Occupational Health and Workers’ Well-Being

Discuss about the Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome Management.

Occupational health is concerned with the health and well being of workers while they are at their work places. Treating and managing illnesses and injuries that may arise from the work environment is key to the well being of workers. Creating a work place that ensures that such environments pose the least risk to health of those in and around it is even more important. In a nutshell, occupational health revolves around the areas of study and practice mentioned above. This branch of medicine has evolved to become very important in the modern days. According to Lawrence (2017), though some of the conditions take a short time to present signs and symptoms, other may take years before they are realized.  For that reason, the best practice would be continuously monitoring the work environment to identify any potential risks. While some of these conditions can be treated, there are others who cause irreversible damage (Reese, 2015). There is a huge number of persons who are part of the workforce around the globe. For this reason, governments continuously come up with legislation aimed at ensuring optimal health at the work. The construction industry is one key area that injuries are prevalent. One of the contemporary health hazard in the industry is Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome. This essay is going to discuss how the health hazard manifests, the legislative requirements relating to the hazard and standard industry practice to minimize the hazard.

Extensive research has demonstrated a great association between the use of hand held vibrating devices and a condition known as Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HARS). Since these devices are mostly used in the construction industry, its workers are the ones mostly affected by this condition. According to Bovenzi (2016), this condition may lead to damage of the fingers, hand or arm if not detected and managed early. The longer the use of the devices the higher the chance of developing the condition. The probability also increases with the frequency of the vibrations. This condition manifests in three main ways. These are going to be discussed next. One is vascular injuries. This condition has been associated with paleness of the hands especially when it is cold. Vascular inuries are brought about constriction of capillaries due to damages caused by vibrations. Consequently, blood is not supplied to some regions of the fingers, hand or arm causing numbness (Goetsch, 2011). During the process of vasodilation, the affected individual experiences pain and discomfort when blood is being circulated to the areas that were not supplied. The second way through which the condition may manifest is through neurological injuries. Once the nerves are damaged, there is little that can be done to reverse the damage and mostly leads to disability. The affected individuals may find doing simple tasks a hard job due to lack of proper coordination (House et al, 2014). Early symptoms include numbness in the hand and fingers. Another common form of neurological injuries is the carpal tunnel syndrome.

Manifestation of Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome

The third main way through which this condition manifests are musculoskeletal injuries. These involve the musculoskeletal system and some examples are arthritis and tendonitis. They result to weak hand grips and pain. Colby and Corwin (2017) argue that though there is not enough scientific evidence to explain the reduced hand grip, it is postulated that injury of nerves and muscle structures could be the cause.

The incidence of hand arm vibration syndrome varies significantly among individuals. To some, it may arise after only few years of exposure to vibrations while others may work for many years without reporting any signs or symptoms (House and Thompson, 2017). Once the syndrome is fully developed, neither medical nor surgical operations can reverse the condition (Fulford and Standing, 2014). The condition is more prevalent in young and middle-aged workers since they form most of the work force.

Most governments are very concerned with the health of the workers especially not do they form a substantial portion of the population, but they also contribute to the nation’s gross domestic product and contribute to government’s revenue through such methods as paying taxes. One of the measures of successful governments its ability to provide essential healthcare to its citizens at a reasonable price. Public health concerns are also taken seriously by governments. To ensure that injuries and illnesses arising from work environment are kept at the minimum achievable level, governments around the globe have put legislation in place regarding the same. As observed by Maddux (2016), when it comes to the work environments, that of construction poses significant health risks in and of itself. For this reason, most countries have legislation that guide the operations of the construction industry. An example of such legislation could be a law requiring that persons such as contractors and handlers of installation equipment adhere to good engineering practice. An example of an agency mandated with occupational health is the Occupational Health Administration (OSHA) of the United States. It is a government agency.

Work Health and Safety Act of 2011 outlines the legislation that relates to occupational health in Australia. The act covers provides guidelines and legislation on the conduct of construction companies among other industries. The focus here is going to be on section 26 of the act that specifically addresses the construction industry. The section outlines the duties and responsibilities of persons who conduct business or activities that involve installing, constructing or commissioning plants or structures. The section stipulates that such a person (with the duties outlined above) must ensure that in far as it is reasonably practicable that the plant or structure to be installed, commissioned or constructed does not pose any health hazard or risk to the following categories of people. The first group of people is those who are directly involved in the construction or installation of the structure or plant. Secondly, those who use the structure or the plant for purpose for which it was constructed, commissioned or installed. Thirdly, who carry out activities that are reasonably foreseeable at a work environment in relation to the appropriate use, dismantling, decommissioning, demolition or disposal of the plant/structure. The final group of people is those who might be at the vicinity of the structure. The last group of people are those who might happen to be near the structure.

Legislative Requirements Relating to HAVS

As seen above, the Work Health and Safety Act of 2011 addresses the needs of the construction industry in general. There are not yet any legislation that has been established for vibration. However, governments through their occupational health agencies provide advice and necessary information regarding how an individual dealing with vibrating devices can protect themselves to reduce the chances of developing Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome. Some of measures that are advised are going to be discussed next. First, is use of antivibration gloves. These gloves minimize the effects of vibration on the fingers, hand or arm (Australia, 2012). The second prevention technique is use of antivibration tools. This could involve use of tools that are specially designed to have low vibration effect or fitting some antivibration tools designed for that purpose. Employing safe working practices is the third way to prevent the syndrome. These practices include taking rests to avoid continuous exposure and visiting the doctor at the earliest spotting of the symptoms associated with the condition. The fourth and final way is to educate the workers about the syndrome and preventive measures. As demonstrated by Baum (2016), education leads to empowerment and significantly improves the chances of adoption of prevention measures.

Some threshold values have been set for exposure to hand-arm vibration syndrome. According to Bovenzi (2016), vibration exposure that has been found to be safe is acceleration of 5 metres/sec2 for a period of 8 hours daily. Within this exposure level, the chances of developing HAVS for most people is insignificant. Extensive research has demonstrated that if the exposure level is maintained at or below the levels above, then the chances of developing the syndrome are near zero for the largest proportion of the population (Griffin, 2012).

Conclusion

In conclusion, occupational health is the area of medicine concerned with the health and wellbeing of workers and the work environment. It is an important public health concern since each country has a significant proportion of the population as part of the workforce. The construction industry is a key industry of concern. Hand arm vibration is a condition associated with long term use of vibrating hand-held devices. It can be managed if diagnosed early but could lead to permanent disability in advanced stages especially if nerves are damaged. It manifests in three main ways: vascular injuries, neurological injuries and musculoskeletal injuries.

Governments across the globe are concerned about the health and wellbeing of their citizens. For this reason, there are legislations that have been developed and adopted to ensure maximum safety of workers. Most governments also have a department that is dedicated towards the same. The legislations guide operations of different industries including the construction one. For Australia, these are laid out in the Work Health and Safety Act of 2011. It extensively covers different work areas including the construction industry. In addition

Currently there are no laws that address the use of hand held vibrating devices, but agencies offer advice on best practices while using them. These include use of antivibration tools, taking breaks between the use of tools and educating workers who deal with vibrating tools about their possible health consequences and prevention tips. Safe levels of exposure to vibration have been determined to be 5 metres/ sec2 for 8 hours daily. Within this level, no significant risk for HAVS is observed.

References

Australia, S. W. (2012). Work-related traumatic injury fatalities, Australia 2009-10. Australian Government-Safe Work Australia.

Baum, F. (2016). The new public health (No. Ed. 4). Oxford University Press.

Bovenzi, M. (2016). Health injuries from occupational exposures to whole-body vibration. In Proceedings of the Sixth American Conference on Human Vibration (pp. 52-53). Medical College of Wisconsin and Marquette University.

Colby, L. A., & Corwin, E. (2017). Occupational Health and Safety. In Patient Derived Tumor Xenograft Models (pp. 187-202).

Fulford, R., & Standing, C. (2014). Construction industry productivity and the potential for collaborative practice. International Journal of Project Management, 32(2), 315-326.

Goetsch, D. L. (2011). Occupational Safety and Health for Technologists and Engineers.

Griffin, M. J. (2012). Handbook of human vibration. Academic press.

House, R., & Thompson, A. (2017). Occupational disease prevention strategy. Hand-arm vibration syndrome. Toronto, ON: Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers; 2015.

House, R., Wills, M., Liss, G., Switzer-McIntyre, S., Lander, L., & Jiang, D. (2014). The effect of hand–arm vibration syndrome on quality of life. Occupational medicine, 64(2), 133-135.

Lawrence, B. (2017). Workplace Safety and Health. Environmental Law Practice Guide, 4.

Maddux, J. (2016). OSHA Standards: Why Do They Take So Long? Professional Safety, 61(5), 43.

Reese, C. D. (2015). Occupational health and safety management: a practical approach. CRC press.