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The Global Occupational Health Network (GOHNET) Newsletter No. 25

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  • Description:
    1) News from the World Health Organization (WHO): Occupational health and safety challenges in the response to Ebola outbreak in West Africa - Currently WHO and Internation Labour Organizaton (ILO) are finalizing a technical manual on protecting occupational health and safety of health workers, emergency responders and other staff in outbreaks of Ebola and Marburg Virus Diseases. The WHO collaborating centres for occupational health at the University of British Columbia in Canada, the University of Maryland and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in the USA, and the Health and Safety Laboratory in the United Kingdom (UK) were involved very actively in the development and review of the manuscript. The manual will be posted on the WHO occupational health website. WHO also issued formal guidelines for selection and use of personal protective equipment in providing clinical care to patients with EVD. 2) News from WHO collaborating centres and partners: a) Use of Mesothelioma Registry data to estimate the global impact of an asbestos-cement factory - Our study documented a large impact of the asbestos-cement plant, with about 130 excess Malignant Mesothelioma (MM) cases. The largest MM burden was among women, from non-occupational exposure. Almost half of MM cases were attributable to environmental exposures. This study underlines the importance of assessing impact of asbestos use not only among workers, but also among their family members and in the community at large. b) International Occupational Hygiene Association (IOHA) Statement on Global Asbestos Ban and the Elimination of Asbestos-Related Diseases - The IOHA calls for a global ban on the mining, sale and use of all forms of asbestos and the elimination of asbestos-related diseases. To accomplish the elimination of asbestos-related diseases, we urge each and every individual country to implement a total ban on production and use of asbestos. We also urge complementary efforts aimed at primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of asbestos-related diseases through country-specific "National Programmes for Elimination of Asbestos-Related Diseases" in line with ILO and WHO guidelines. 3) News from the IOHA - IOHA aims to reduce the 2 million job-related deaths and countless illnesses occurring annually by supporting and increasing the network of occupational hygienists worldwide. This unusual approach is a practical response to a diversity of workplace hazards embedded within unique cultural and political entities. Too often, a successful solution to mitigate occupational hazards in one country is not relevant in another context. Instead, creative, knowledgeable, and local occupational hygienists are essential to meet the needs of their respective countries. 4) Grenada's WHO Collaborating Centre Works to Promote Health for Healthcare Workers - Their campaign has realized the establishment of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) committees in each participating territory and institution, regional surveillance system for needle stick injuries among healthcare workers and attention to building awareness for workers on policies and proper waste disposal. 5) Social Service for Industry (SESI) Institutes of Innovation on Workplace Health Promotion in Brazil: A good-practice example of global collaboration between WHO Collaborating Centres from Brazil, United States, and Finland - SESI signed partnership agreements with two WHO CCs; FIOH (Finnish Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) and NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, USA). These partnerships will help to build capacity, key competencies and the development of pilot intervention projects to improve workplace health conditions for Brazilian industry workers. 6) A study on Total Workplace Safety and Health (TWSH) Services in Singapore - Their study found that only about one-quarter of the participating companies applied the principles of TWSH in their organizations. A guide has also been developed to assist companies in their approach to TWSH; Guide to Total Workplace Safety and Health: Holistic Safety, Health and Wellbeing in Your Company. 7) GOHNET Reader submissions: a) An Alliance that responded to the Garment Factory Disasters in Bangladesh - After recent factory tragedies, an Alliance was founded by a group of apparel companies, retailers, and brands with members in the United States, Canada, and Australia that collectively source from over 600 factories. With a legally-binding five-year initiative, the Alliance aims to substantially improve worker safety in the ready-made-garment (RMG) industry by upgrading factories, educating workers and management, empowering workers, and building institutions that can enforce and maintain safe working conditions throughout Bangladesh. b) Return-to-work on work-related mental illnesses: a call to Latin American Social Security Policies - A guide was developed; it provides useful orientation focused on health teams involved in the return-to-work process, but it would also be useful for others stakeholders who perform functions related to the general process of return-to-work, occupational therapists, risk prevention experts, social workers, occupational physicians, joint committees, health and personnel managers, from the company and/or the state. c) Developing a National Policy on Safety and Health at Work in Chile - Chile is currently in the process of discussing the development of a National Policy on Safety and Health at Work. It should be noted that this will be a major change towards the development of the national policy process, which must have as a focus of action the participation of all stakeholders' points of views. d) A Pledge for more attention in Primary Care to Workers' Health: ICOH and Wonca join forces - During a World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) conference, WONCA and ICOH pledgee "...to work with our partner organizations (including WHO and ILO) to address the gaps in services, research, and policies for the health and safety of workers and to better integrate occupational health in the primary care setting to the benefit of all workers." e) Employers worldwide step up investments in Workers' Health - a 2014 Global Health Promotion Survey analyzed responses from more than 1,000 organizations in 37 countries, with the top objectives driving the health promotion strategies as: 1. Improving workforce morale/engagement; 2. Reducing sick leave and disability; 3. Improving workplace safety; and 4. Reducing presenteeism/improving employee productivity. The Global Survey findings show that programs often lack a systematic approach aligned with a continuous improvement cycle. While a number of quality studies show that workplace health promotion programs produce a return-on-investment, the field still lacks widely adopted quality standards. The WHO Healthy Workplace Model for Action provides an opportunity in this regard as the framework gives global guidance on how to create healthy workplaces and propagates a comprehensive as well as integrated approach which is applicable universally. f) Epigenetics: What Occupational Health Needs to Know - Studies have shown that epigenetic mutations occur at very low levels of exposure. Before specific occupational health actions can be considered, more needs to be known about exposure thresholds and epigenetic mutations. Research needs to be conducted by toxicologists and microbiologists directly linking various chemical exposures to detrimental health outcomes. Occupational health professionals and organizations should actively encourage this research through funding, collaboration, and integration into training curricula, Then, scientists need to explore an epigenetic dose-response relationship to determine acceptable thresholds and serve as a basis for regulatory action. To understand the relationship between low level exposures and epigenetic mutations, occupational health researchers should also prepare and initiate cohort studies on worker populations and their families to further explore the impacts of these exposures. Risk assessment protocols and practices may need to be modified to include new detection technologies. Occupational health must include epigenetic research into its research paradigm to successfully fulfil its obligations for safety and protection of the population. g) Work-related upper limb disorders: Can prevention and management be improved? - A feasible physical examination should target the nerves from the roots to the supply of muscles and skin by including neurological items representative to upper limb nerve afflictions with various locations. It should be reproducible and preferably identify and exclude abnormalities in symptomatic and healthy subjects, respectively. A detailed but still rapid semi-quantitative upper limb neurological examination comprising an assessment of the strength in selected individual muscles, of sensory deviations from normal in defined territories of skin, and of the presence of nerve trunk soreness has been developed and validated. This diagnostic approach may eventually constitute a step towards improved prevention and treatment of work-related upper limb disorders. 8) Education and Training: Interdisciplinary Diploma of Advanced Studies in Work & Health, Switzerland - B eginning in March 2014, the University of Zurich and the University of Lausanne has offered the new, interdisciplinary Diploma of Advanced Studies DAS Work+Health. This postgraduate program integrates the three specializations: Organizational Health Development, Occupational Hygiene and Occupational Medicine. [Description provided by NIOSH]
  • Subjects:
  • Keywords:
  • Publisher:
    World Health Organization
  • Document Type:
    Text
  • Genre:
    Newsletter
  • Place as Subject:
  • CIO:
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
  • Division:
    OD - Office of the Director
  • Topic:
    Workplace Safety & Health
  • Location:
    North America
  • Pages in Document:
    1-20
  • Issue:
    25
  • NIOSHTIC Number:
    nn:20050083
  • Citation:
    GOHNET Newsletter 2015 Feb; (25):1-20
  • Contact Point Address:
    Dr Evelyn Kortum, Interventions for Healthy Environments, Department of Public Health and Environment and Social Determinants for Health. World Health Organization
  • Email:
    ochmail@who.int
  • Editor(s):
    Kortum E; Sadeghpour N; Boyles T
  • Federal Fiscal Year:
    2015
  • Peer Reviewed:
    False
  • Source Full Name:
    The Global Occupational Health Network
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha-512:33ebe3172150e0080acfc27639268caf85ee909da6e008234055a041bf14187600edd4c241de33060bdc684bb9ce5229145eb8e71945d2031df8aa0754b94875
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 2.31 MB ]
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