1. Safety and Health in
the Workplace
Chapter 16

2. Introduction
• Occupational disease
• Occupational illness
• Occupational injury

3. Scope of the Problem
• 14 workers die each day in U.S. from injury
sustained at work
• Fatalities have declined significantly over past
100 years
• Reporting of illness versus injury
• Economic impact

4. Importance of Occupational Safety and
Health to the Community
• Industry is a subset of the larger community
• Affects workplace and those outside the
worksite
• Workers themselves are a community

5. History of Occupational Safety and Health
Problems
• Before 1970
• Industrial revolution
• State legislation
• Child labor laws
• Worker’s compensation laws
• Federal legislation
• Bureau of Labor-1884
• Many laws from 1908-1970
• Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970

6. Occupational Safety and Health Act of
1970 (OSHAct)
• To ensure employers in private sector furnish
each employee a workplace free from
recognized hazards causing or likely to cause
death or serious physical harm
• Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) established to enforce
OSHAct
• NIOSH

7. Prevalence of Occupational Injuries,
Diseases, and Deaths
• Recent trends
• Decline in number of workplace injuries and
illnesses reported in private industry since 1992
• Goods-producing industries higher rate of
nonfatal injury than service-producing
• Highest – agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting
• Highest service-producing – education and
health care

8. Nonfatal Workplace Injury and Illness
Incidence Rates by Industry, 2008

9. Unintentional Injuries in the Workplace
• Minor injuries – cuts, bruises, abrasions, minor
burns
• Major injuries – amputations, fractures, severe
lacerations, eye losses, acute poisonings,
severe burns
• Reported by many sources

10. Fatal Work-Related Injuries
• Highway incidents leading cause
• Falls, being struck by object, homicide
• Industries with highest rates of fatal
occupational injuries
• Agriculture
• Forestry
• Fishing and hunting
• Mining
• Transportation and warehousing

11. Manner of Fatal Work Injuries, 2008

12. Nonfatal Work-Related Injuries
• Males account for majority of treatment
• Younger workers highest nonfatal workplace
injury/illness rate
• Disabling injuries and illnesses
• Repeat trauma disorders

13. Characteristics of Workers Involved in
Work-Related Injuries
• Age
• Gender
• Poverty and race
• Geographic differences in workplace injuries
• Temporal variations in workplace injuries
• Workplace injuries by industry and occupation
• Fatal and nonfatal occupational injuries and
illnesses
• Agricultural safety and health

14. Hours Worked and Fatal Work Injuries by
Gender, 2008

15. Most Dangerous Jobs in 2008

16. Prevention and Control of Unintentional
Injuries in the Workplace
• Four fundamental tasks
• Anticipation
• Recognition
• Evaluation
• Control

17. Workplace Violence: Intentional
Workplace Injuries
• 1.7 million victims each year
• Homicides third leading cause of workplace
fatalities
• Second leading cause of workplace death for
women
• Some occupations more dangerous than others

18. Categories of Workplace Violence
• Criminal intent (Type I)
• Customer/client (Type II)
• Worker-on-worker (Type III)
• Personal relationship (Type IV)

19. Risk Factors for Workplace Violence
• Working with the public
• Working around money or valuables
• Working alone
• Working late at night
• Jobs with higher risk
• Taxicab drivers
• Jobs in liquor stores
• Detective and protective services

20. Prevention Strategies
• Environmental designs
• Administrative controls
• Behavior strategies

21. Occupational Illnesses and Disorders
• Illness more difficult to acquire data on than
injury
• Difficult to link occupational exposure
• Some conditions slow to develop and difficult
to associate with the workplace

22. Types of Occupational Illnesses
• Musculoskeletal disorders
• Skin diseases and disorders
• Noise-induced hearing loss
• Respiratory disorders
• Pneumoconiosis
• Asbestosis
• Silicosis
• Byssinosis

23. Other Work-Related Diseases and
Disorders
• Poisonings
• Agricultural workers
• Infections
• Health care industry
• Hazardous drugs
• Anxiety, stress, neurotic disorders

24. Prevention and Control of Occupational
Diseases and Disorders
• Requires vigilance of employer and employee
• Agent-host-environment model
• Identification and evaluation of agents
• Standard setting for the handling of and
exposure to causative agents
• Elimination or substitution of causative factors
• Engineering controls
• Environmental monitoring
• Medical screenings

25. Resources for the Prevention of Workplace
Injuries and Diseases
• Occupational safety and health professionals
• Safety engineers
• Certified safety professionals
• Health physicists
• Industrial hygienists
• Occupational physicians
• Occupational health nurses

26. Occupational Safety and Health Programs
• Preplacement examinations
• Disease prevention programs
• Safety programs
• Worksite health promotion programs
• Employee assistance programs

27. Discussion Questions
• How can employees advocate for safer
workplaces?
• What occupational injury prevention strategies
can prove to be most effective in the coming
decades?