ESH 231 Occupational Hygiene

Qtn: Risk management is an

important component of
occupational hygiene. Elaborate[25]
ANESUISHE KAUNDA R226817Z
TSITSI VENGE R225559X
CHRIS MOYO R221557W
NASHELL MUTENDI R228950J
What is risk management?

 It is the process of identifying hazards, evaluating and analyzing risks

associated with those hazards, then taking action to reduce the
negative impact of hazards and risks.
 It is also the process of identifying, assessing, and controlling risks in
order to mitigate potential negative consequences.
 It is a formal process for identifying hazards, evaluating and analyzing
risks associated with those hazards, then taking action to eliminate
the hazards or control the risks that can’t be eliminated to minimize
injury and illness
 Risk management is an important and essential component of
occupational hygiene that involves identifying potential hazards and
developing strategies to mitigate or eliminate them.
What is occupational hygiene?

 It is the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, control and prevention

of hazards in the workplace and it promotes a safe and healthy
environment by providing information and advice on prevention of ill-
health from work activities.
 The science devoted to recognition, evaluation and control of hazards
arising in or from the workplace, which could impair the health and
well being of people at work, while also taking into account the
possible impacts on the general environment.
 The field of occupational hygiene involves identifying and managing
workplace risks that can have a negative impact on the health and
well-being of employees and it is a proactive approach because it is
guided by its principles which are anticipating,recognizing,evaluating
and controlling.
Improved employee health and
safety
 The primary goal of risk management in occupational hygiene is to
reduce workplace hazards and the risk of employee injury or illness.
 In risk management, by identifying potential hazards and
implementing strategies to mitigate or eliminate them, organizations
can improve the health and safety of their employees, for instance,
identifying, evaluating, analyzing and controlling all types of hazards
such as the physical and biological hazards , which greatly affect the
employees’ health and cleanliness, helps achieve occupational
hygiene because physical hazards such as dust which accumulate dirt
will be controlled and biological hazards such as bacteria and fungi
will be controlled and reduced to a better level.
Better compliance with
regulations
 Effective risk management helps organizations to comply with occupational hygiene rules and
regulations to protect workers from occupational diseases and biological agents which are
unhygienic such as pests,vectors,rodents and insects.
 Risk management includes processes such as hazard identification, risk assessment, risk
mitigation and monitoring and evaluation. All these processes make it easier for a company or
organization to apply the hierarchy of control to workplace hazards which cause unhealthy
conditions and illnesses such as cholera, Influenza, pneumoconiosis and tuberculosis among
workers. So since most of the workplace hazards result in airborne diseases and water borne
diseases, if occupational hygiene is not practiced, it increases the chance of almost every
worker contracting the diseases since they are easily spread.
 So through the process of risk management, the spread of the water borne and airborne
diseases can be overcome by implementing a hierarchy of control which helps eliminate or
reduce hazards and risks associated with the occupational diseases, therefore promoting
occupational hygiene, which in turn leads to better compliance with the occupational hygiene
rules and regulations, since the risk management processes abide by the rules and regulations,
thus making risk management an essential aspect of occupational hygiene.
Reduced costs

 Workplace injuries and illnesses can result in significant costs for

organizations, including medical expenses, lost productivity and legal fees.
 Effective risk management can help organizations reduce these costs by
preventing accidents and illnesses which lead to unhygienic work
environments, from occurring in the first place.
 Since risk management leads to the prevention and occurrence of
accidents and illnesses in the workplace, therefore reducing costs, it helps
promote occupational hygiene because accidents such as ,cuts, burns and
heavy nose bleeding due to hard blows, which lead to the attraction of flies
and other pests to the site, will be recognized, evaluated and controlled. So
this in turn shows that risk management is an important component of
occupational hygiene ,as it helps control the unhygienic and unsafe agents
which lead to accidents, injuries and illnesses among workers in their work
environment, thus reducing costs.
Improved morale and
productivity
 Risk management helps employees feel safe and healthy in their work
environment, therefore making them more likely to be productive and
motivated.

 Risk management helps promote a culture of a safe and healthy

workplace because it helps identify,evaluate,analyze and control hazards
such as chemical, physical and biological hazards in the work
environment, and this in turn leads to occupational hygiene, and
therefore through this, organizations can improve employee morale and
productivity. This shows that risk management is an essential component
of occupational hygiene because it helps follow the principles of
occupational hygiene since the risk management processes work hand in
hand with the occupational hygiene principles, which in turn boosts the
employee morale and productivity.
Forecasts probable issues

 Companies and organizations that tend to focus more on risk

management tend to be more proactive as compared to other
companies which can be reactive.
 This shows that risk management promotes occupational hygiene
because it helps identify negative issues which may lead to serious
injuries, accidents and illnesses among workers in advance and
therefore come up with mitigatory measures before they occur.
 So this shows that risk management is a very valid component of
occupational hygiene because it helps anticipate,recognize,evaluate
and control probable issues before they become more serious or
before they occur, therefore making it a proactive process just like
the occupational hygiene procedure.
Involvement and engagement of
team members
 Risk management leads to more engaged team members because
there will be a low labor turnover and less workers will be moving out
of the company or organization in search of greener pastures, such as
looking for safer and more hygienic work environments and there will
be reduced absenteeism because their current workplaces will be
having occupational hygiene due to the application of the hierarchy
of risk control and the use of processes of risk management,
therefore indicating that risk management must be included in
achieving occupational hygiene.
Boosts company’s image and
reputation
 By demonstrating a commitment to providing a safe and healthy workplace,
employers can enhance their brand and attract and retain top talent, through
applying risk management.
 If organizations or companies, such as fast food companies, such as KFC and
Steers apply or conduct risk management, it helps promote and achieve
occupational hygiene because through risk management, employees are aware
of the importance of the use of PPE whilst working, hygienic practices to be
done whilst working and also it lets them know the positive outcomes of
promoting occupational hygiene.
 Thereby ,if all these measures and methods are implemented in an
organization or company ,it helps attract external customers and gain their
trust and loyalty because they will be knowing that occupational hygiene in the
organization will be being practiced, due to risk management, therefore making
risk management an important component of occupational hygiene as it boosts
the company’s image and reputation.
Improved communication
between departments
 Risk communication is an essential component of risk management in
occupational hygiene.
 This involves communicating information about workplace hazards, risk
assessments and control measures to workers, managers and other stakeholders
in a clear and understandable manner.
 Effective risk communication can help to ensure that all stakeholders are aware of
the risks and are committed to implementing and following control measures.
 The indicated show that, communication barriers between departments are broken
as everyone at every stage will be involved in risk communication, successful risk
communication helps achieve occupational hygiene because if information about
any negative issue concerning the health and safety of workers, is spread and
shared to everyone in the organization without hesitation or fear ,everyone will
become aware swiftly and have the zeal to take action as there will be no
communication barriers according to level of departments, thereby making risk
management an important component of occupational hygiene.
Reduction of accident occurrences in
the company or organization

 By taking a risk based approach to risk management, projects are

more proactive than purely reactive, prevent or reduce undesired
effects, preventing accidents and illnesses from occurring in the first
place, thereby ensuring the health and safety of employees in the
workplace.
 This shows that risk management is a principal to occupational
hygiene because it helps create a work environment with lesser
accident occurrences and lesser ill-health practices which lead to the
accumulation of unhygienic and unsafe agents.
Promotes business efficiency

 Risk management enables project success ,by that employees can

reduce the likelihood and severity of potential project risks by
identifying them early.
 If something does go wrong, there will already be an action plan in
place to handle it. This helps employees prepare for unexpected
events and maximize project outcomes, this then results in a more
effective and efficient business system because there will be
production of desired results without the waste of time and energy to
attend to the unexpected events.
 This promotes occupational hygiene because, a more efficient
business system resulting from risk management means that there will
be lesser injury, hazard and casualty occurences,thereby highlighting
that risk management is a critical component of occupational hygiene
Attraction of investors and
sponsors
 If stakeholders, sub contractors, contractors and sponsors know that
a certain organization has promoted effective risk management, it
will attract them because most of them will be wanting to support a
more organized and efficient company or organization free from high
accident occurrences among workers and a company with a safe and
healthy culture, which promotes occupational hygiene.
 Risk management is therefore a very critical component of
occupational hygiene because it helps reduce the accumulation of
hazards in the workplace and increases safety and health among
workers,thereby leading to the attraction of more investors and
sponsors due to the employees’ health status.
Ensures appropriate hygiene
measures to be put in place
 Risk management can promote occupational hygiene by ensuring
that appropriate hygiene measures are in place at the workplace.
 This can include regular cleaning, appropriate equipment and
adequate training for workers on proper hygiene.
 Moreover, by implementing effective risk management
strategies,organisations create a safer and healthier work
environment for workers,thereby ,making risk management a key
component of occupational hygiene.
Helps to identify hazards in the
workplace
 Risk management helps to quickly identify problems like biological
hazards and promote occupational hygiene by establishing a systematic
approach to identifying potential hazards and implementing strategies to
mitigate their impacts.
 In terms of biological hazards, risk management involves identifying
potential areas where employees may conduct biological substances e.g
bacteria, viruses and fungi, hence risk assessments are conducted to
determine the potential and severity of exposure to these hazards.
 As a result risk management strategies are developed to help prevent
the exposure such as providing PPE(personal protective equipment) and
implementation of strict hygiene protocols. This in turn shows that risk
management is an essential aspect of occupational hygiene.
Enhancement of continuous
improvement
 Risk management can lead to continuous improvement in an
organization by helping to identify potential risks and hazards and then
developing strategies to address them.
 This can include developing processes and procedures to reduce the
probability of risks occurring, as well as identifying opportunities to
improve the organization’s operations hence companies ensure that they
are continually improving ,risk management helps increase the
awareness of dangerous risks and hazards, their negative impacts and
measures across the organization, in order to achieve occupational
hygiene.
 This reveals that risk management is consequential in occupational
hygiene because its’ features such as risk assessment and risk
monitoring greatly contribute to the advancement of occupational
hygiene.
Conclusion

 Effective risk management is essential in ensuring the health and

safety of employees in the workplace to promote occupational
hygiene.
 Workplace hazards can result in injuries, illnesses and even fatalities,
which can have a significant impact on an organization’s productivity
and bottom line, therefore affecting the work environment by
accumulating unhygienic and unsafe agents in the area.
 By implementing strategies to identify, assess and mitigate or
eliminate workplace hazards, organizations can improve employee
health and safety by training them on how to be hygienic and how to
execute their tasks safely, comply with regulations, reduce costs and
improve morale and productivity.
THANK YOU FOR ATTENTION!!!