occupational disease is a disease arising out of or during the course of employment and its cause present in the occupation (e.g. silicosis).

1. Dr. Dalia El-Shafei
Ass.Prof of Occupational Medicine

2. http://www.slideshare.net/daliaelshafei

3. Promotion & Maintenance of the highest degree of
physical, mental & social wellbeing of workers in all
occupations (WHO & ILO, 1950 & revised in 1995).

4. A branch of preventive medicine with some
therapeutic function (Royal College of Physicians,
1978).
It begins as Industrial Medicine then it develops to
Occupational Medicine then to Occupational and
Environmental Medicine.

5. 1- Health promotion for workers & proper
prevention & ttt.
2- Work environment & its adverse effects on
workers’ health
3- Health problems of workers at any
workplace

6. More than 2,000,000 people die from work-
related accidents or disease every year,
equivalent to 1 death every 15 seconds.
Progress in bringing occupational health to
the industrializing countries is painfully slow.
In the poorest countries, there has been no
progress at all.

7. What are the differences between
occupational medicine & clinical
medicine?

9.  It is a disease arising out of or during the course of
employment and its cause present in the
occupation (e.g. silicosis).
Why its diagnosis is very critical?
1) Worker has the right to receive medical care at the
expense of the employer.
2) Worker has the right for paid sick leave.
3) If disability occurs, the worker has the right for
compensation.

10. Some diseases are not specially caused by
exposures on job, but they are
aggravated by occupational stressors.
 so it can be found in the general
population (e.g. hypertension).
Work-related disease

12.  Essentially preventive functions
 Responsible for advising employers &
workers in the undertaking of the
requirements for establishing & maintaining
a safe & healthy working environment,
which will facilitate optimal physical,
mental & social health in relation to work
 Adjustment of the worker to work & work
to the worker.

13.  ILO estimates that only 5-10% of workers in
developing countries & 20-50% of those in
industrialized countries have access to adequate
OHSs.
 Levels of OHS coverage have not changed
significantly over the last 10 years.

14. Group
OHSs
Company-
based OHSs
Free-
standing OH
Clinics
OHSs
Delivered by
PHC
Physicians
Hospital-
based OHSs

15. Supplementary
H&S
professionals
(Employees, External
contract workers, or
Consultants.)
Core staff
• Physical therapists.
• Biostatisticians.
• Epidemiologists.
• Safety engineers.
• Ergonomists.
• Toxicologists.
• Psychologists.
• O.Physicians
• O.Nurses
• O.Hygienists.

16. - - Prevent occupational injuries & diseases (employee
education, health promotion & Biological monitoring).
- - Manage medical conditions (Diagnosis, ttt & rehabilitation).
- - Designing & implementing OH program
- Identify potential hazards in the workplace by performing
qualitative & quantitative health hazard assessments
“Environmental monitoring”.
Role of OHS core staff :

18. Demonstrate OHSs & OH team
responsible for providing these
services?

19. Prevention & control of
Occupational hazards

20. Engineering measures
Hygienic measures
Administrative
measures
Medical
measures
Personal
measures

21.  Elimination
 Substitution
 Segregation & Isolation “Time or Place”
 Enclosure “Machine Guarding”
 Good ventilation (General “natural or artificial” or Local)
 Good illumination.

29.  Environment monitoring (Air sampling).
 Housekeeping.
 Waste disposal.
 Sanitary facilities (Washing, Changing clothes).

35.  Work schedule “reduce time & no. of exposure”
 Supervision
 Hazard communication “Right to Know” (Material
Safety Data Sheet “MSDS”)
 Propaganda for safety (posters)

40.  Health promotion: Workplace Wellness Education
WWE “Nutrition + Exercise + Substance abuse +
Smoking + Infectious diseases + Stress”
 Health education: early symptoms & signs of ODs.
 Medical examinations.
 Early ttt of diagnosed ODs.
 1st aid ttt of any occupational injuries.
 Keeping full medical records.

42. - Put the suitable worker in the suitable process.
- Base-line data about workers' health status
- Detection of any deviation on subsequent periodic
medical exam.

43. Occupational disease can be identified in its early stage to
prevent progression of the abnormal physiologic condition
It includes:
a- Occupational history.
b- Clinical examination.
c- Laboratory investigations
d- Biologic monitoring: early detection of any disturbed
physiologic function

46.  Law specifies the periodicity of the exam. for workers in
each work or job.
 It is either every 6 Ms or every 2 Ys depending on duration
of exposure needed to develop the occupational disease.
 Workers may be temporally or permanently removed from
further exposure or may be advised to continue work.
 48 occupational diseases in the Egyptian law.

47.  Training
 Personal hygiene
 Personal Protective Equipment “PPE”

50.  Minimize or prevent the disability.
 Retraining the disabled worker for a new job suitable for
his new physical & mental capacities.
 Compensation of disabled workers after evaluation of the
disability resulted from occupational disease (48 in
Egyptian Law) or accident & giving him some privileges.