What is the use of occupational health?

• April 29, 2024

The indifference to the Health and security of workers has been a common feature of ancient and modern societies until fairly recent times. Karl Marx's description of the subhuman conditions of nineteenth-century factories is an example of this. It was not until the beginning of World War II that the importance of occupational health and the importance acquired by the health status of the workers in order to adequately meet the demands generated by the conflict was understood. Decades have passed and, nevertheless, incredible stories of labor exploitation continue to this day.

What an employee should expect

According to the Trade Union Institute of Labor, Environment and Health (ISTAS) of Spain, it is desirable that occupational health be built in an adequate environment, with fair conditions, where workers can develop an activity with dignity and where its participation is possible for the improvement of health and safety conditions. You can prevent work from harming your health, and it is your business obligation to do so: the so-called "accidents" and work-related illnesses are avoidable if proper prevention is adopted, they say in ISTAS.

Some of the most important health and prevention factors

• Work places : the location, the design, the material structure and the elements that make up the buildings are factors that condition the health, safety and well-being of the workers
• Work equipment in good condition : that is, any machine, device, instrument or installation used at work must not represent a danger to workers
• illumination : inadequate at work can cause eye fatigue, fatigue, headache, stress and accidents. In addition, it can be the cause of harmful postures that generate, in the long run, musculoskeletal disorders
• Microclimate : temperature, humidity and ventilation in the workplace is important. The vast majority of spaces can and should have a comfortable environment. The legislation provides that the microclimate inside the company is as pleasant as possible and, in any case, appropriate to the human body and the type of activity developed.
• Working with data visualization screens . Any workplace where a team with a display screen (whether a computer or surveillance with screens) is usually used and during a relevant part of the day is subject to well-defined risks and which must be prevented
• Shift work and the night shift they demand to keep the active organism at times when it needs rest, and vice versa. In addition, the shifts place the worker and the worker outside the guidelines of family and social life. All this causes a triple imbalance between working time, biological time and social time.

Occupational health is essential for the lives of workers.

Video Medicine: Spend the morning with an occupational therapy student (April 2024).