteria, viruses,
and other microorganisms that may be transmitted through air, water, food, or
direct contact.
- e. Psychosocial hazards, such as workplaces where there is high stress due to
excessive demands on, and low control by, workers; stress and hostility
resulting from urban congestion, such as “road rage”; and unemployment — a
major stressor
- In 2008, a total of 5,214 workers died from occupational injuries.
- Another 49,000 annual deaths are attributed to workrelated diseases each year
- In developing countries, the occurrence of occupational injuries and illnesses is much
higher than in this country
- Many additional environmental factors can adversely affect the health of people in
their homes and communities à lead pain, diseases and injuries
The difficulty in obtaining accurate estimates of the frequency of exposure‐related diseases is
due to several factors
- 1. Many problems do not come to the attention of health professionals, employers, and
others, and therefore are not included in data collection systems
- 2. Many occupational and environmental medical problems that do come to the attention
of physicians, employers, and others are not recognized as occupationally and
environmentally related.
- 3. Some health problems recognized by health professionals, employees, or others as
2
, occupationally or environmentally related are not reported because the association with
the workplace or other environments is equivocal and because reporting requirements are
not strict.
- 4. Because many occupational and environmental health problems are preventable, their
very persistence implies that some individual, group, or organization is legally and
economically responsible for creating or perpetuating them.
- Primary prevention focuses on diseases or injuries before they occur
- Secondary prevention focuses on early identification and treatment of diseases to cure
them or halt their progression
- tertiary prevention focuses on treatment and rehabilitation of individuals who have
already developed diseases or injuries
- Many preventive measures focus on the host, such as the individual worker or community
resident à education and labeling, screening programs, equipment
- Enormous changes in work structure have taken place in recent decades, including
mergers and, paradoxically, downsizing and outsourcing
- The hazards faced by undocumented immigrant workers who find themselves in informal
work arrangements or daylabor settings have resulted in mortality rates for foreignborn
Latino workers that are onethird higher than those of nativeborn citizens.
- advances in health care have increased the numbers of workers with severe impairments
who nevertheless could contribute to society and the right to work
- With the passage of the Federal Coal Mine Safety and Health Act in 1969 and
legislation to establish OSHA and the EPA in 1970, the federal government began
taking a more active role in the creation and enforcement of standards for a safe and
healthful workplace
- Health Act in 1970 established NIOSHà (a) greatly expanded epidemiologic and
laboratory research into the causes of occupational diseases and injuries and the methods
of preventing them (b) strengthened the education and training of occupational health and
safety professionals.
- The role of government funding scientific health research has remained strong over time
à interest increased during Hurricane Katrina, 9/11 and H1N1 virus pandemic
3
, - Green jobs help improve the environment
- Green production reduces toxic emissions by utilizing substances and processes that are
friendlier to the environment
- terms green production and environmental protection have been used so much that
individuals and organizations need to confirm that these concepts are being
implemented as products are produced and services provided
- The environmental justice movement is a network of people and organizations in
lowincome and minority communities who are fighting against placement in their
communities of hazardous waste sites and polluting facilities
- movement has transformed the environmental movement from one supported primarily
by the middle class and focused on ecological issues, to a grassroots struggle of poor and
workingclass communities who are concerned primarily with preserving the health of
their families
- Environmental contamination from the collapse of the World Trade Center caused
respiratory and other disorders among community residents and rescue and recovery
workers à people developed anthrax
- Subsequent investigations identified key vulnerabilities for potential future terrorist
attacks, including the security of the food supply and chemical manufacturing facilities
near heavily populated areas
- Advances in technology continue to facilitate identification of workplace hazards and
potential hazards
- increasing use of in vitro assays to determine the mutagenicity of substances à possible
carcinogenicity, improvements in ways of determining the presence and measuring the
levels of hazardous exposures, and new methods of monitoring concentrations of
hazardous substances in body fluids
- The overall health of the population is influenced by factors both inside and outside the
4
Textbook Notes - Final 2017
FIRST PART
Occupational & Environment Recognizing occupational & Environmental Disease and Injury
- Many hazardous exposures occur in both workplaces and general environment
- Contamination of the ambient air and water near a chemical factory, where
its workers are also exposed to hazardous substances
- Application by agricultural workers of pesticides that may contaminate surface
and groundwater
- Inadvertent transport of lead, asbestos, and other hazardous substances home on
workers’ clothes, shoes, skin, and hair
- Exposure of workers and community residents to hazardous wastes from an industrial
facility
- Hippocrates recognized the importance of air quality for health
- Occupational hazards were not addressed systematically until 1700
- Even though the nature of many occupational and environmental health problems
is similar, workers tend to be exposed more intensively than community
residents to various hazards
- governmental regulatory agencies and various health and safety disciplines have
evolved in ways that have separated occupational health and environmental health
à Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Mine Safety
and Health Administration (MSHA) — and environmental health — such as
OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH 5 the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
Occupational and environmental safety and health hazards can be classified
- 1. Safety hazards, which result in injuries through the uncontrolled transfer of energy
to vulnerable recipients from sources such as electrical, thermal, kinetic, chemical, or
1
, radiation energy
- 2. Health hazards, which result in environmental or occupational illnesses, including the
following:
- a. Chemical hazards, including heavy metals, such as lead and mercury;
pesticides; organic solvents, such as benzene and trichloroethylene; and
many other chemicals.
- b. Physical hazards, such as excessive noise, vibration, extremes of temperature
and pressure, and ionizing and nonionizing radiation.
- c. Biomechanical hazards, such as heavy lifting, repetitive or awkward or
forceful movements that result in musculoskeletal disorders, like carpal tunnel
syndrome and low back pain.
- d. Biologic hazards, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B
and hepatitis C viruses, the tubercle bacillus, and many other bacteria, viruses,
and other microorganisms that may be transmitted through air, water, food, or
direct contact.
- e. Psychosocial hazards, such as workplaces where there is high stress due to
excessive demands on, and low control by, workers; stress and hostility
resulting from urban congestion, such as “road rage”; and unemployment — a
major stressor
- In 2008, a total of 5,214 workers died from occupational injuries.
- Another 49,000 annual deaths are attributed to workrelated diseases each year
- In developing countries, the occurrence of occupational injuries and illnesses is much
higher than in this country
- Many additional environmental factors can adversely affect the health of people in
their homes and communities à lead pain, diseases and injuries
The difficulty in obtaining accurate estimates of the frequency of exposure‐related diseases is
due to several factors
- 1. Many problems do not come to the attention of health professionals, employers, and
others, and therefore are not included in data collection systems
- 2. Many occupational and environmental medical problems that do come to the attention
of physicians, employers, and others are not recognized as occupationally and
environmentally related.
- 3. Some health problems recognized by health professionals, employees, or others as
2
, occupationally or environmentally related are not reported because the association with
the workplace or other environments is equivocal and because reporting requirements are
not strict.
- 4. Because many occupational and environmental health problems are preventable, their
very persistence implies that some individual, group, or organization is legally and
economically responsible for creating or perpetuating them.
- Primary prevention focuses on diseases or injuries before they occur
- Secondary prevention focuses on early identification and treatment of diseases to cure
them or halt their progression
- tertiary prevention focuses on treatment and rehabilitation of individuals who have
already developed diseases or injuries
- Many preventive measures focus on the host, such as the individual worker or community
resident à education and labeling, screening programs, equipment
- Enormous changes in work structure have taken place in recent decades, including
mergers and, paradoxically, downsizing and outsourcing
- The hazards faced by undocumented immigrant workers who find themselves in informal
work arrangements or daylabor settings have resulted in mortality rates for foreignborn
Latino workers that are onethird higher than those of nativeborn citizens.
- advances in health care have increased the numbers of workers with severe impairments
who nevertheless could contribute to society and the right to work
- With the passage of the Federal Coal Mine Safety and Health Act in 1969 and
legislation to establish OSHA and the EPA in 1970, the federal government began
taking a more active role in the creation and enforcement of standards for a safe and
healthful workplace
- Health Act in 1970 established NIOSHà (a) greatly expanded epidemiologic and
laboratory research into the causes of occupational diseases and injuries and the methods
of preventing them (b) strengthened the education and training of occupational health and
safety professionals.
- The role of government funding scientific health research has remained strong over time
à interest increased during Hurricane Katrina, 9/11 and H1N1 virus pandemic
3
, - Green jobs help improve the environment
- Green production reduces toxic emissions by utilizing substances and processes that are
friendlier to the environment
- terms green production and environmental protection have been used so much that
individuals and organizations need to confirm that these concepts are being
implemented as products are produced and services provided
- The environmental justice movement is a network of people and organizations in
lowincome and minority communities who are fighting against placement in their
communities of hazardous waste sites and polluting facilities
- movement has transformed the environmental movement from one supported primarily
by the middle class and focused on ecological issues, to a grassroots struggle of poor and
workingclass communities who are concerned primarily with preserving the health of
their families
- Environmental contamination from the collapse of the World Trade Center caused
respiratory and other disorders among community residents and rescue and recovery
workers à people developed anthrax
- Subsequent investigations identified key vulnerabilities for potential future terrorist
attacks, including the security of the food supply and chemical manufacturing facilities
near heavily populated areas
- Advances in technology continue to facilitate identification of workplace hazards and
potential hazards
- increasing use of in vitro assays to determine the mutagenicity of substances à possible
carcinogenicity, improvements in ways of determining the presence and measuring the
levels of hazardous exposures, and new methods of monitoring concentrations of
hazardous substances in body fluids
- The overall health of the population is influenced by factors both inside and outside the
4
