CHAPTER 13 : Occupational Health and Environment

What is Occupational Health and Environment Unit ?

Main function is to control and coordinates all activities related to occupational health among
health personnel and environmental health aspect in the community. Normally, this unit was divided into two scope which is Occupational Health and Environmental Health Programme

(http://ehqsconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/OccupationalSafetyHazards-flow-chart.png)

Occupational Health

• Promote health & safety awareness among the 
  employees and responsibility to control and 
  protect themselves from occupational hazards 
  at workplace.

• Instill physical & mental strength to employees 
  in connection with the workload to avoid stress 
  at work.

• Continuous monitoring among health 
  personnel who are exposed to hazards at 
  workplace.

• Under Section 15 of OSHA, employers are responsible for ensuring the safety, health and welfare of all employees.

The risk of Occupational Health workers need to face.

1. The type of hazard

2. Duration of exposure

3. The number of hazards exposed

4. Socio-demographic factors (e.g. age, gender, ethnicity and health history)

5. The use of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)

Scope and Activities of Occupational Health

1. Establish Safety & Health Committee in health facilities

2. Audit Safety and Health at workplace

3. Conducting risk assessment in all KMM facilities

4. Notify poisoning cases (pesticide/chemicals), occupational injuries (fall, cut, needle-stick Injury)     or occupational disease (TB, hearing loss, skin disease, lung disease) among health personnel and

    investigate the cases.

5. Audiometry, stress, Hepatitis B Screening

6. Disease Prevention & Control programme

7. Provide training (chemical handling, safety etc.)

(http://www.omicsonline.org/journal-highlight-images/occupational-health-and-safety.jpg)

Scope and Activities Environmental Health

Monitoring & inspection of several organizations such as;

1. PLKN (national service training program)

2. Prison

3. Detention camps

4. Sanitary Inspection at school, market, recreational park, estates residential, farm complaints

5. Management of environmental pollution

6. Investigation of open burning and nuisance

7. Inspection of solid waste disposal site 

8. Inspection of Building Plan/Renovation/Sewerage Plan

9. Building Inspection for Certificate of Fitness for Occupancy (CFO)

10.Cemetery inspection

11.Certificate of import/export of body parts or corpse, body ashes

12.Inspection of TASKA, TADIKA/TABIKA, University and colleges

Regulations Involved 

1. Occupational Safety & Health Act 1994 (Act 514)

2. Factories and Machinery Act 1967 (Act 139)

3. Education Act 1996

4. Care Centres Act 993 (Act 506)

5. Private Higher Educational Institutions Act 1996

Tools

Commonly practices, in order to assess 

occupational health and environmental 

health scope/study;

• Occupational health and safety – HIRARC, CHRA (DOSH)

• Environmental and Health – EIA, HIA, EHIA (DOE)

Occupational Health and Safety

-HIRARC is an integration tool to identify, assess/measure and to control hazard and risk of any workplace and its activities.

-Chemical Health Risk Assessment (CHRA) is an assessment that has to be conducted by the employer arising from the use, handling, storage or transportation of chemicals hazardous to health in their workplace.

Environmental and Health

-Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a study to identify, predict, evaluate and communicate information about the impact on the environment of a proposed project and to detail out the mitigating measures prior to project approval and implementation.

-World Health Organisation (WHO) defines HIA as “a combination of procedures methods and tools by which a policy, program or project may be judged as to its potential effects on the health of a population, and the distribution of those effects within the population.

-EHIA is the process of estimating the potential impact of a chemical, biological, physical or social agent on a specified human population system under a specific set of conditions and for a certain timeframe.

REFERENCES

• http://ehqsconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/OccupationalSafetyHazards-flow-chart.png
• http://www.omicsonline.org/journal-highlight-images/occupational-health-and-safety.jpg
• Noted than had been given by our lecturer's Sir Mohd Jamalil Azam bin Mustafa