WORKING

CONDITIONS

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

Method study and work measurement applied to a single operation may bring
about a 100 per cent. increase in productivity for that operation.

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND

HEALTH ORGANIZATION

Occupational safety and health

organization
The most effective method of obtaining good results in the
prevention of occupational hazards includes the following:

to recognize the importance of the employer's

responsibilities for ensuring that the workplace is safe and
without risk to workers' health;

to adopt an occupational safety and health policy that

provides for the establishment of a good occupational
safety and health organization within the enterprise; and

to encourage strong participation of workers in safety and

health activities at the workplace; including safety
committees, inspection and accident investigation, and
the appointment of specialists.

Occupational safety and health

organization

Fundamental right of the worker

Workers should adequately informed of the nature of the

occupational hazards they may be exposed to.

The structure of safety services needs to be formalized.

Education and training on safety and health matters

should always be an integral part of training activities at
any enterprise regardless of size.

SAFETY CRITERIA

Safety criteria
OCCUPATIONAL ACCIDENTS
Statistics

show that the most common causes of

accidents are quite ordinary actions like stumbling,
falling, the faulty handling of goods or use of hand
tools, or being struck by a falling object.

Visible

hazards include unfenced scaffolds, openings

in the floor, dripping or leaking chemicals or the
unlocked working zone of a robot.

Invisible

hazards - include inert gases, welding fumes,

noise, vibration or unforeseen effects of a mixture of
chemicals.

Safety criteria
WORK-RELATED DISEASES
The

situation relating to the causes of occupational

diseases and ways of preventing them is equally complex.

Industrial

hygiene measures - field of mechanical

safety( design stage), harmless or less harmful
operations or substances.

Technical

preventive measures - effective use of

control technologies

Work

organization measures - reduction of the duration

of exposure to risk

THE PREVENTION OF INDUSTRIAL

ACCIDENTS

Fire prevention and protection

The

first principle of fire prevention is to design

buildings, processes and storage facilities in such
a way as to limit the possible combination of
oxygen, fuel and an increase in temperature.

The

second principle is to eliminate or reduce

sources of heat or ignition, thus limiting the rise
in temperature.

Fire prevention and protection

Preparedness for fire emergencies should always be
organized by management along the following lines:

emergency plan

at least two clear, properly marked, unobstructed exits

way of notifying personnel of a need to evacuate, such as

an alarm system

the right type of fire extinguisher

hands-on training concerning the proper use of the

extinguisher

automatic fire protection

Fire prevention and protection

Six essential features for fire preparedness:
1.

A way to notify all workers to evacuate to a safe

area.

2.

An emergency plan detailing what should be

done by whom during a fire or other emergency.

3.

A trained firefighting team which carries out

regular firefighting and evacuation drills.

4.

Periodic inspection of evacuation routes,

including emergency exits, firefighting
equipment, alarm systems, automatic fire
protection systems and fire hazards.

Fire prevention and protection

Six essential features for fire preparedness:
5.

A method of rapidly notifying the fire brigade

and assuring its familiarity with the facilities,
processes, and fire protection schemes and
equipment.

6.

Periodic fire alarm and evacuation exercises.

Major hazard control

Major

explosions or the dispersion of toxic

chemicals

The

control of major industrial accidents needs to

be based on a systematic approach.

Major hazard control

Basic components of major hazard control systems:

Identifying major hazard installations.

Information about the plant.

Action inside the plant.

Emergency planning.

WORKING PREMISES

Working premises
In

developing a layout, emphasis should be placed

on the principle of isolating any operation which
is hazardous or constitutes a nuisance.

Work

premises should be above ground level and

equipped with windows having a surface area of
not less than 17 per cent of the floor area.

Minimum

ceiling height should not be less than 3

meters and each worker should have at least 10
cubic meters of air.

Each

worker has an adequate minimum free-floor

area which should not be less than 2 square
meters per person.

GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

Good housekeeping
A term

used for tidiness and general state of

repair.
Looking

at such things as how material and

equipment are stored and the cleanliness of
working areas that a person can even form an
idea of the whole attitude of management to
productivity and to safety.

Good housekeeping
Basic elements for a good housekeeping:

Unnecessary items should be disposed

Tools and equipment should be arranged in a way that

allows easy access and return to their designated place.

Gangways and passages should be kept clear and the floor

painted with lines at least 5 cm wide that distinguish them
as such. Toxic matter should be painted in a different
colour to identify it as such.

The work area should be kept clean.

Good housekeeping
Basic elements for a good housekeeping:

Working clothes should also be kept clean in order to

reduce the skin absorption hazard of certain toxic
substances and the problem of skin sensitization and
chronic or acute irritation.

Workers employed on dirty jobs or exposed to dangerous

or toxic substances should have wash-rooms with a tap for
every three or four workers and a shower for every three
workers (and never less than one for every eight workers)
to ensure that workers do not give up taking a shower
because they have to wait too long from work areas.
Adequate toilet facilities should be provided no farther
than 75 meters from work areas.

LIGHTING

Lighting
Good

visibility of the equipment, the product and

the data involved in the work process is an
essential factor in accelerating production,
reducing the number of defective products,
cutting down waste and preventing visual fatigue
and headaches among the workers.

Lighting
Factors that affect visibility:
the

size and color of the workpiece

its

distance from the eyes, the persistence of the

image

the

lighting intensity

contrasts

of color and lighting levels with the

background.

Lighting
LUX
Measurement
the

or level of illumination

light should be uniformly diffused

slight

shadows help to distinguish objects, but

shadows that are too pronounced should be
avoided

The

use of natural light should be encouraged but

it is essential to have artificial lighting available
all the time should the need to use it arise.

Lighting
USE OF COLOURS
careful

choice of interior color schemes makes a

valuable contribution to good lighting

The

colors used at the workplace have psychological

effects.

The

colors of machinery and equipment are

supplementary safety factors.

Lighting
CONTROL OF LIGHTING
1.

for uniform light distribution, install an independent

switch for the row of lighting fixtures closest to the
windows;

2.

to prevent glare, avoid using highly shiny, glossy work

surfaces;

3.

use localized lighting in order to achieve the desired level

for a particular fine job;

4.

clean light fixtures regularly and follow a maintenance

schedule so as to prevent flickering of old bulbs and
electrical hazards due to worn out cables;

Lighting
CONTROL OF LIGHTING
5.

avoid direct eye contact with the light sources. The use of
diffusers is also quite effective;

6.

for work with visual display units (VDUs):

the

general lighting level should be relatively low, not to

exceed 500 lux (blinds or curtains may be used to prevent
excessive daylight);

avoid

glare by suitable positioning of the VDU or other means;

ensure

that there are no reflected light sources seen by the

user on the screen;

the

luminance and contrast of the screen must be adjustable

and the characters must remain sharp;

if

additional lighting is needed, it must be adjustable and

positioned in such a way as to avoid glare.

NOISE AND VIBRATION

Noise
Noise

means any disagreeable or undesired sound.

Sound-level

meters are used to measure the

pressure variations producing audible sound.

The

practical unit for measuring noise is decibel

(dB).

The

unit of frequency is hertz (Hz) and the ear

responds over the approximate range of 20 to
20,000 Hz.

Noise
It

impedes sound communication.

by the acoustical masking effect

by temporarily raising the acoustic threshold

Noise

may cause sensori-motor, neuro-vegetative

and metabolic disorders

Prolonged

exposure to noise above certain levels

causes permanent damage to hearing and results
in occupational deafness.

It

is considered that exposure to continuous noise

levels of 90 dB(A) or above is dangerous to
hearing

Noise
Special

care should be taken in the case of

impulse noise, i.e. a sound with a rise time of not
more than 35 milliseconds to peak intensity (given
as sound pressure in pascals (pa)) and a duration
of not more than a second to the time when the
level is 20 dB below the peak.

sound

level increases by 6 dB, the sound pressure

doubles and the acoustic energy is quadrupled

Noise
The

most effective method of noise control is to

reduce the noise at source.

The

second method is to prevent or reduce noise

transmission.

Personal

noise protection consists of ear-plugs

made from material such as glass fiber or foam
plastic, or earmuffs which provide a reduction in
noise of up to 20 dB.

Workers

who are systematically exposed to noise

levels above the danger level should receive a
periodic audiometric examination.

Noise

Vibration
only

a limited number of workers are exposed to

vibrations which constitute a health hazard

reducing

vibration levels (e.g. dynamic balancing

of rotating parts, use of vibration-absorbing
mountings, providing heavy foundations) and
reducing the effect of vibrations (e.g. use of
vibration damping handles for hand-held
machines)

CLIMATIC CONDITIONS

Working in a hot environment

It

should be noted that in such hot working

environments sweating is almost the only way in
which the body can lose heat.

Uncomfortable

working environment results from

a combination of a hot, dry, "desert-like" heat
combined with high air temperatures.

The

more burdensome the climatic

conditions,

the longer the work breaks should be

Working in a cold environment

Exposure

to cold for short periods of time can

produce serious effects, especially when workers
are exposed to temperatures below 10 0C.

Long

exposures or extreme cold endanger survival

owing to a drop in body temperature.

Working in a cold environment

Work

periods in cold environments should, where

necessary, be alternated with work periods in
normal temperature.

Workers

who must remain in the open in cold

weather should always be provided with sheds or
other facilities where they can re-warm
themselves.

Workers
Workers

should frequently take hot drinks.

in cold climates and refrigerated

premises should be well protected against the
cold by wearing suitable clothes, including
footwear, gloves and, most importantly, a hat.

Working in a wet environment

High

levels of humidity are poorly tolerated at

high and low temperatures.

Relative

humidity should be kept within a range of

40 to 70 percent.

Excessively

dry air can be a cause of respiratory

tract diseases.

Control of the thermal environment

regulating

the workroom temperature by

preventing outside heat or cold from entering

provision

of ventilation in hot workplaces by

increasing natural ventilation through openings or
installing ventilation devices

separation

of heat sources from the working area

control

of humidity with a view to keeping it at

low levels

provision

of adequate personal protective clothing

and equipment for workers exposed to excessive
radiant heat or excessive cold

Control of the thermal environment

reduction

of exposure time

insertion

of rest pauses between work periods,

with comfortable, if possible air-conditioned,
resting facilities

ensuring

a supply of cold drinking-water for

workers in a hot environment and of hot drinks for
those exposed to a cold environment.

Ventilation
disperses

the heat generated by machines and

people at work

dilutes

atmospheric contamination

maintains

the feeling of air freshness

Ventilation
air

usually needs to be changed between four and

eight times per hour in offices or for sedentary
workers, between eight and 12 times per hour in
workshops and as much as 15 to 30 or more times
per hour for public premises and where there are
high levels of atmospheric pollution or humidity.

The

air speed used for workplace ventilation

should be adapted to the air temperature and the
energy expenditure.

Ventilation
Ventilation

is one of the most important technical

means of making tolerable certain types of
extremely arduous working conditions as
encountered in deep mines and tropical countries.

Natural

ventilation, obtained by opening windows

or wall or roof air vents, may produce significant
air flows but can normally be used only in
relatively mild climates.

Where

natural ventilation is inadequate, artificial

ventilation should be used.

Exposure to toxic substances

Pollution

of the work environment by airborne

contaminants is caused by toxic substances
released during the work process in the form of
dust, gases, vapours or mists.

Dust

containing silica in stone processing, solvents

used in cleaning work and sulphur dioxide or
chlorine leaking from pipes are some examples of
contamination.

Exposure to toxic substances

Pollution

of the work environment by airborne

contaminants is caused by toxic substances
released during the work process in the form of
dust, gases, vapours or mists.

Dust

containing silica in stone processing, solvents

used in cleaning work and sulphur dioxide or
chlorine leaking from pipes are some examples of
contamination.

Exposure
to
toxic
substances

By controlling the release of toxic substances into

the work environment.

reduction

of exposure time of workers can be a

viable solution in cases where the worker

substances

can-enter the body through ingestion

(food or drink contaminated with toxic substances
mainly attributable to poor personal hygiene
practices) or through skin absorption

Workers

exposed to toxic substances should be

subjected to periodic medical examinations.

Personal
protective
equipment

a third level of defence, i.e. personal protective

equipment

sufficient

quantity of suitable personal protective

equipment, instruct the workers in its correct use
and ensure that it is worn.

assistance

of specialists