What do you think about workplace safety in developing countries and developed countries? What difference and similarity exists in work place safety issues? What are the basic factors aggravating workplace health problem in developing manufacturing industries?
The ultimate objective of occupational health is a healthy, safe and satisfactory work environment and a healthy, active and productive worker, who is free from both occupational and non-occupational diseases and who is capable and motivated to carry out his or her daily job and is able to experience job satisfaction and develop both as a worker and as an individual. Thus, occupational safety and health can be defined as a multidisciplinary activity aiming at:
• protection and promotion of the health of workers by eliminating occupational factors and conditions hazardous to health and safety at work;
• enhancement of physical, mental and social well-being of workers and support for the development and maintenance of their working capacity, as well as professional and social development at work;
• development and promotion of sustainable work environments and work organizations
Occupational health hazards refer to the potential risks to the health and safety for those who work outside the home. According to the World Health Organization, this represents about 70% of adult men and up to 60% of adult women throughout the world, and an estimated additional 40 million adults enter the global workforce each year. Of course, the specific occupational hazards faced by this large and growing number of people depends on the region and its economic standing, but there are some of the common hazards faced by workers worldwide.
The most important challenges for occupational health for the future will be:
• Occupational health problems linked to new information technologies and automation;
• new chemical substances and physical energies;
• health hazards associated with new biotechnologies;
• transfer of hazardous technologies;
• aging working populations;
• special problems of vulnerable and underserved groups (e.g. chronically ill and handicapped), including migrants and the unemployed; and
• problems related to growing mobility of worker populations and occurrence of new occupational diseases of various origins.
Accidents and physical and chemical agents are the main problems in manufacturing industries, while pesticides and organic dusts, heavy physical work, biological factors and accidents are the occupational burdens of agricultural workers. A number of studies show that in the worst conditions 50-100% of the workers in some hazardous industries may be exposed to levels of chemical, physical or biological factors that exceed the occupational exposure limits applied in the industrial countries.
The least developed countries that still employ the major part of the workforce in agriculture and other types of primary production face occupational health problems that are different from those experienced in the industrial countries. In the least developed countries the occupational factors are aggravated by numerous non-occupational factors such as parasitic and infectious diseases, poor hygiene and sanitation, poor nutrition, general poverty and illiteracy.
Small-scale industrial and service enterprises often have few resources, heavy workloads and multiple tasks for each worker. Work usually takes place in an environment that does not always meet required standards. Family members of the entrepreneurs and workers, including children, pregnant women and elderly people, share the work in small-scale enterprises, such as home industries, small farms and cottage industries, particularly in developing countries. In such situations, most workplace exposures also affect family members because most of the time is spent in the combined home and work environment. It has been estimated that two-thirds of the workers of the world still work in conditions that do not meet the minimum standards set by ILO.
Dear Jorge Morales Pedraza; Really thank you for your interesting answer.
Dear JORGE M, CAN YOU SUGGEST ME ANY PROFESSOR WHO CAN SUPPORT IN THE AREA OF OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH MODEL DEVELOPMENT FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES?
REGARDS
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