Workplace Health and Safety: Understanding Risks and Prevention
Work and Health: Understanding the Relationship
Work directly affects health, both positively and negatively.
- Positive: Work can provide economic stability, personal development, mental stimulation, independence, and satisfaction.
- Negative: Work can lead to occupational diseases (e.g., stress, depression) and accidents.
World Health Organization (WHO) Definition of Health
Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Employer Responsibilities for Worker Safety
Companies must take the necessary measures to prevent all work-related risks.
Prevention in the Workplace
Prevention is the set of activities or measures adopted in all phases of a company’s activity to avoid or reduce work-related risks.
Understanding Workplace Risk
Risk is the possibility that a worker suffers harm from a particular work-related hazard.
Groups of Working Conditions That May Cause Risks
- General Characteristics of Premises: Examples include inadequate workspaces, unsafe ladders, and faulty machinery.
- Nature of Physical, Chemical, and Biological Agents: Examples include excessive noise, vibration, inadequate lighting, and exposure to harmful substances.
- Workload and Content: Examples include heavy physical loads and responsibilities of senior executives.
Conditions Influencing Risk Generation
Certain working conditions can significantly influence the generation of risks. When these conditions are not adequately managed, they can pose a risk to worker health.
Work-Related Accidents According to Social Security
A work-related accident is any bodily injury that a worker suffers as a result of work performed for others.
Basic Elements for an Accident to be Considered Work-Related
- Bodily injury
- Work as an employee
- Causal relationship between the injury and the work performed
Assumptions Considered as Work-Related Accidents
- Accidents suffered while commuting to or from work.
- Accidents suffered while performing duties related to union or management roles.
- Accidents occurring during tasks performed outside of the usual professional scope, but under the employer’s orders or in rescue acts.
- Common diseases aggravated by a work-related injury.
Causes of Work-Related Accidents
- Technical Factor: Defects in the work environment, machinery, safety devices, and guards at the premises.
- Human Factor: Negligence, ignorance, dismissal, lack of information, and inadequate training.
- Joint Factor: A combination of both technical and human factors.
Occupational Diseases
Occupational disease is an injury or impairment of health caused by physical, chemical, or biological agents present in the workplace.
Elements for an Illness to be Considered Occupational
- The work is performed for others.
- The illness is a result of agents specified in the schedule of occupational diseases established by Royal Decree 1995/1998 of May 12, 1914.
Groups of Occupational Diseases
- Diseases caused by chemical agents.
- Skin diseases.
- Diseases caused by inhalation of substances.
- Infectious and parasitic diseases.
- Diseases caused by physical agents.
- Systematic diseases.
Fatigue in the Workplace
Fatigue is the decreased physical and mental capacity of a worker.
Symptoms
Headache, dizziness, insomnia, irritability, and depression.
Prevention
Implementing appropriate pauses and frequencies based on the characteristics of the work.
Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction is the positive feeling a worker experiences when their work meets their needs and expectations.
Job dissatisfaction can occur when the compensation received does not match the effort exerted for the company.
Workplace Stress
Stress occurs when the demands of the work environment exceed a worker’s capacity to cope.
Symptoms
Feelings of helplessness, anxiety, depression, aggression, and frustration.
Causes of Stress
- Physical Hazards: Extreme temperatures, excessive noise.
- Psychological Risks: Decision-making pressures, work overload.
- Emotional Factors: Fear, guilt.
Consequences
Stress can lead to various health problems and decreased productivity.
Premature Aging
Premature aging is a natural process affecting all living organisms. In humans, it can be accelerated by work-related factors.
Causes
Exposure to certain working conditions can accelerate the normal aging process.
Preventative Techniques
- Workplace Safety
- Industrial Hygiene
- Ergonomics
- Psychology
- Occupational Medicine
Each technique aims to address specific aspects of workplace health and safety.
Law Governing Occupational Risk Prevention
Law 31/1995 of November 8 on Occupational Risk Prevention.
Employer Obligations
General Obligations
- Ensure the safety and health of workers.
- Adapt all necessary measures to comply with the terms set.
Specific Obligations
- Plan the prevention of work-related risks.
- Provide appropriate work equipment and individual protective equipment.
- Provide information, consultation, and participation opportunities for workers.
- Establish emergency measures.
- Monitor worker health.
- Maintain proper documentation.
- Ensure coordination of safety measures.
- Provide special protection for sensitive groups.