Introduction to Occupational and

Environmental Safety

Sr. Dr. Mohd Hafizal B Ishak

Dept. Real Estate Management
Fac. of Technology Management and Business
UTHM
 Understand and able to
differentiate between
occupational health and
occupational safety.
At the end of the
 Able to define hazard and
lecture, student
risk. would be able to :

 Explain the classification of

hazard.
 States the routes of entry of
hazard.
 Preserving and protecting human and facility
resources in the workplace
 Helping people by preventing them from
being injured or becoming ill due to hazards
in their workplace
 A field wherein professionals attempt to
prevent catastrophic losses
 The management function in an organization
concerned with improving quality and
efficiency
 Prevention Promotion
Occupational Health Diseases
& Workplace Accidents

Factors relating to work Healthy Lifestyle

- Hazards - No smoking
- Work environment - No alcohol and drug
- Working methods - Healthy activities during
- Equipment, machinery leisure time
• Safety
prevention of accidents (risks from moving
machinery, fire and explosions, lightning,
falling objects, sharp objects, acid burn)

• Health
Prevention of diseases (risks from
chemical, physical, biological, ergonomics
& psychological agents)
SAFETY HEALTH

CAUSE CAUSE

Time Heredity
Dose
Previous
Lifestyle
Exposures

EFFECT EFFECT
 HAZARD
Potential of an agent to cause harm to health
RISK
Likelihood of hazard to cause harm to health
in the actual circumstances of exposure

RISK = HAZARD X EXPOSURE

 Hazard
 The potential of a physical, biological or
chemical to cause harm or damage to an
individual, properties or environment
 The hazard relates to the intrinsic properties of the chemical (its
physicochemical properties and health effects) to cause harm and
will always be the same.
 Risk
 The likelihood of hazard to cause harm
under the actual circumstances of exposure
 Risk is totally dependent on the actual exposure (Intensity or
magnitude x duration x frequency) to the agent.
 There are 2 categories of health effects:

 Acute Effect
 Chronic Effect
i) Acute Effects
 An acute effect is caused by short period of exposure (e.g. in seconds
or minutes) to high concentrations of a substance.
 Example: The acute effect of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning where a
brief exposure to a high CO concentration causes asphyxiation (eg.
choking)
ii) Chronic Effects

 Chronic or long-term effects are caused by

repeated or prolonged exposure (continuing
day after day or week after week), typically
involving relatively low levels of a substance.
 Example: Silicosis (causing fibrosis of lungs)
is due to prolonged exposure over a number
of years to crystalline silica.
 There are 5 general groups of health hazards
From Noise

From Light
Chemical Hazards
Welding Fume, Mineral oils, Paints, Silica sand,
Acids, Alkalis, Solvent (Thinner, Adhesive,
Benzene, Diesel)
 Bacteria (e.g. E. Coli,
Staphylococci, TB, legionella)
 Virus (e.g. Hepatitis A,B & C,
HIV, SARS, Avian Influenza);
 Fungus & Spores
 Air temperature too hot/cold,
low relative humidity

Poor design, inaccessibility,

insufficient space, awkward
postures

Too bright/dim
Uncomfortable
workstation
Manual lifting
Mental stress, overwork, work pressure, long shift
hours / work schedule-night duty, offshore duty
roster, boredom, unreasonable deadline, cultural
shock, poor communications, monotonous work.
1. Inhalation : most significant route of entry
(respiratory system)/most common and
quickest route of entry
2. Absorption : (through skin, eye and
mucous membrane)
3. Ingestion (mouth)
4. Injection
The responsibility of doing
something about safety &
health lies with
 those who create the
risks and
 those who work with the
risks ….
Lord Alfred Robens
“SAFETY FIRST !!!”

“Not one pint of beer shall

be produced at the
expense of an accident”

Guinness, Ireland
If you think SAFETY
is expensive...

Try Having
an Accident !!!