Occupational Hazard Prevention: A Comprehensive Guide for Workers and Employers
Occupational Hazard Prevention is the activity aimed at promoting the improvement of working conditions to increase the level of health protection and safety of workers. The objective is achieved through a set of actions taken by:
- Employers
- Workers
- Manufacturers, importers, and suppliers of machinery, equipment, and working materials
- Government
The fulfillment of the obligations of each of these groups, and the exercise of their rights, is necessary for raising the level of health protection and safety of workers.
Basics of Occupational Hazard Prevention
1. Prevention
Prevention means all activities or actions taken or planned at all stages of business activity in order to avoid or reduce risks arising from working. The measures taken will be based on the following:
Early Preventive Action
The employer shall implement measures that make up the general duty of prevention under the following general principles:
- Avoid risks.
- Assess the risks that cannot be avoided.
- Combat the risks at the source.
- Adapt the job to the person, particularly regarding the design of jobs and the choice of equipment and methods of work and production, with a view to alleviating monotonous, repetitive work and reducing its effects on health.
- Take into account the evolution of technology.
- Replace the dangerous with the less dangerous or non-dangerous.
- Plan for prevention, seeking a coherent whole that integrates technology, work organization, working conditions, social relations, and the influence of environmental factors at work.
- Take measures that prioritize collective protection over individual protection.
- Give appropriate instructions to workers.
2. Working Conditions
Working conditions are any feature of the workplace that may have a significant influence on the generation of safety hazards and worker health.
Specifically included in this definition are:
- The general characteristics of the premises, facilities, equipment, and other useful products available in the workplace.
- The nature of the physical, chemical, and biological agents present in the work environment and their corresponding intensities, concentrations, or levels of presence.
- The procedures for the use of the aforementioned agents that influence the generation of these risks.
- All other features of work, including those relating to its organization and management, that influence the magnitude of the risks to which the worker is exposed.
3. Occupational Risk
Occupational risk is understood as the possibility that a worker suffers damage from a particular job. To qualify a risk in terms of severity, the probability of occurrence of damage and severity will be assessed jointly.
Risks can be classified as follows:
- Mechanical: Risks associated with the conditions of premises, facilities, equipment, and tools.
- Environmental: Those relating to physical hazards (noise, vibration, lighting, temperature, radiation), chemical (dusts, gases, fumes, etc.), and biological (virus, bacteria, etc.).
- Psychosocial: Derivatives of work organization and management.
4. Damage
Damage is considered as unearned diseases, disorders, or injuries sustained on the occasion of the job.
The main professional damages are occupational accidents, occupational diseases, and others such as chronic fatigue and premature aging.
Main Professional Damages
1. Occupational Accidents
An occupational accident is an injury suffered by a worker as a consequence of paid employment. From a technical point of view, it is the abnormal event, unloved and unwanted, resulting in the interruption of work, suddenly and unexpectedly, and causes damage to persons and property.
It is characterized by:
- Continuation of paid employment (including self-employment)
- Cause-effect relationship
- It occurs suddenly or abruptly
- Produces an injury
The accident while traveling to work is also considered an occupational accident.
2. Occupational Disease
An occupational disease is considered to be a disease contracted as a result of the realization of gainful employment. From a technical point of view, it is considered an occupational disease that gradually deteriorates the worker’s health as a result of continued exposure to adverse environmental conditions at work.
It is characterized by:
- Cause-effect relationship
- Exposure to a negative environment continuously
- Slow and gradual development
- It must be included in the List of Occupational Diseases of Social Security.
3. Other Professional Damages
- Work Stress: The situation suffered by a worker when the demands of their work exceed the capacity of response of the same and feel threatened its stability. Some forms of stress are bullying and burnout.
- Work Fatigue: Is the reduction of physical and mental capacity in a short time and with no possibility of recovery.
- Premature Aging: A non-specific phenomenon of wear caused by chronic fatigue accumulated and causes aging faster than normal.
- Job Dissatisfaction: A mismatch between the aspirations of the worker and the occupation developed, resulting in demotivation and reluctance. It is caused by a negative work environment, lack of participation, monotonous tasks, etc.
Prevention Techniques
The main prevention techniques are:
1. Safety at Work
Its goal is to eliminate accidents caused by the work environment. It is based on detecting and identifying risks, preventing them through training, designing tools, etc., and protecting against risks that cannot be avoided.
2. Industrial Hygiene
Its objective focuses on preventing occupational diseases arising from environmental conditions (physical, chemical, and biological agents).
3. Ergonomics
A set of techniques that seek to adapt the job to the person and not vice versa. Its aim is that the worker have a comfortable position that does not cause discomfort.
4. Social Psychology
Its objective is to analyze the behavior of individuals in relation to occupational risks and how they affect the employment context in which they operate.
Basic Course for Prevention Author: French Fidel Sánchez