Oc Occupational Health and Safety y Viji Vijayan Associate - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Oc Occupational Health and Safety y

Viji Vijayan Associate Professor Associate Dean Safety, Health and Emergency Department Duke-NUS Medical School

My CV y CV i in b brief

• Started as a medical doctor then moved to microbiology,

developmental biology and then biological safety and biological security.

• Master’s degree in Human Factors and Systems Safety from Lund

university in Sweden

• Serve in organizations like Biorisk Association of Singapore, Asia

Pacific Biosafety Association (APB-A), International Federation of Biosafety Associations (IFBA)

• Consult for European Union CBRN Centers of Excellence, World

Health Organization through their partner agencies, Global Affairs Canada though their projects in South East Asia.

• Passion and strength:
• Understanding the local situation and helping the workers to make

sense of regulations and standards and helping them to develop locally applicable solutions to ensure biosafety and biosecurity.

• Training to ensure that the workers are able to apply the knowledge to

their everyday challenges and situations

Ou Outline of Prese sentation

• 1. Elements of Occupational Health and

Safety Systems

• 2. Definition of Occupational Health and

Safety

• 3. Implementing an Occupational Health and

Safety Program

El Eleme ments ts of ISO 45001 Occupa upati tiona nal Health a and S Safety M y Management S System

1: Scope 2: Normative references 3: Terms of definition 4: Context of organization 5: Leadership 6: Planning 7: Support 8: Operation 9: Performance evaluation 10: Improvement

Ou Outline of Prese sentation

• 1. Elements of Occupational Health and

Safety Systems

• 2. Definition of Occupational Health and

Safety

• 3. Implementing an Occupational Health and

Safety Program

Occupation

• nal H

Health a and S Safety y

• World Health Organization: "occupational health deals with all

aspects of health and safety in the workplace and has a strong focus on primary prevention of hazards”.

• Multidisciplinary field of healthcare concerned with enabling a

person to do their job in the way that causes least harm to their health.

• It is different from health and safety at work, which is concerned

with preventing harm from any incidental hazards arising in the workplace.

• The main focus is on three objectives:
• the maintenance and promotion of workers’ health and working

capacity;

• the improvement of working environment and work to become

conducive to safety and health and

• development of work organizations and working cultures in a direction

which supports health and safety at work and in doing so also promotes a positive social climate and smooth operation and may enhance productivity of the undertakings.

Hierarchy of O y of Occupation

• nal H

Health a and Safety I y Implementation

• n

Concept - International Country law Institutional policies Worker’s operations and practice Communication

Ou Outline of Prese sentation

• 1. Elements of Occupational Health and

Safety Systems

• 2. Definition of Occupational Health and

Safety

• 3. Implementing an Occupational Health and

Safety Program

Im Implem emen enting Occupational Hea Health and Safety P y Progr

• gram
• Institution responsibilities
• Individual responsibilities
• Joint occupational health and safety committee
• Health and safety rules
• Correct work procedures
• Employee orientation
• Training
• Workplace inspections
• Reporting and investigating accidents/incidents
• Emergency procedures
• Medical and first aid
• Health and safety promotion

In Institution res esponsibilities es

• Occupational health program must be established,

and workers must be enrolled in this program so that they can get medical attention when needed

• Pre-employment placement medical examination

for high risk workers

• Provision of a medical contact card to workers

emergency contact point in case a sudden illness

• ccurs outside of work hours, they can show it to

the doctor

In Institution res esponsibilities es

• Example of enrolment in Occupational Health

Program :

• Occupational doctor should assess:
• Zika virus work and pregnancy
• SARS-CoV-2 work for elderly workers or workers with

underlying risk factors like diabetes: these workers can be given other equally important work that does not directly deal with live virus

In Institution res esponsibilities es

• Establish a system to ensure that safety and health
• f workers is safeguarded
• Provide a system for dealing with accidents
• Provide medical care for workers who are unwell or

have had a workplace accident

• Provide safe work environments including PPE,

training, timely communications, practice drills

In Institution res esponsibilities es

• Occupation health and safety program should

include provisions for:

• Work with animals
• Work in BSL-3
• Work with Zika, SARS-CoV-2 and other hazards
• Pregnant workers
• Annual check up where needed
• Annual N95 mask fitting
• Vaccinations -

example tetanus for work with animals, annual flu vaccination especially now to reduce flu incidence so that it does not mimic COVID-19

In Institution res esponsibilities es duri ring COVID ID- 19 P 19 Pandemic

• Task Force/Committee at institution level
• Clear communication to provide information on how to deal

with different situations

• Process for dealing with a confirmed COVID case in the

institution

• Provide a system for workers to report if they are unwell and

not to come to work

• System for workers to report if they have been in contact with

confirmed COVID case and the process to follow

• All aspects of an employee’s health status must be kept

confidential.

• The contact person in the institution should know what

to do in emergencies (Incident Command team)

In Institution res esponsibilities es duri ring COVID ID- 19 P 19 Pandemic

• 24-hour help in case of an emergency.
• In order to keep the number of workers in the workplace small
• Work from home
• Shift work
• Workers come in AM and PM shift and two shifts do not meet
• Temperature screening at entry
• Temperature logging by staff twice a day
• Log details of person entering the workplace via telephone app or

just a logbook

• Cleaning in between shifts
• Frequent cleaning of lifts, door handles, chairs and other common

areas

• Providing hand sanitizer
• Hotline to call if in distress

Temperature t taki king g

Su Superviso sor’s s resp sponsi sibilities s during CO COVID-19 P 19 Pandemic

• Keep workload to acceptable level fatigue is a very

common cause of accidents

• Communication to staff about hand hygiene
• Changing work practice to ensure social distancing
• Posters to remind staff of hand hygiene and social

distancing

• Provision of hand wash, PPE
• Training and mentoring
• Assigning responsibilities based on reliability (expertise,

experience and trustworthiness)

• Maintain open communication for staff to voice

concerns or ask questions, especially under the difficult pandemic situation

Wo Worker’s responsibilities

• Ensure that they work in accordance with all SOP
• Talk to supervisors if not sure of something
• Report any health and safety issue
• Not come to work if feeling unwell with symptoms
• f COVID- fever, dry cough, tiredness, etc
• Ensure they are trained adequately
• Report all incidents including near misses so that

lessons can be learned. Here institutions SHOULD NOT punish employees for reporting so that they can report without fear

Joi

• int r

respon

• nsibility d

y during C g COVID-19 19 Pa Pandemic

• Nurturing a culture of responsible behaviour
• Not coming to work if unwell
• Not coming to work if there was contact with COVID patient
• Not coming to work if in quarantine
• Reporting any accidents/exposures in the lab
• Hand hygiene, social distancing, respiratory protection
• This is the key prevention strategy at this time, and it is

everyone’s responsibility to practice this

• Frequent cleaning of common lab equipment
• Frequent cleaning of lift, door handles and objects that

are touched by people

CO COVID-19 19- lab lab workers

• Risk assessment
• Training
• PPE
• Communication
• Emergency response plan
• Exposure management

Ca Casualty i y infor

• rmation
• n c

card t to gi

• give fi

first re responders

Wor

• rk w

k with a animals

• Enrolment in occupational health program for

animal work

• Allergies
• Zoonotic diseases
• Bites scratches, spitting, needle stick injuries

Occu Occupational Health Program

• Zoonosis - Zoonoses are infectious diseases that are

transmitted between species from animals to humans (or from humans to other animals).

• Depending on the laboratory animal species that

workers are dealing with the types of zoonotic infections are different

• Workers should be trained and mentored in

handling animals and animal emergencies

Zo Zoonotic Diseases

Respir spiratory Fa Faecal-or

• ral

Muc Mucous us me membr mbrane ane Pa Parenteral ino inocula ulatio tion

Mo Mode e of zoonotic disea sease se tra ransm smissi ssion

Er Ergono nomi mics and nd Mus uscul uloskeletal Di Disorde ders

Heaving lifting Improper sitting posture Repeated pipetting Keyboard related

Con Contact t tracing f g for

• r C

COVID -19 19

• Contact tracing will be conducted to identify close

contacts of the confirmed cases

• In Singapore Ministry of Health will issue Quarantine

Order to those in close contact with confirmed cases

• Employers should help in tracing the contacts
• In our building only we will know where the confirmed

case could have gone and identify those persons with whom the confirmed case was in contact for more than 30 mins within 2 m or multiple times within 30 mins

• Institution can also issue Stay Home or Work from

Home Order

• Support for persons who are in this situation by calling
• n the phone and giving them an outlet to talk about

their fears and anxieties

Con Contact t tracing f g for

• r C

COVID -19 19

• Institution can decide how to handle confirmed

cases but cannot do less that the country’s guidelines

• Institutions have a key role in contact tracing and

should play a role in this including regular communication to workers

• Good and timely communication will prevent

misinformation and anxiety

CD CDC Con C Contact T Tracing G g Guidelines

Th Thor

• rou
• ugh

gh c cleaning i g if a f a c con

• nfi

firmed c case wa was in the building

Professional cleaners

Th Thor

• rou
• ugh

gh c cleaning i g if a f a c con

• nfi

firmed c case wa was in the building

Professional cleaners

Ac Acciden ent a and i inciden ents

Occu Occupational dise sease ses s vs s Acci ccidents s

• Occupational illness are not accidents
• They are inherent hazards in some occupations, usually due to

exposure over a period of time to workplace conditions.

• Example:
• animal handlers exposure to allergens
• radiologist exposure to X-ray
• Measures to control the above need to be in place to protect the

employees

• These are also usually monitored to allow lessons to be learned for

past experiences

Oc Occupational Disea eases es that are re rep report rtable e in in Sin ingapor

• re

1.Aniline poisoning 2.Anthrax 3.Arsenical poisoning 4.Asbestosis 5.Barotrauma 6.Beryllium poisoning 7.Byssinosis 8.Cadmium poisoning 9.Carbarmate poisoning 10.Compressed air illness or its sequelae, including dysbaric

• steonecrosis

11.Cyanide poisoning 12.Diseases caused by excessive heat

• 13. Diseases caused by ionising

radiation

• 14. Hydrogen sulphide poisoning
• 15. Lead poisoning
• 16. Leptospirosis
• 17. Liver angiosarcoma
• 18. Manganese poisoning
• 19. Mercurial poisoning
• 20. Mesothelioma
• 21. Musculoskeletal disorders of

the upper limb

• 22. Noise-induced deafness
• 23. Occupational asthma
• 24. Occupational skin cancers
• 25. Occupational skin diseases
• 26. Organophosphate poisoning
• 27. Phosphorous poisoning
• 28. Poisoning by benzene or a

homologue of benzene

• 29. Poisoning by carbon

disulphide

• 30. Poisoning by carbon

monoxide gas

• 31. Poisoning by oxides of

nitrogen

• 32. Poisoning from halogen

derivatives of hydrocarbon compounds

• 33. Silicosis
• 34. Toxic anaemia
• 35. Toxic hepatitis

https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/WSHA2006?ProvIds =Sc2-

Sp Spill Cleanup Pract ctice ce

Con Conclusion

• n
• There is no one size fits all
• Key is in implementing a workable solution to

ensure the health and safety of workers – physical and mental health

• Keep it simple and always engage the workers they

are our biggest asset

Ri Risk-Be Benefi fit Ra Ratio Risk Benefit