Basic Principles of
Industrial Hygiene
HAMIDI SAIDIN
hamidi@mohr.gov.my

Introduction to Industrial Hygiene
What is industrial hygiene?
• occupational hygiene; health hygiene.
• to prevent the occurrence of occupational diseases and
injuries in industries.
• Hazards- Anticipate,Recognize, Evaluate & Control
• sciences and arts: physics,chemistry, human anatomy,
mathematics and physiology; creativity, curiosity and
communication skills

History of industrial hygiene
4th century BC
Hippocrates
He recognised and
recorded the
problem of lead
poisoning among
miners.
1st century AD
Pliny the Elder
He described exposure
to zinc and sulphur
among labourers in the
“Natural History” series.
Besides that, he also
devised a protective
mask for miners made
from an animal bladder
to be tied over the
mouth to prevent
inhalation of dust and
lead.
2nd century AD
Galen
This Greek physician
recognised the
hazards of copper
mining as the miners
were exposed to acid
mist.

History of industrial hygiene
1473
Ulrich Ellenbog
He published a pamphlet
about occupational
diseases and illnesses
among gold miners. He
discussed toxic fumes
and vapours, and
described ways of coping
with the hazards.
1556
George Bauer
(Georgius Agricola)
This mining town physician in Joachimcal, a place where
silver mining was one of the primary occupations, wrote a
12-series volume set named De Re Metalicca (Latin for
On the Nature of Metals).
The book covered mining geology, environmental
contamination, management technique, mine ventilation,
ergonomics and illnesses suffered by miners. The book
described the injuries and sicknesses of the miners, and
it also discussed treatments and preventive measures for
the occupational diseases.
He also discussed silicosis, a lung disease caused by
inhaling silica dust.

History of industrial hygiene
1567
Theophrastus Bombastus von
Hohemheim (Paracelsus)
In Miners ‘Sickness and other Diseases
of Miners, Paracelsus described the
differences of the employees’ conditions
between “chronic” and “acute” poisoning.
He also described the physical and
behavioral effects of mercury exposure.
He uttered the phrase “All substance are
poisons; there is none which is not
poison. The right dose differentiates a
poison and a remedy”
1700
Bernardino Ramazzini
He is known as the Father of
Industrial Hygiene. He wrote a book
titled De Morbis Artificum (Diseases
of Employees). He is the first person
to make a connection between
occupations and diseases by urging
physicians to include important
questions such as “Of what trade are
you?”

History of industrial hygiene
Late 1770s
Sir George Baker
He correctly found
the link “Devonshire
Colic” to lead
poisoning in cider,
the traditional drink
of Devonians.
1833
Percival Pott
He is the first to link
cancer to chemical
exposure. He observed
the development of
scrotal cancer in London
chimney sweepers. He
found out that the cancer
was caused by the soot
that the sweepers rarely
washed away.
Early 1990s
British Government
English Factory Act
The Act focused on
compensation rather
than safety practices. It
led to improvements in
safety as the Act also
gave employers
financial incentives to
prevent accidents.

Alice Hamilton
History of industrial hygiene
Early 1990s
This American physician emphasised on
employees welfare. She identified hazards
and illnesses and recommended prevention
measures. She also raised public
consciousness about employee safety. Her
work can be found in these two publications:
Industrial Poisons in the United States (1925)
and Exploring the Dangerous Trades (1943).
2016

The Importance of Occupational Hygiene
• 2,000,000 work-related deaths per year.
• 386,000 deaths each year from exposure to airborne
particulates.
• 152,000 deaths per year from carcinogens in the
workplace.
• 37% of Lower Back Pain is attributed to occupation.
The World Health Organisation estimates that
globally there are:

Development of industrial hygiene in Malaysia

Definition of Industrial Hygiene
• According to OSHA (1998), industrial hygiene is
defined as the science and art devoted to the
anticipation, recognition, evaluation and control of
environmental factors or stresses.

• Industrial hygienist is a person having college or
university degree(s) in engineering, chemistry,
physics, medicine, or related physical and biological
sciences, who has also received specialized training
in recognition, evaluation, and control of workplace
stressor and therefore achieved competence in
industrial hygiene.
Industrial Hygienist?

Factors or stresses :
 Chemical agents
 Dust, mists, vapours, gases, fumes.
 Physical agents
 Ionising, non-ionising radiation, noise, vibrations
and temperature extremes.
 Biological agents
 Insects, molds, yeast, fungi, bacteria, viruses.
 Ergonomic agents
 Monotony, fatique and repetative motion

Scope of Industrial Hygiene
Anticipation
/Recognitio
n
Evaluatio
n
Control
• Commitment
• Planning
• Design
• Training
• Hazard
Identification
• Exposure
Asessment
• Monitoring
• Studies
• Observations
• Elimination
• Substitution
• Engineering
• Administration
• Personal
protective
equipment

What is Industrial Hygiene
Exposure
Work Activity
Disease
Occupational
Hygiene
Occupational
Medicine
Occupational
Health

Industrial Hygiene Duties

Occupational Physician
• Utilize the exposure evaluation and workplace
assessments;
• Identify the possible impact on the employee; and
• Provide proper diagnosis and treatment.

Industrial Hygiene Profession
• Registered Competent Person
• Assessor
• Hygiene Technician
• IAQ Competent Person
• Noise Monitoring Competent Person
• Mineral Dust Competent Person
• Lead Competent Person

1) Examination of the industrial environment;
2) Interpretation of gathered data from studies
made in the industrial environment;
3) Preparation and proper implementation of
control measures;
4) Creation of regulatory standards for work
conditions;
Responsibilities of an Industrial Hygiene

5) Presentation of competent and meaningful
testimony when called upon to do so by boards,
commissions, agencies, courts, or investigative
bodies;
6) Performance of epidemiological studies to uncover
the presence of occupation-related diseases;
7) Education of the working community in the field of
industrial hygiene; and
8) Preparation of adequate warnings and precautions
where dangers exist.
Responsibilities of an Industrial Hygiene

Applied science and application of IH
Diciplines Application in IH
Physics, mathematics,
human anatomy, and
physiology
Hazard evaluation of noise, illumination,
lasers, non- ionising radiation, ionising
radiation, and ergonomics.
Chemistry, anatomy
and physiology,
toxicology
Toxic chemical exposure evaluation of
carcinogenic hazard assessments and
reproductive hazard assessments.
Toxic chemical exposure evaluation of
carcinogenic hazard assessments and
reproductive hazard assessments.

Applied science and application of IH
Diciplines Application in IH
Statistics,
epidemiology, physics,
chemistry, anatomy
and physiology,
toxicology, language
skills
Measuring exposures to chemical and
physical agents. Interpreting laboratory
analytical reports.
Using direct-reading instruments.
Language skills Interaction with employees, management,
and clients; report writing; preparing
manuscripts of original research studies for
publication; and design and delivery of
employee education programmes.

Industrial Hygiene Programme
• Programme for the employees health protection and safety.
• source of information for the physician or nurse relative to
the employees working conditions, including the possible
causes of, or factors contributing to, the employees
symptoms.
• medical surveillance programme.
1) Periodic hearing tests to detect noise-induced hearing
loss;
2) An examination of the respiratory system including a
chest x-ray; and
3) Lung capacity measurements to detect scarring of the
lungs due to asbestos exposure.

Basic elements of IH Programme
Elements Examples
Anticipation/ recognition of
health hazards
• Watching
• Asking questions
• Observing work practices
• Reviewing chemical inventories
Evaluation of health
hazards
• Air sampling
• Noise exposure
• Ergonomic stress
Control of health hazards • Determining appropriate and effective control
measures

Basic elements of IH Programme
Elements Examples
Recordkeeping • Keeping accurate and complete industrial hygiene
records
• Requiring regulation
• Source of information for trending exposure
Employee training • Hazard communication programme
• New employee orientation
• Industrial hygiene responding to specific questions
• Evaluating new materials proposed for use in a
process
Periodic programme
reviews, changes, and
updates
• Changes in regulatory requirements
• New information about the toxic properties of a
chemical or
• physical agent
• Changes in a process