Improving Global Worker Health and Safety Through Collaborative Capacity Building Initiatives

Thomas P. Fuller

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780367459185
• eBook ISBN: 9781000408430
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Environmental Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Many economically developing countries and nations without robust occupational hygiene (OH) educational programs endure a shortage of qualified occupational hygienists, resulting in higher rates of workplace injury, illness, and fatality. Damage to valuable infrastructure, environment, and public health also occurs without adequate support.

Improving Global Worker Health and Safety Through Collaborative Capacity Building Initiatives outlines a broad variety of capacity building projects in OH. It also introduces detailed experiences of occupational hygienists working abroad and working on special global topics including a discussion of how global trade agreements influence the practice and policy within OH. It describes the special needs of informal workers who do not have a "typical" employer and special challenges of creating university curricular guidelines for OH, building competency, and increasing capacity. This book also informs experienced professionals in international OH-capacity building initiatives and directions.

Features:

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• Presents the global impact and importance of occupational hygienists

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• Outlines knowledge and collaboration through networking

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• Provides case studies on real world situations and problems

This text will be useful for professionals and graduate students in the fields of occupational health and safety and public health.

1 Foundations and Networks of Occupational Hygiene Capacity

Thomas P. Fuller

Illinois State University and the International Occupational Hygiene Association

Contents

1.1 Introduction

1.2 American Industrial Hygiene Association

1.2.1 International Affairs Committee

1.2.2 Emerging Economies Microgrant Subcommittee

1.2.3 Collaboration with the International Occupational Hygiene Association

1.3 International Occupational Hygiene Association

1.3.1 IOHA History

1.3.2 IOHA Committees and Activities

1.3.2.1 Governance

1.3.2.2 Communications

1.3.2.3 Stakeholder Relations

1.3.2.4 National Accreditation Recognition Committee

1.3.2.5 Education

1.3.2.6 Conferences

1.3.2.7 IOHA Awards

1.4 Conclusions

References

1.1 Introduction

There are approximately 3,514,988,000 workers in the world over the age of 15 (ILO, 2020a). Each year 2.78 million workers will die on the job as a result of accidents and exposures to toxic chemical, physical, and biological agents (Hämäläinen, 2017). This amounts to five workers around the world dying every minute. Worldwide, there are around 340 million occupational accidents and 160 million victims of work-related illnesses annually (ILO, 2020b). And in many countries, these numbers are grossly underreported.

In the early part of the last century during the industrial revolution, a new profession was created to anticipate, recognize, evaluate, and control workplace hazards as a means to reduce work-related injury, illness, and death. This profession is called occupational/industrial hygiene.

Today there are approximately 20,000 occupational hygienists striving to make workplaces safer and healthier throughout the world. Yet despite this number, workers continue to be injured and die as the result of workplace hazards. The toll of workplace injury, illness, and death is indicative of the urgent need for additional occupational hygiene knowledge and person power globally. Almost every fifth grader knows the title “nurse” and generally knows what nurses do. But unfortunately, not everyone is as familiar with what an occupational hygienist does. Furthermore, the shift of basic manufacturing away from the United States due to neoliberal and anti-regulatory policies has reduced industry-based employment for occupational hygienists. This has resulted in universities struggling to attract enough students into the field of study.

In countries with more advanced economies, where more regulations have been promulgated that require employers to take certain actions to protect workers from workplace hazards, there tends to be more occupational hygiene capacity in terms of educational institutions that provide specialized coursework, and thus a larger pool of qualified and competent practicing professionals. Often in these same economically advanced nations, businesses and organizations have realized the clear financial benefits of having a safe and healthy workforce, fewer accidents that destroy infrastructure and disrupt business, and reduced insurance premiums related to both. The value of occupational hygiene capacity in these nations is fairly well understood to not all, but many, business and government organizations.

Approximately 8,000 occupational hygienists are in the United States; half of them are certified. The United States also has the most academic Occupational Hygiene (OH) programs with more than 75 schools offering degrees at all levels. Canada has the second largest number of industrial hygienists, with more than 600. China, the most populous country in the world, has proposed a fast track in its development of safety and health systems by quickly moving to a mandated management systems approach while trying to establish the professional resources to carry this out.

Globalization has shifted worldwide manufacturing from the economically advanced nations to Asia, India, Mexico, and other regions. As a result, more occupational hygiene professionals are dealing with international issues even if only limited to requirements for exports. It also has led to the growth of occupational hygiene outside the United States, along with some concepts such as the “Green Movement” and “Sustainable Development” from Europe and other places.

In many developing nations, the economic and social benefits of investment in occupational hygiene have been relatively underreported and are therefore less understood and utilized by governments and businesses. Not only is the creation of new health ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Editor
• Contributors
• Chapter 1 Foundations and Networks of Occupational Hygiene Capacity
• Chapter 2 Building OHS Capacity at the Grass Roots: A Case Study of the Maquiladora Health & Safety Support Network and Its Global Partners
• Chapter 3 Workplace Health Without Borders: Engaging Volunteers to Improve Workplace Health and Safety in Underserved Regions around the Globe
• Chapter 4 Promotion of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene through Education: A Case Study of the Occupational Hygiene Training Association (OHTA)
• Chapter 5 The Developing World Outreach Initiative: Expansion of Occupational Hygiene through Volunteerism and Networking
• Chapter 6 International Education, Research, and Service Opportunities for Students and Faculty in Higher Learning Institutions
• Chapter 7 The Role of Equipment and Services Vendors in Advancing Occupational Hygiene Globally
• Chapter 8 Capacity Crashing: The Ongoing Transfer of Dangerous Jobs and Processes to Underdeveloped Regions
• Chapter 9 Challenges of Managing Occupational Health, Safety, and Environment on International Hydropower Construction Projects
• Chapter 10 An Analysis of the Impacts of National Regulation on Occupational Safety and Health: How Regulations Protect Workers and Their Employers
• Chapter 11 International Trade Agreements and Their Impact on Worker Health and Safety
• Chapter 12 Creating and Expanding the European Network Education and Training in Occupational Safety and Health (ENETOSH) to Build Capacity in OSH and Education
• Chapter 13 International Occupational Health Outreach: One Step at a Time – Vietnam Progress Report
• Chapter 14 Pathways Forward in New Collaborations for Capacity Building in Occupational Hygiene
• Index