OSH Brief No. 1: • Occupational safety and health (OSH) is a discipline chemical (dusts, fumes, vapours, gases); • with a broad scope involving many specialized fields. physical (noise, vibration, lighting, radiation, In its broadest sense, it aims at: temperature) ; • biological (infestations, bacteria, viruses, • the promotion and maintenance of the mold); • highest degree of physical, mental and social psychological (stress and strain); and well ‐ being of workers in all occupations; • ergonomic (badly ‐ designed machinery, • the preparation and preservation of mechanical devices and workstations used by conditions in the workplace that reduce or workers). prevent the likelihood of persons being injured while performing their work; Often, these hazards combine to make the problem • the prevention among workers of departures worse for the worker, as for instance in the case of a from health caused by their working worker in a noisy factory not hearing an alarm call, or conditions; a worker feeling dizzy from chemical fumes and falling • the protection of workers in their places of down stairs without a handrail. employment from risks resulting from factors adverse to their health; and There is a view that most industrial accidents in the • the placing and maintenance of workers in an region are caused by "careless" or "accident ‐ prone" occupational environment adapted to their workers, who do not take safety at work seriously. physical and mental capacities. This puts the blame on the workers and implies that work could be made safer simply by changing their Until recently, occupational health was often behaviour. Accidents will not stop simply by making considered less of a problem than industrial safety. workers more safety conscious; this may help, but it Whereas accidents occur suddenly, sometimes does not get at the root of the problem, namely the causing traumatic effects, an industrial disease may unsafe process. The cure lies in designing work take years before it produces any obvious effect on systems that take into account the fact that workers the health of the worker, by which time it may be too are human and sometimes make mistakes. late to do anything about it. Unsafe working conditions, such as an unguarded machine, are far The accepted approach to occupational safety and easier to spot than a dust problem, dangerous noise health starts from the premise that the problem of levels or exposure to carcinogens. Every day workers accidents and industrial diseases results from the in the Caribbean are faced with the hazards of dust, hazards and dangers already built into the workplace. fumes, gases, vapours, noise, vibration, high The way to make work safer is to modify the temperatures, etc. workplace and any unsafe processes so that the hazards or dangers are removed at the source, rather A workplace can contain a bewildering number of than try to get workers to adapt to unsafe conditions. hazards for the unsuspecting worker. First, there are the more obvious unsafe working conditions, such as unguarded machinery, slippery floors and inadequate fire precautions. Then there are the more insidious hazards that fall into a number of categories:
• encouraging a culture of reporting of accidents Accidents in the workplace and incidents; • the prompt investigation of accidents and Accidents are caused by unsafe acts or unsafe incidents; conditions or a combination of both. Research has • the communication of information about the shown that no accident ever has a single cause. The hazards and their control measures in the tasks International Loss Control Institute puts forward a being performed; theory of accident causation suggesting multiple • the provision of adequate supervision; and causes for accidents such as: • continually improving OSH performance. • the lack of management control, that is, the lack of a Safety and Health Management System; and • indirect causes (root causes): Benefits of investigating incidents and accidents procedural (organizational factors) • technical (job factors) • • Prevents similar occurrences behavioural (personal factors) • • Prevents business losses immediate causes (direct causes), the acts or • • Improves worker safety attitudes conditions that precipitated the event. They • Improves safety performance are often easily recognized but addressing • Identifies weaknesses in the system these symptoms alone will not prevent • Allows monitoring for trends and patterns recurrence. When an accident occurs, what we observe is the immediate cause. However, there are a number of It is worth repeating that the best approach to factors impacting on the situation which could have occupational safety and health starts from the led to the final outcome. Indirect or root causes could premise that the problem of accidents and have created the initial deficiencies leading to the occupational diseases results from the hazards and final outcome. dangers that are already built into the systems of work. The way to make work safer is to modify the workplace and any unsafe processes so that the Factors endemic to accident causation hazards or dangers are removed “at the source", • rather than try to get workers to adapt to unsafe Procedural factors such as inadequate work conditions. standards or procedures, poor communication and coordination of activities and inadequate Cost of accidents and diseases to supervision. • Technical factors such as the design and business layout of equipment, inadequate maintenance, equipment and material Businesses in the Caribbean need to adopt and selection and use. implement workplace policies on OSH, not just • Behavioural factors such as physical and because of national and international legislation, or mental capabilities, lack of knowledge and on social and moral grounds, but because it is good information relevant to performing the task, for business. According to the International Labour stress and boredom as well as a lack of the Organization (ILO), most future economic growth will necessary skill to carry out the task. come through the development of small and medium ‐ • Lack of management control implying that sized enterprises (SMEs) and yet these are the most there was no management system in place. likely to ignore any national and international This leads to an inadequate safety culture. standards on OSH. For example, most workplace accidents in SMEs never get reported and diseases go undiagnosed. Poor OSH practices cost Caribbean businesses through: The organizational safety culture is determined, amongst other things, by: • lost working days; • • management’s commitment to making OSH a core medical and insurance expenses; • value of the organization, on par with production; reduction in production; • • active participation of workers at all stages compensation and/or fines; • (planning, implementation and review of OSH training and re ‐ training workers; • programmes); equipment damage and repairs;
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