Preventing Work Related Illness

Preventing Work Related Illness
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CONTENTS

TYPES OF WORK RELATED ILLNESS

Examples of work related illness include:

Back pains - Through lifting heavy objects in the workplace.
Muscle, joints, aches and pains including hands and shoulders - Through doing a job which may entails lots of quick and constant hand movements.
Skin conditions - This may occur in any job, symptoms will include rashes, redness of skin and general discomfort.
Hearing loss - Where heavy machinery is in use employees could face hearing loss.
Breathing problems - As a result of poor ventilation and air conditioning.
Eyesight - Poor vision as a result either working constantly on a machine or on a computer.

PREVENTATIVE MEASURES TO AVOID WORK RELATED ILLNESS

Some simple measures which can be implemented:

BACK PAINS: Be careful about handling any heavy items. Use any equipment that may be available.

MUSCLE PAINS: Make sure the layout of employee work area is designed to be comfortable. Ensure the seating is comfortable and that all items needed to carry out your work is within easy reach.

SKIN CONDITIONS: Ensure employees are given the correct or most suitable types of skin protection. Offer employees the option to use barrier creams to prevent skin contamination.

HEARING LOSS: As obvious as though it might appear, the use of ear protection in the work place is not as daft as it might appear. Offer employees the correct hearing protection and take as much sound proofing on your machinery as possible. Some people may feel that hearing protection in the form of ear muffs may be the most expected, but if the machinery is sound proofed further, fewer hearing associated illnesses will arise.

BREATHING PROBLEMS: Ensure your business uses the most safest materials available. If you require employees to work with dangerous substances then please ensure the work area is properly ventilated. Ensure the employees are given the highest quality protective gear. Monitor the quality of ventilation in your business, and make regular adjustments. It's not dangerous substances that can cause employees to experience breathing problems, your air conditioning systems could be at fault, ensure your equipment works properly, use the best filtration systems available, you'll experience fewer 'health bugs' spreading in your workplace.

EYESIGHT: It is the responsibility of the employer to provide proper eye protection for employees working with machinery. In terms of general lighting invest in the highest quality lighting even if this means spending more than anticipated, don't be put, improved lighting will the risk of eyestrain on employees, thereby reducing the risk of product errors. Ensure that all machinery has safe usable machine guards, there is no point in having machine guards if no-one can see through them, it will put employees off using the guards. Some countries such as the UK have specific legislation aimed at people using computer screens this legislation includes the provision of filters, breaks for operators and the employer being liable to pay for eye tests.

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!

The workplace can be a dangerous place, but with the proper health and safety checks in place the risk of injury can be greatly reduced.

We all need to take simple measures to prevent catching work related illness, these include:

Making sure our bodies are healthy.
Take regular exercise, it does not have to be extreme, simple steps such as short walks will do.
Do give your hands some exercising, avoid typing all day on a computer keyboard, vary your tasks, do some simple stretching exercises.
Sit comfortably at work, ensure your posture is correct, align your back straight with a chair at 90 degrees.
Make sure eyesight is not adversely affected by looking at a computer, make sure you can see the screen clearly. Do not make your eyes strain, adjust the screen settings.
Have regular breaks at work, no matter how focused you are at work, your body needs breaks!.
Avoid coming into work in you have an illness that can spread to others.

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