OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Occupational health 

OBJECTIVES 

Occupational health aims to prevent occupational diseases, protect workers from the health risks present in the workplace where they work, and establish conditions suited to environmental conditions and physical and psychological capabilities of workers. 

In this context three specific objectives are defined: 

Maintain and promote the health and working capacity of employees. 
Improve working conditions to promote the health and safety of workers. 
Develop systems and organizational cultures that promote health and safety at work, promoting a positive organizational climate, greater efficiency and optimizing business productivity.


The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as a multidisciplinary occupational activity that promotes and protects the health of workers. This discipline seeks to control accidents and diseases by reducing risk conditions. 

Occupational health care is not limited to the physical condition of the worker, but also deals with the psychological question. For employers, occupational health is a support worker development and maintenance of their working capacity. 

The most common problems we must address the occupational health are fractures, cuts and sprains from accidents, repetitive motion disorders, hearing problems or ear and illness caused by exposure to unsanitary or radioactive substances, for example. You can also handle the stress of work or labor relations. 

It is important to note that precarious employment affects occupational health. A company that has their black workers (ie, that do not have medical coverage) and having inadequate physical space for work threatens the health of people. 

What is occupational health program? 

It consists of the planning, organization, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all activities designed to preserve, maintain and improve individual and community health workers in order to prevent accidents and occupational diseases. 

The main purpose of an occupational health program is to provide safety, security and care to employees in the performance of their work. 

The increase in accidents, some more serious than others, due inter alia to technological changes or poor employee training, handling delicate materials use, inadequate infrastructure and to some extent by human failure, make necessary for every company to have a manual to guide to minimize these risks and set the protocol to be followed in case of accidents. 


An occupational health program should have the basic elements to meet these objectives, which include general information on accident prevention, medical evaluation of employees, investigation of accidents occurring and a program of training and dissemination of rules to avoid them.

The objectives having the Occupational Health Program are: 

Define promotion and prevention activities to improve working conditions and health of employees. 

Identifying the cause of occupational accidents and diseases and control related risk factors. 

When a company develops its Occupational Health Program, manages benefits: the quality of the work environment is improved, greater satisfaction is achieved in personal and consequently the productivity and quality of products and services is also improved. 


The Occupational Health Program consists of the planning and implementation of activities in medical, industrial hygiene and safety, aiming to maintain and improve the health of workers in businesses.