Keeping its employees safe and healthy is the responsibility of organizations. From an assembly line worker to the executive officers in the office, every employee needs to have a sense of reassurance regarding their well-being in the workplace setting. Although, ensuring a safe working environment is a priority for enterprises. Its practical implementation can actually prove extremely difficult. Luckily, thorough knowledge and practicing proper industrial hygiene can help establish workplace safety. According to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), industrial hygiene is defined as the “science of anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of those environmental factors or stresses arising in or from the workplace, which may cause sickness, impaired health, and well-being, or significant discomfort among workers or among the citizens of the community.”
Who are Industrial Hygienists?
Industrial hygienists are trained experts involved in the recognition, inspection, and management of workplace hazards. They are responsible for setting occupational health and safety standards by assessing employees’ risk to encounter workplace hazards and suggesting the steps necessary to minimize and control those hazards. Since industrial hygienists are professionally trained to gauge the safety situation and drive relevant solutions, it is imperative on the part of all managers to work in close collaboration for maximum efficiency with these professionals. Whether you already have an industrial hygienist on board or you are planning to outsource one, having sound knowledge of the concept, components, and process of industrial hygiene is important to understand and address any potential industrial safety issues.
Whether you’re directly working with an industrial hygienist or not, knowledge and execution of these procedures are crucial to adequately integrate safety management measures in the workplace such as in the design sense, ergonomic structure, and system of the business. By taking these factors into consideration initially during the planning process, one not only makes the workplace safer for their employees but is also prepared to deal with occupational hazards before they intensify.
Core Divisions of Industrial Hygiene
In essence, industrial hygiene entails a wide range of occupational safety and health hazards and control. As a business head, you should be acquainted with the fundamentals of most of them. Here are the major five components of industrial hygiene.
1- Ergonomic Hazards
The primary aim of ergonomics is to make workplaces human-friendly and eliminate the risk of injuries related to poor posture, muscle overwork, and redundant tasks. Activities such as holding, lifting, pushing, and even walking can present ergonomic hazards due to repeated stress, and excessive physical strain. For instance, properly carried out ergonomics interventions such as redesigning the workplace, sufficient lighting, and the use of advanced tools can help prevent injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome, inflammation of tendons, and musculoskeletal disorders. Workplaces can improve ergonomics by ascertaining that both the workers and the job fit one another. Similarly, it can also be refined by making modifications such as using adjustable chairs and desks, automating repetitive tasks, and allotting limited time to certain tasks.
2- Chemical Injuries
Chemical hazards pose a substantial threat to the health and well-being of industrial workers. The harmful substances in the form of solids, liquids, gases, dust, and fumes can be inhaled, absorbed, or ingested in the body, and can be toxic if exposed without taking required precautions or for a longer period of time. To ensure safety from chemical injuries, it is critical to wear appropriate PPE such as chemical-resistant leather safety gloves when dealing with potentially dangerous chemicals such as pesticides, gasoline, and some cleaning agents. Other common safety precautions include practicing good personal hygiene like proper handwashing to get rid of the chemicals absorbed by the skin, as well as protecting equipment that contains chemicals to avoid leakage.
3- Biological Hazards
Workplaces are also largely prone to biological hazards such as fungi, viruses, and bacteria that can cause infections and diseases. Certain occupations are more vulnerable to these hazards, such as those working in a laboratory, food processing industry, or with plants and animals. To avoid biological contamination, it is vital to ensure proper sanitation and hygiene at your workplace. From handwashing, the availability of waste disposal systems to maintaining proper ventilation and use of personal protective equipment such as safety gloves and respirators – all can help reduce the perils related to biological hazards.
4- Radiation Exposure
It’s true that while everyone is exposed to natural radiation to a certain degree, workers associated with occupational settings such as hospitals, nuclear power plants, nuclear weapons production facilities, research laboratories, industrial operations sites, and manufacturing sites and constructions are at a higher risk to suffer damage from exposure to radiation. In an attempt to make workplaces safer, strict adherence to the guidelines defined by OSHA with reference to occupational exposures and safety solutions should be enforced along with limited exposure to harmful radiation, and the use of protective shields.
5- Physical Risks
Physical hazards are a result of uncontrolled physical disruptions in the working environment such as noise, extreme temperatures, and poor indoor air quality. Each of these factors poses an increased risk to employees’ health and safety. For instance, enhanced and long-term exposure to loud noises can result in hearing impairment and loss among workers. Likewise, exposure to too high or too low temperatures can cause health complications such as heat stroke and heat exhaustion in case of high temperatures whereas hypothermia and frostbite in case of severely low temperatures. To combat such situations, taking periodic breaks and wearing temperature-appropriate protective clothing are mandatory to ensure safe working conditions.
Creating your Own Industrial Hygiene Program
Creating your own industrial hygiene program is some serious hard work but, with thorough research, planning, and execution, it can result in a safe and healthy environment for employees and employers, both alike.
Typically, a successful industrial hygiene program goes through the following stages:
1- Risk assessment to identify potential workplace hazards.
2- Worksite analysis to inspect workplace risks, exposures, and controls.
3- Documentation and communication of survey assessment results.
4- Plan of implementation with requirements and procedures.
In a nutshell, this article was our analysis of industrial hygiene and the steps that an organization needs to take in order to make workplaces safer since doing so not only results in increased productivity but also improved health, reduced employee turnover, and overall job satisfaction among the personnel. This endeavor also means investing in requisite safety training as well as quality industrial safety products, such as those offered by Elite Leather.
Author Bio:
Sibtain Haider, a content contributor at Mainstream Pakistan, associated with trading and digital marketing. Presently working at Digital Eggheads, a well-reputed digital marketing agency in Pakistan.
