Occupational Health Blog

This blog is moved to new address

2018-10-04T09:50:00.001+05:30

New Address

https://www.ohsclub.com/

Please visit the new website for new features and updates. The new website contains all the posts from this blog and much more. This has been done to facilitate a better user participation.

Tetanus Awareness Poster

2018-09-29T21:51:00.000+05:30

Hi all,
Now, You can download the Tetanus awareness poster below for educating your employees.

Download Here

Download De-addiction case sheet ( form )

2018-09-29T21:21:00.001+05:30

Hi all,
If you are planning to run a de-addiction program in your organization, you may be in need of a de-addiction form. You can download the form below.

Download Here

Factories Rules Legal Compliance Monitoring Sheet

2018-09-26T02:22:00.001+05:30

Hi all,
One of the core job of a Factory Medical Officer is to complying with the applicable legal requirements as mentioned in Factories Act 1948, Karnataka Factories Rules 1969, Mines Act 1952, Mines Rules 1955, Biomedical waste rules etc... In order to monitor the compliance systematically, I have made an monitoring sheet. Please download below.

Download Here

Karnataka Factories Rules Compliance

Download First Aid Box Leaflet

2018-09-26T02:16:00.003+05:30

Hi all,
As per rules, we need to display a leaflet near all the First Aid Boxes. I have prepared a leaflet. You can please download it from the attachments.

Download Here

First Aid Box Leaflet

KUDUwave Audiometers eliminates need of an audiometry booth

2018-09-26T02:11:00.000+05:30

Hi al,
In many occupational health centers, there is no proper infrastructure (audiometric soundbooth)for conducting agood quality audiometry test. KUDUwave Audiometers eliminates need of an audiometric sound booth. The headset has an inbuilt soundproof attachment. It gives quality results.

Contact for KUDUwave audiometry services
Sai Prasad G
Director
Hearing Health Care Clinic AS
Bangalore
9964497543
http://www.hearingc.com/

Use of Dix-Hallpike test (Nylen–Barany test) for employees working at height - Vertigo

2018-09-26T02:04:00.003+05:30

Hi all,

If any employees has BPP Vertigo, it is dangerous for him to work at height. So, this has to be ruled ot by conducting Dix-Hallpike test. If test found positive, it is better to avoid him for work at height.

Performing Dix-Hallpike test

And Epley Manuever to treat BPPV

Medical Instruments Calibartion Services in Bangalore

2018-09-26T02:02:00.002+05:30

Hi all, It is important for us to maintain a correctly working medical instruments to give better health services. So, calibration is necessary. I am listing few agencies who are doing medical instruments calibration in Bangalore. If you know any other agencies, please mention in the comment sections and also, please review their services.

1. TBS INDIA Telematic & Biomedical Services Pvt Ltd.
5th Floor, Arden Fair Opp Benniganahalli Ring Road Flyover,
Pai Layout, Near Tin Factory, Old Madras Road,
Bangalore Karnataka 560016 India
Tel: 080 – 40545050 , 080 - 4113 4491
Fax: +91 80 4054 5055
Email: info@tbs-india.com
Visit us at : http://www.tbs-india.com/contactus

2. Helix Private Limited
#878, 17th Cross, 9th B Main Rd, Prasanti Nagar, ISRO Layout, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560078
Phone: 080-26860687 / 89
Fax: 080-26860692
E-mail: mail@helixindia.com
Visit us at : www.helixindia.com

3. TRANSCAAL ENGINEERS INDIA PVT LTD
REGD : OFF.Building No.96/1-1,
Shubhashree, 1st floor,
Near post Office,
East Park Road, 9th cross,
Between Sampige Road & Margosa Road,
Malleshwaram,Bangalore-560003
P: 080-23362266
Visit us at : http://www.tepl.info/

Adult vaccines

2018-09-21T00:18:00.000+05:30

Hi all,
Prevention is better than cure. So, lets share view on adult vaccines which are helpful in industrial workers. Few of the vaccines which are in regular used are:
1. Tetanus vaccine for all
2. Hepatitis B vaccine for health workers
3. Typhoid vaccines for canteen workers

Please share your suggestion for any additional vaccinations.

Review of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Software for Occupational Health Centers

2018-09-21T00:12:00.000+05:30

Hi all,
Occupational health is mainly focussed on preventive & promotive health. For prevention of a diseases, we need to know lots of trends and other data. We can manage these easily with Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Software. There are few EMR software available for occupational health management. If you are using any of them please post a review of them.

1. CHIRAYU: Comprehensive Occupational Health Management Software by RASS technologies.

http://rasstechnologies.com/

2. OCCUCARE: Occupational Health Management Solution OccuCare product

http://www.occucare.co.in/occupational-health/software

3. ASKEHS: Health Management Software

https://www.ask-ehs.com/software/employ ... ement.html

Basic tests for Pre-Employment Medical Examination

2018-09-21T00:08:00.002+05:30

Hi all,
I am posting common tests to be conducted for various categories of workers during pre-employment medical examination. Share your views please. You can download the copy in attachment.

Download Here

What to look for in an Industrial Survey

2018-09-20T19:53:00.005+05:30

Hi all,

Periodical medical examination provides the health status of employees in an organization but its usefulness cannot be utilized to the full extent without the knowledge of the work environment. Moreover, periodical medical examination results will be normal initially due to the slow progress of occupational diseases. Therefore relying completely on medical examination reports is not enough in the quest for the prevention of occupational diseases. The situation calls for a direct assessment of the workplace by an occupational health physician to anticipate and early detection of occupational diseases even before it starts appearing in the periodical medical examination reports. The process of direct assessment of workplace in an industry can be termed as the Industrial survey.

Industrial survey and periodical medical examination should always go hand in hand, without the support of each other the outcome of whole occupational health services will not bear fruit.

Once the industrial survey is conducted, based on observations, recommendations are framed for eliminating window for occupational diseases. As mentioned elsewhere the implementation of recommendations again calls for the integrated approach from various disciplines of the organization for an effective outcome.

Below mentioned are the general guidelines about what to look for during the industrial survey:

1. Study of the department: Understanding the process / Chemicals used / raw materials / finished products / byproducts.

2. Observations

a. General view
b. Levels of chemicals in air /dust in air/ Gases in air/ Noise/Heat
c. Working condition of employees

i. Working hours
ii. Sickness Absenteeism
iii. Overtime duty
iv. Stress
v. Food quality /canteen quality
vi. Availability drinking water
vii. Shift duties
viii. Actions taken for the already existing occupational diseases
ix. Abiding by Karnataka Factories Rules1969/ Factories Act 1948 with respect to occupational diseases

d. Identification of possible occupational diseases
e. Health records correlation with work environment
f. Ergonomics with respect to body posture during work
g. Awareness of occupational diseases among employees
h. Classes conducted for creating awareness among employees

i. Occupational diseases and its prevention
ii. Health Education
iii. First Aid Training

j. Injury data
k. Employees opinion

3. Conclusion
4. Recommendations
5. Abstract

Analysis of health records to arrive at community diagnosis

2018-09-20T19:53:00.002+05:30

Hi all,

No activity is complete without an analysis of results and applying it for the improvement. Periodical medical examination data should be thoroughly analyzed and compared with different departments, age group, process, socioeconomic background etc… to arrive at a community diagnosis.

A community is a cluster of people with at least one common characteristic feature (department, designation, age group, socioeconomic status, type of job, geographic location, country etc...) A group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society comprises a community.

Community diagnosis generally refers to the identification and quantification of health problems in a community as a whole

Importance of community diagnosis

1. It helps in finding common problems (occupational diseases) in a community which in turn can be used effectively to prevent occupational diseases.

2. Treating community as a whole is more effective in prevention of occupational diseases rather than treating on individual basis, because, while treating the affected individual, the remaining members of the same community will be having exposure to the same risk factors as the affected individual is and ultimately they too will be affected by the same disease.

E.g. Dust prone areas like RMHS department is having high levels of coal dust in the air and the employees working there are having respiratory problems and diagnosed to be having anthracosis. Corrective measures will be;
a) As per individual case management: The affected person is shifted to non-dusty areas, medical treatment is given and a new employee is posted in his place as a replacement. Co-workers and the new employee remain exposed to high coal dust. Eventually, they also get the same disease.
b) As per community approach: The particular part of RMHS department is considered as a risk zone and all the employees working in the area are considered “at risk”. So measures will be initiated to protect all the employees by implementing engineering control to reduce the coal dust level in the air, providing proper PPE’s and making strict guidelines regarding the protection of workers. Meanwhile, treatment is also started for those who are already affected. So here both the affected and at-risk people are protected. Thereby no new case of the disease will occur. In medical terms, both prevalence and incidence are reduced.
Therefore making community diagnosis and community approach while treating is of paramount importance for preventing occupational diseases.

3. Helps in preventing a healthy individual in the same community from being affected by the same risk factor.

4. Helps in secondary and tertiary prevention of those who are already affected.

5. It can be used for primordial prevention when an expansion of the plant is planned.

Once the analysis is completed a community diagnosis is made and recommendations are framed. These should be communicated to concerned authorities for initiation of actions to prevent occupational diseases. Communication is one of the most important steps for effective practicing of occupational health as the entire concept of occupational health revolves around the integrated approach.

Periodical Medical Examination

2018-09-20T19:52:00.002+05:30

Hi all,

The periodical medical examination is one of the most important activities of occupational health services after the employee joins the organization and utmost importance must be given for this key activity.

It serves many purposes;

1. For early detection of occupational diseases and deviation in the health of employees.

2. To find out the prevalence and incidence of occupational diseases

3. Trend analysis of health reports helps in identifying the cause of occupational diseases and thereby helps in framing recommendation to initiate preventive measures. Prevention may be at primary secondary or tertiary level.

4. Occupational health physician gets a chance to meet each and every employee in the organization. This meeting can be used for imparting health education and creating awareness about occupational diseases and its prevention at the individual level.

5. To measure the outcome of implemented programmes to protect and promote employee health.

6. As a part of complying with statutory requirement as per Karnataka factory rules 1969 88-L and Indian factories act 1948 41-C

Choosing tests, frequency and employee group

1. Hazardous substances and processes must be identified and studied in detail before selecting investigations to be done for the employees.

2. Thus identified tests must be conducted for all the employees in the organization irrespective of their exposure to risk. This will help in deciding whether the identified risk is causing occupational diseases or an occupational disease is caused by specific risk in doubt. If it is not possible to conduct all the tests for all employees in the organization, a fair number of control group must be used.

3. The periodical medical examination is to be conducted once in six months for employees working in hazardous factories and once in a year in case of nonhazardous factories as per Karnataka factory’s rules 1969 88-L. Hazardous factories are defined in schedule 2 of Indian factories act 1948. Examinations may have to be conducted at more frequent intervals if the occupational health physician feels so.

Thus obtained medical data is put into the analysis to find out the health status of employees and for framing recommendations to prevent occupational diseases if any.

Pre-Employment Medical Examination

2018-09-20T19:51:00.003+05:30

Hi all,

Every employee must undergo a pre-employment medical examination before joining the organization, as it serves two very important purposes namely,

1. To place the right man for the right job

2. Baseline medical data collected during the pre-employment medical examination will be compared to the data obtained during his stay in the organization for early detection of deviation from health.

Physical examination and battery of investigations are performed to assure the right man for the right job. Ideally, assessing fitness should be inclusive in nature rather than exclusion. While deciding a candidate’s fitness for a job, two factors are taken into consideration:

1. Long-term view – To protect employees from acquiring occupational diseases during their long-term stay in the organization.

2. Short-term view – To ensure the safety of the employee from day one after he joins the organization.

Many organizations give much importance to short-term view and completely neglect the long term view, thereby resulting in exposing the employees to various occupational diseases, which may prove fatal for employees, great financial burden and productivity loss for the organization.

Hazards existing at workplace needs to be identified and working environment is to be assessed by an occupational health physician to decide the nature of investigations to be conducted to assess the fitness of the desired candidate for that job.

Number and nature of tests will vary according to the working environment, work nature and the candidate himself.

Thus the identified tests will serve as a basis for screening purposes.

Screening a candidate will give three different outcomes while deciding a candidate’s fitness

• Fit: Those who are through with the screening tests and physical examination will be considered fit for the ‘particular’ job.

• Temporary unfit: Those who are not able to clear screening medical examination and tests are referred to a concerned specialist for further evaluation and a detailed report is obtained regarding a medical diagnosis, underlying pathology, and its severity. Based on the report, if the occupational health physician feels a candidate has a reversible medical condition which may be cured on its own or by medical intervention, he considers the candidate in temporary unfit state and reviews the candidate after a stipulated time or upon completion of treatment of the medical condition. If the candidate is already indulged in work, he may be asked to refrain from work even before the specialist opinion is taken, if the occupational health specialist feels so.

• Unfit: certificate for a particular job will be issued, if the occupational health physician feels that, the candidate or co-workers will be at risk if the candidate is allowed to work because of his prevailing medical condition. An occupational health physician is empowered to issue an unfit certificate or seek a specialist opinion. If the candidate is already indulged in work, he may be asked to refrain from work even before the specialist opinion is taken if the occupational health physician feels so.

The Concept of screening in pre-employment medical examination

Pre-employment medical examination basically screens the population for a specific job from the general population, so the nature of examinations and investigations should be more sensitive than specific. So the result of filtered out candidates may contain false positive but filtered in candidate should never be a false negative. Screening tests should be chosen in such a way that, it should ensure efficient filtering out the “not-so-fit” candidates rather than letting in the “may-be-fit” candidates. And filtered out candidates from screening tests are subjected to further investigations and specialist opinion, to justify or to nullify the decision of making him unfit for the job.

Importance of induction programme for an occupational health physician

2018-09-20T19:51:00.000+05:30

Hi all,

All organizations are not the same. Each and every organization have different types of raw materials, finished products, byproducts, effluents, processes, employees, administrators, occupational diseases, spoken language, working culture etc.… As the whole idea of occupational health revolves around integrated approach, it is important for an occupational health specialist to understand the various factors mentioned above before making any major change.

Apart from that, from a technical point of view, it is important for an occupational health physician to understand the various processes, raw materials, finished products, byproducts, and effluents, for identifying hazards prevailing in work environment thereby planning for relevant investigations to be conducted during the pre, periodical and post-employment medical examination for framing recommendations to prevent occupational diseases.

Also, it is impossible for an occupational health physician to analyze, make a community diagnosis and frame recommendations without the knowledge of shop floor activities, processes, raw materials, byproducts, finished products, and effluents.

Therefore all occupational health physicians must undergo a detailed induction programme to get the basic idea of the organization and shop floor activities and chemical compounds used.

With the basic knowledge during the induction programme, an occupational health physician conducts industrial surveys at regular intervals to understand the work environment, its implications in causing the occupational diseases and framing recommendations.

Occupational Health - Goal and Aims

2018-09-20T19:50:00.002+05:30

Hi all,

For every organization setting the goal is of prime importance. Without setting a goal it is impossible to remain focused for a long time. The goal will be the ultimate and ideal situation to strive for, for which each and every person in the organization should share, understand and strive towards a common goal.

Below can be our defined goal and aims for the occupational medicine wing of the organization:

Goal- Betterment of health of employees all across the organization

Aim – Prevention of occupational diseases and Health Promotion

Once being defined as goal and aims, it implies that the entire activities of the occupational medicine wing will be planned in such a manner that each and every activity will lead to achieving the same. Objectives are defined from time to time to achieve the goal.

Goal mentioned here will be a continuous process and will never be completed at any point of time. Only constant improvements are considered as the department or organization is moving towards the right direction. And achieving objectives can also be considered in the same fashion.

As the goal is continuous in nature, which is achieved by many means and basically it will be the result of an integrated approach from various departments of the organization as discussed in the previous chapter, we restrict ourselves to medical means of achieving it and supporting others whenever necessary. Hence we mainly consider prevention of occupational health diseases and promotion of health is a way of contributing to it and set the same as our aim.

Integrated Approach towards better Occupational Health at workplace

2018-09-20T19:49:00.002+05:30

Hi all,

World Health Organization (WHO) definition of health,

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. Therefore Occupational health can be considered as maintaining the highest degree of the physical, mental and social well-being of workers in any occupation according to the International labor organization (ILO).

It is clear from the ILO definition that, occupational health cannot be achieved only by means of physical well-being. Mental and social well-being also bears an equal weightage in deciding the person’s health, which breaks the myth that, health as an isolated entity exclusively confined to doctors. This extends the responsibility to other equally important disciplines in the organization. On the whole, maintaining the health of employees at workplace calls for what is called as the integrated approach for an effective way to achieve occupational health.

Integrated approach

While working for achieving occupational health in an organization through an integrated approach; occupational medicine, occupational safety, occupational hygiene, and administrative departments play an equally vital role in decision making and anchoring, while all others remain actively participated and contribute. Thus the health of the organization is a reflection of collective contribution, knowledge, and attitude of each and every person in the organization, though the onus, success or failure lies on anchoring departments due to their vital role of coordination, persuasion and providing resources. The interdisciplinary concept for occupational health makes various departments in the organization to intersect at various points on the way to achieve occupational health instead of running parallel.

Download Form-O Certificate of Fitness as per Mines Rules 1955

2018-09-18T19:32:00.003+05:30

Hi all,
If you are working in mines in India, you need to give certificate of fitness in Form-O after Pre-employment or Periodical medical examination. You can download the Form-O below.

Download Here

Download Mines Act 1952 & Mines Rules 1955 Amended till 1983

2018-09-13T20:09:00.000+05:30

Hi all,
Those who are working in mines in India must know about the Mines Act 1952 & Mines Rules 1955. Please download the pdf format of the same here in the attachments.

Download Mines Act 1952 Here

Download Mines Rules 1955 Here

Download Certificate of Fitness Form-4 Karnataka Factories Rules

2018-09-13T19:58:00.000+05:30

Hi all,
Fitness of employees working in hazardous processes is to be issued in Form-4 as per the Karnataka Factories Rules-1969. You can download it here in the attachments. I have given it in both pdf and .docx formats.

Download pdf format here

Ideal OHC Dashboard

2018-09-12T19:49:00.005+05:30

Hi all,
Many occupational health physicians wonder what we should be doing in OHC?, what are long term targets?, How to measure improvement in employees's health? etc..

In order to answer these questions I have prepared a IDEAL OHC DASHBOARD in which, the long term goals are set. We have to make many programs, plans to achieve these goals.

Download here

Excel sheet for presbycusis (age factor) correction in audiometry using Robinson Sutton Formula

2018-09-11T21:50:00.003+05:30

Hi all,
Please use attached excel sheet to calculate the presbycusis (age factor) correction in audiometery readings. I have tried to make the calculations simpler. It will be useful if somebody ask if downward(worsening) trend in audiometry is because of age or due to noise. We may have to discount age factor. We may have to keep this in mind while analysing audiometry results.

Download the Excel Sheet Here

Download the book here

Canteen Survey Checklist

2018-09-09T01:12:00.000+05:30

Hi all,
It is difficult to remeber what are the points to be looked when conducting canteen survey. To ease this situation, I have made a checklist. Please go through & use.

Download Here

Know these facts about Bio-medical waste disposal from OHC

2018-09-09T00:59:00.002+05:30

Steps for disposing biomedical waste

1. Enroll with the Polltion Control Board(PCB) for generating BioMedical Waste by submitting an application in Form-2.

2. PCB will provide authorization Form-3

3. Enroll with the PCB authorized Common BioMedical Waste Treatment Facility for disposing off the biomedical waste generated in the OHC

4. Store BioMedical waste in color coded waste bins as per schedule 2 of the BioMedical Waste Rules 2016

5. BioMedical waste should be handed over to the treatment facility for disposal within 48 hours of generation

6. Maitain waste generation and diposal register. Signature of the person collected the waste to be taken on the register.

7. Submit Annual report to PCB in Form-4 before June 30th.

8. Publish Annual Report in the company website also.

9. Submit a report of any injuries happened while handling biomedical waste to the PCB in Form-1 along with annual report. The injury report should be submitted even if no injuries have happened.

BioMedical Rules

4. Duties of the Occupier

It shall be the duty of every occupier to-

a) take all necessary steps to ensure that bio-medical waste is handled without any adverse effect to human health and the environment and in accordance with these rules;

b) make a provision within the premises for a safe, ventilated and secured location for storage of segregated biomedical waste in colored bags or containers in the manner as specified in Schedule I, to ensure that there shall be no secondary handling, pilferage of recyclables or inadvertent scattering or spillage by animals and the bio-medical waste from such place or premises shall be directly transported in the manner as prescribed in these rules to the common bio-medical waste treatment facility or for the appropriate treatment and disposal, as the case may be, in the manner as prescribed in Schedule I;

c) pre-treat the laboratory waste, microbiological waste, blood samples and blood bags through disinfection or sterilisation on-site in the manner as prescribed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) or National AIDs Control Organisation (NACO) guidelines and then sent to the common bio-medical waste treatment facility for final disposal;

d) phase out use of chlorinated plastic bags, gloves and blood bags within two years from the date of notification of these rules;

e) dispose of solid waste other than bio-medical waste in accordance with the provisions of respective waste management rules made under the relevant laws and amended from time to time;

f) not to give treated bio-medical waste with municipal solid waste;

g) provide training to all its health care workers and others, involved in handling of bio medical waste at the time of induction and thereafter at least once every year and the details of training programmes conducted, number of personnel trained and number of personnel not undergone any training shall be provided in the Annual Report;

h) immunise all its health care workers and others, involved in handling of bio-medical waste for protection against diseases including Hepatitis B and Tetanus that are likely to be transmitted by handling of bio-medical waste, in the manner as prescribed in the National Immunisation Policy or the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued from time to time;

i) establish a Bar- Code System for bags or containers containing bio-medical waste to be sent out of the premises or place for any purpose within one year from the date of the notification of these rules;

j) ensure segregation of liquid chemical waste at source and ensure pre-treatment or neutralisation prior to mixing with other effluent generated from health care facilities;

k) ensure treatment and disposal of liquid waste in accordance with the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 ( 6 of 1974);

l) ensure occupational safety of all its health care workers and others involved in handling of biomedical waste by providing appropriate and adequate personal protective equipments;

m) conduct health check up at the time of induction and at least once in a year for all its health care workers and others involved in handling of bio- medical waste and maintain the records for the same;

n) maintain and update on day to day basis the bio-medical waste management register and display the monthly record on its website according to the bio-medical waste generated in terms of category and colour coding as specified in Schedule I;

o) report major accidents including accidents caused by fire hazards, blasts during handling of biomedical waste and the remedial action taken and the records relevant thereto, (including nil report) in Form I to the prescribed authority and also along with the annual report;

p) make available the annual report on its web-site and all the health care facilities shall make own website within two years from the date of notification of these rules;

q) inform the prescribed authority immediately in case the operator of a facility does not collect the bio-medical waste within the intended time or as per the agreed time;

r) establish a system to review and monitor the activities related to bio-medical waste management, either through an existing committee or by forming a new committee and the Committee shall meet once in every six months and the record of the minutes of the meetings of this committee shall be submitted along with the annual report to the prescribed authority and the healthcare establishments having less than thirty beds shall designate a qualified person to review and monitor the activities relating to bio-medical waste management within that establishment and submit the annual report;

s) maintain all record for operation of incineration, hydro or autoclaving etc., for a period of five years;

t) existing incinerators to achieve the standards for treatment and disposal of bio-medical waste as specified in Schedule II for retention time in secondary chamber and Dioxin and Furans within two years from the date of this notification.