Name Occupational Health Specialist Practitioner

What is Occupational Health? Occupational medicine dates back to the middle of the 16 th Century where we find Georgius Agricola and Paracelsus both studied and wrote on the subject of miners diseases. Georgius Agricola Born:24 March 1494 Died:21 November 1555 Citizenship:German Paracelsus Born:Phillip von Hohenheim 11 November 1493) or 17 December 1493) Died:24 September 1541 (aged 47) Cause of death Unknown Citizenship:Swiss

What is Occupational Health? Bernardino Ramazzini Born:3 November 1633 Died:5 November 1714 Nationality:Italian BERNADINO RAMAZINI : The father of Occupational Medicine observed a labourer cleaning cesspits in the town of Medina who was in some distress. The man is reported to have said: “No one who has tried it can imagine what it cost to spend more than 4 hours on this job. It is as bad as going blind.”

What is Occupational Health? BERNADINO RAMAZINI : His book on occupational diseases, De Morbis Artificum Diatriba (Diseases of Workers), outlined the health hazards of chemicals, dust, metals, repetitive or violent motions, odd postures, and other disease-causative agents encountered by workers in 52 occupations. This was one of the founding and seminal works of Occupational Medicine and played a substantial role in its development.

What is Occupational Health? TODAY’S DEFINITION: TODAY’S DEFINITION: Occupational Health is the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations by preventing departures from health, controlling risks and the adaptation of work to people, and people to their jobs. (ILO / WHO 1950) Occupational Health is the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations by preventing departures from health, controlling risks and the adaptation of work to people, and people to their jobs. (ILO / WHO 1950)

What is Occupational Health? 14(1) of the Factories Act 1961 required that "every dangerous part of any machinery was to be securely fenced. “ When was there a "dangerous part"? When was there a "dangerous part"? Since then:

What is Occupational Health? "SO FAR AS IS REASONABLY PRACTICABLE“ The history of this expression goes back at least as far as the mining legislation of the 1870s. From there the expression was brought into the Factories Act and then on into the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

What is Occupational Health? Prior the 1974 Health at Work Act, many accidents / injuries at work were “contained”. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 was remarkable in a number of respects. Previous safety legislation had proceeded in a piecemeal fashion with no general view of the subject.

What is Occupational Health? Under the 1974 Act there was for the first time an attempt to unify safety legislation by provisions which were not confined to a particular type of workplace or work but applied in general, so bringing many thousands of workers within the protection of the law. That protection, it may be noted, involved that a breach could be committed not merely during the time when they were working but also prior to their coming to work

What is Occupational Health? Following the Act, further regulations and guidelines dictated that Employers have a duty of care for their employees and a legal obligation to provide adequate management systems and services to deal effectively with occupational health and safety risks.

What is Occupational Health? Many advances have been made since the introduction of this Act that resulted in the development of a Specialist branch of Medicine & Nursing, dedicated to the effects on health in working environments.

What is Occupational Health? Traditionally, Occupational Health was concerned with: 1)How an employee’s health can affect their ability to do the job And 2)How work and the working environment can affect an employee's health.

What is Occupational Health? Today, occupational health is more wide-ranging. It is still concerned with employees’ health but can also include health promotion, risk assessment and well-being and can address lifestyle issues such as smoking, fitness, stress management, nutrition and obesity for example.

Why have Occupational Health? Occupational Health Medical and Nursing Staff are conversant in the effects of work on health, and familiar with the neccesarry medical investigations and interpretation of medical results in the provision of standards that satisfies legislation. These are frequently identified as:

Moral - An employee should not have to risk injury or death at work, nor should others associated with the work environment. Why have Occupational Health?

Economic - many organisations realise that poor occupational health and safety performance results in cost (e.g. through social security payments to the incapacitated, costs for medical treatment, and the loss of the "employability" of the worker). Why have Occupational Health?

Economic - Employing organizations also sustain costs in the event of an incident at work such as legal fees, fines, compensatory damages, investigation time, lost production, lost goodwill from the workforce, from customers and from the wider community. Why have Occupational Health?

Legal - Occupational Health and Safety requirements may be reinforced in Civil Law Employment Law and / or Criminal Law. It is accepted that without the extra "encouragement" of potential regulatory action or litigation, many organisations would not act upon their implied moral obligations. Why have Occupational Health?

In this way, Occupational Health strives to maintain the balance of health within the workplace and the provision of advice and guidance to employers and employees. Why have Occupational Health?