Occupational Safety and Health

Manzurul H Khan
manhkhan@gmail.com
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400BC Egypt/Greece The environment and its relationship to workers health was recognised when Hippocrates noted lead toxicity in the mining industry

100AD Pliny the Elder, a Roman scholar, identified health risks To those working with zinc and sulphur. He devised a face mask made from an animal bladder to protect workers from exposure to dust and lead fumes.

200 AD The Greek physician Galen accurately described the pathology of lead poisoning and also recognised the hazardous exposures of copper miners to acid mists.

1200-1500 AD Guilds worked at assisting sick workers and their families.

1473 Ulrich Ellenbog publication on occupational illness in gold miners
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Paracelsus (1493-1541) Known by several names Born Phillip von Hohenheim Theophrastus Philippus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim Finally, Paracelsus A Swiss physician, he wrote a treatise on occupational diseases. Described lung diseases among miners and attributed the cause to vapors and emanation from metals.
Known today as theFather of Toxicology All substances are poisons; there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy.

1556 The German scholar Agricola advanced the science of industrial hygiene when, in his book De Re Metallica, he described the diseases of miners and prescribed preventive measures.

The book included suggestions for mine ventilation and worker protection, discussed mining accidents, and described diseases associated with mining occupations, such as silicosis.
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Some mines are so dry that they are entirely devoid of water and this dryness causes the workmen even greater harm, for the dust, which is stirred and beaten up by digging, penetrates into the windpipe and lungs, and produces difficulty in breathing and the disease the Greeks call asthma. If the dust has corrosive qualities, it eats away the lungs and implants consumption in the body. In the Carpathian mountains women are found who have married seven husbands, all of whom this terrible consumption has carried off to a premature death.
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1700 Bernadino Ramazzini, known as the father of industrial medicine, published the first comprehensive book on occupational health, De Morbis Artificum Diatriba (The Diseases of Workmen). The book contained accurate descriptions of the occupational diseases of most of the workers of his time. Ramazzinis work had a huge affect on the future direction of industrial hygiene, specifically his assertion that occupational diseases should be studied in the work environment rather than in hospital wards.
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Sir George Baker (1722-1809) Discovered that Devonshire colic was caused by lead contamination in cider.

1743 Ulrich Ellenborg published a pamphlet on occupational diseases and injuries among gold miners. He also wrote about the toxicity of carbon monoxide, mercury, lead, and nitric acid.

1774 Percival Potts established a link between exposure to soot and nasal and scrotal cancer in chimney sweeps. It became the first official link between the work environment and cancer.
Sir Humphry Davy (1788-1829) This British chemist investigated problems of mine explosions and developed the first miners safety lamp.

1778 The British Parliament passed the Chimney Sweepers Act.

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Britain enacted laws to protect workers A series of Factory Acts (1802 1961) in Britain regulated factory conditions and limited child labor 1802 Factory Act Also know as the Health and Morals of Apprentices Act, it established minimum working conditions and regulated child labor 1833 Factory Act Further restricted child labor 1844 Factory Act Reduced work hours for children, extended coverage to women
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Mines Act of 1842 (British), Prohibited boys less than 10 years old and all females from working underground Before this act, children as young as 7 years were harnessed with chains to haul heavy coal trucks in low and narrow passages.

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1845 Friedrich Engels provided a detailed account of the impact of industrialisation in his book The Condition of the Working Class in England.
The Condition of the Working Class in England: In Manchester, this premature old age among the operatives is so universal that almost every man of forty would be taken for 10 to 15 years older, while the prosperous classes, men as well as women, preserve their appearance exceedingly well if they do not drink too heavily.
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The influence of factory work upon the female physique also is marked and peculiar. The deformities entailed by long hours of work are much more serious among women. Protracted work frequently causes deformities of the pelvis, partly in the shape of abnormal position and development of the hip bones, partly of malformation of the lower portion of the spinal column.

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Dr. Alice Hamilton (1869-1970) First woman faculty member at Harvard University (1919). A social activist who worked to improve occupational health and safety. Her autobiography Exploring the Dangerous Trades details her experiences in the mines and mills across America (for example, she writes of deplorable conditions in Salt Lake City area mines).
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1888 Matchgirls Strike: disease of phossy jaw (phosphorus necrosis of the jaw) as a central issue. The company banned the use of yellow and white phosphorus in 1901. Eventually there was an international ban introduced by the Berne Convention in 1906. 1898 The evil effects of asbestos were first noted.
ILO was created in 1919, as part of the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I. The ILOs founders were committed to spreading humane working conditions and combating injustice, hardship and poverty.
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1914 - Studies in New York City and Youngstown, Ohio Revealed unsanitary conditions and tuberculosis among workers, leading to the abolishment of sweat shops. 1923 - Studies of the dusty trades Led to the development of industrial hygiene sampling equipment.

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1942 Publication of the Beveridge Report. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries various aspects of industrial disease were studied. Publication of the Beveridge Report called for the establishment of a national occupational health and rehabilitation service.
In 1944, ILO members adopted the Declaration of Philadelphia, which states that labour is not a commodity and sets out basic human and economic rights.

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The ILO in 1946 became the first specialized agency associated with the newly formed United Nations The organization launched technical assistance programmes to provide expertise and assistance to governments, workers and employers worldwide, especially in developing nations.

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WHAT IS OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH?

In 1955 a joint ILO/WHO committee describes Occupational Health the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations; the prevention among workers of departures from health causes by their working conditions; the promotion of workers in their employment from risks resulting from factors adverse to health; the placing and maintenance of the worker in an occupational environment adapted to his physiological and psychological equipment; and to summarize: the adaptation of work to man and each man to his job.
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1961 and 1963 Factories Act and Offices Shops and Railway Premises Act passed. Both laws contained some references to occupational health issues, although they concentrated primarily on safety. Environmental and social activism of the 1960s and 1970s Laws protecting workers as well as the environment were passed during this socially active period

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OSHA's mission is to "assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance" 1911- New York and New Jersey passed workmens compensation laws 1913 - New York and Ohio State Departments of Labor established Divisions of Industrial Hygiene 1913 - U.S. Department of Labor established OSHA officially formed on April 28, 1971, the OSH Act became effective

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1916 - 1930 Forty-seven states enacted workmens compensation laws. Workmens compensation insurance guaranteed wages and medical care for injured workers.

1935 - The Social Security Act Made funds available for public health programs. 1936 - The Walsh Healey Public Contracts Act Required organizations supplying goods or services to the U.S. government to maintain a safe and healthful working environment 1948 - All states had workers compensation laws
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December 29, 1970 President Richard M. Nixon signed Occupational Safety and Health Act into law.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act allows OSHA to issue workplace health and safety regulations. These regulations include limits on chemical exposure, employee access to information, requirements for the use of personal protective equipment, and requirements for safety procedures.
Established NIOSH and OSHA to carry out its mandate to ensure a workplaces free of recognized hazards
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OSHA is responsible for enforcing its standards on regulated entities.

1972 Report of the Committee on Safety and Health at Work under the Chairmanship of Lord Robens. Paragraph 347 stated: We have interpreted occupational health as being concerned with preventing ill health through control of the working environment

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1974 The report led to the passing of the Health and Safety at Work Act and the current regulatory framework. This framework has failed to address OH issues effectively. With no state scheme in place it has been left to employers to provide a prevention and rehabilitation service.

As a result the UK has one of the worst systems for occupational health services (OHS) in the European Union. This has meant personal suffering for thousands of workers as well as a considerable cost to the economy.
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1977 - The Federal Mine Safety & Health Act Consolidated all federal health and safety regulations of the mining industry, strengthened and expanded the rights of miners, established the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).

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De Moribis Artifecum

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OSH in Bangladesh
The main laws related to occupational health & safety in this country is the Labour Law 2006 The Factories Act, 1965 and the Factories Rules 1979 Dock Labourers Act 1934 Dock Labourers Regulations 1948, Tea Plantation Labourers Ordinance 1962 & the rules there under The Workmens Compensation Act 1923 as amended in 1980 and 1983 The Shops and Establishments Act 1965, Employment of Children Act 1938 The Maternity Benefit Tea Estates Act 1950 The Maternity Benefit Act 1939 The Maternity Benefit Rules 1953. The Boilers Act 1923 Labour Law 2006
The legislation related to OSH particularly the Labour Law2006 is inadequate in terms of Exposure standards its provision, specificity 28 and coverage to cope with newer production technology.

OSH Situation in Bangladesh .. OSH parameters (e.g. TLV/ MPL) are not specific rather general in nature. Permissible standards of work environment factors, manufacturing process, machineries and toxic substances, the levels or concentrations of substances in the air are lacking.

In USA Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are referred for the permissible levels or various standards limits for working environment. In Bangladesh no such organization or agencies to be a referral center for different standard or occupational permissible limits.
Lack of requirement for periodic structured objective driven medical examination.
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Thanks
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