Handbook of Occupational Safety and Health

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Human Factors and Ergonomics

Series Editor

Gavriel Salvendy

Professor Emeritus

School of Industrial Engineering

Purdue University

Chair Professor & Head

Dept. of Industrial Engineering

Tsinghua Univ., P.R. China

Published Titles

Conceptual Foundations of Human Factors Measurement, D. Meister

Content Preparation Guidelines for the Web and Information Appliances:

Cross-Cultural Comparisons, H. Liao, Y. Guo, A. Savoy, and G. Salvendy

Designing for Accessibility: A Business Guide to Countering Design Exclusion, S. Keates

Handbook of Cognitive Task Design, E. Hollnagel

The Handbook of Data Mining, N. Ye

Handbook of Digital Human Modeling: Research for Applied Ergonomics and Human

Factors Engineering, V. G. Duffy

Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care and Patient Safety,

P. Carayon

Handbook of Human Factors in Web Design, R. Proctor and K. Vu

Handbook of Occupational Safety and Health, D. Koradecka

Handbook of Standards and Guidelines in Ergonomics and Human Factors,

W. Karwowski

Handbook of Virtual Environments: Design, Implementation, and Applications,

K. Stanney

Handbook of Warnings, M. Wogalter

Human-Computer Interaction: Designing for Diverse Users and Domains, A. Sears

and J. A. Jacko

Human-Computer Interaction: Design Issues, Solutions, and Applications, A. Sears

and J. A. Jacko

Human-Computer Interaction: Development Process, A. Sears and J. A. Jacko

The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals, Evolving Technologies,

and Emerging Applications, Second Edition, A. Sears and J. A. Jacko

Human Factors in System Design, Development, and Testing, D. Meister

and T. Enderwick

Introduction to Human Factors and Ergonomics for Engineers, M. R. Lehto and J. R. Buck

Macroergonomics: Theory, Methods and Applications, H. Hendrick and B. Kleiner

Smart Clothing: Technology and Applications, Gilsoo Cho

Theories and Practice in Interaction Design, S. Bagnara and G. Crampton-Smith

The Universal Access Handbook, C. Stephanidis

Usability and Internationalization of Information Technology, N. Aykin

User Interfaces for All: Concepts, Methods, and Tools, C. Stephanidis

Forthcoming Titles

Computer-Aided Anthropometry for Research and Design, K. M. Robinette

Foundations of Human-Computer and Human-Machine Systems, G. Johannsen

Handbook of Human Factors in Web Design, Second Edition, K. Vu and R. Proctor

Human Performance Modeling: Design for Applications in Human Factors

and Ergonomics, D. L. Fisher, R. Schweickert, and C. G. Drury

Practical Speech User Interface Design, James R. Lewis

CRC Press is an imprint of the

Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Boca Raton London New York

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CRC Press

Taylor & Francis Group

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vii

Contents

Preface.......................................................................................................................xi

Introduction: Occupational Safety and Health: From the Past,

through the Present, and into the Future Danuta Koradecka............................. xiii

About the Editor................................................................................................... xxiii

Contributors...........................................................................................................xxv

Part I Legal Labour Protection

1.Chapter Legal Labour Protection ......................................................................3

Barbara Krzys´ków

Part II Psychophysical Capabilities of Humans in

the Working Environment

2Chapter The Physiology of Work.....................................................................23

Joanna Bugajska

3.Chapter Selected Issues of Occupational Biomechanics ................................. 43

Danuta Roman-Liu

4.Chapter Psychosocial Risk in the Workplace and Its Reduction .....................59

Maria Widerszal-Bazyl

5.Chapter The Physiology of Stress....................................................................87

Maria Konarska

Part III Basic Hazards in the Work Environment

6.Chapter Harmful Chemical Agents in the Work Environment ..................... 103

Małgorzata Pos´niak and Jolanta Skowron´

viii Contents

7.Chapter Dusts................................................................................................. 139

Elz˙bieta Jankowska

8.Chapter Vibroacoustic Hazards..................................................................... 153

Zbigniew Engel, Danuta Koradecka, Danuta Augustyn´ska,

Piotr Kowalski, Leszek Morzyn´ski, and Jan Z˙era

9.Chapter Electromagnetic Hazards in the Workplace..................................... 199

Jolanta Karpowicz and Krzysztof Gryz

Chapter 10. Static Electricity............................................................................... 219

Zygmunt J. Grabarczyk

Chapter 11. Electric Current................................................................................ 233

Marek Dz´wiarek

Chapter 12. Electric Lighting for Indoor Workplaces and Workstations ............247

Agnieszka Wolska

13.Chapter Noncoherent Optical Radiation........................................................ 267

Agnieszka Wolska and Władysław Dybczyn´ski

Chapter 14. Laser Radiation ................................................................................289

Grzegorz Owczarek and Agnieszka Wolska

Chapter 15. Ionising Radiation ............................................................................297

Krzysztof A. Pachocki

Chapter 16. Thermal Loads at Workstations....................................................... 327

Anna Bogdan and Iwona Sudoł-Szopin´ska

Chapter 17. Atmospheric Pressure (Increase and Decrease)............................... 347

Wiesław G. Kowalski

Chapter 18. Mechanical Hazards......................................................................... 359

Krystyna Myrcha and Józef Gierasimiuk

Contents ix

Chapter 19. Biological Agents............................................................................. 385

Jacek Dutkiewicz

Part IV  The Effects of Hazards on Work Processes

Chapter 20. Occupational Diseases .....................................................................403

Kazimierz Marek and Joanna Bugajska

Chapter 21. Accidents at Work ............................................................................ 417

Ryszard Studenski, Grzegorz Dudka, and Radosław Bojanowski

Chapter 22. Major Industrial Accidents...............................................................449

Jerzy S. Michalik

Part V Basic Directions for Shaping

Occupational Safety and Ergonomics

Chapter 23. Occupational Risk Assessment ........................................................ 473

Zofia Pawłowska

Chapter 24. Work-Related Activities: Rules and Methods for Assessment.........483

Danuta Roman-Liu

Chapter 25. Shift Work ........................................................................................497

Krystyna Zuz˙ewicz

Chapter 26. Personal Protective Equipment ........................................................ 515

Katarzyna Majchrzycka, Graz˙yna Bartkowiak, Agnieszka

Stefko, Wiesława Kamin´ska, Grzegorz Owczarek, Piotr

Pietrowski, and Krzysztof Baszczyn´ski

27.Chapter Shaping the Safety and Ergonomics of Machinery in the

Process of Design and Use ............................................................... 551

Józef Gierasimiuk and Krystyna Myrcha

x Contents

Chapter 28. Basic Principles for Protective Equipment Application................... 579

Marek Dz´wiarek

Chapter 29. Methods, Standards, and Models of Occupational Safety and

Health Management Systems........................................................... 593

Daniel Podgórski

Chapter 30. Education in Occupational Safety and Ergonomics......................... 617

Stefan M. Kwiatkowski and Krystyna S´wider

Index...................................................................................................................... 625

xi

Preface

Occupational safety and health have considerable value for the employee and

employer alike. As work processes become more flexible, this branch of knowledge

becomes more important for society as a whole. This knowledge is both fascinating

and complex, encompassing achievements in the technical, biological and social sci￾ences fields, which have experienced rapid growth during the past decade. Practical

use of this body of knowledge—due to globalization of production and deregulation

of labour markets—should be similar among individual countries.

Poland, a member state of the European Community since 2004, has harmon￾ised its regulations and practice with the EU’s required standards for occupational

safety and health. This process covered the entirety of working conditions with a

goal of preventing occupational accidents and diseases and satisfying ergonomic

requirements.

Modern companies must create working conditions that are not only safe and

maintain health and life but are also optimal for the needs and psychosocial capacities

of workers. Hence, this manual also will be interesting for readers outside Poland.

Ultimately, it is the human being, with his or her limited psychophysical capaci￾ties, who should be of the utmost importance.

Professor Danuta Koradecka, PhD, D.Med.Sc.

Director of the Central Institute for Labour

Protection–National Research Institute

xiii

Introduction

Occupational Safety and Health: From the Past,

through the Present, and into the Future

Danuta Koradecka

Post-twentieth century society is convinced of the unique position of our civilisation,

and we are proud of the scientific and technical progress in shaping work processes.

At the same time, we are amazed at the discoveries of work processes solutions and

products from many centuries or even millennia ago, such as the ergonomic handles

of axes or stone tools, the aqueducts in Rome or Istanbul that we still admire, and the

way the mighty pyramids were built. People remain somewhat in the background of

these achievements, although building the magnificent structures of Egypt, China or

Persia took the lives of tens of thousands. Skeletons from those times reveal patho￾logical changes associated with the work people did, for example, simple tasks in the

Neolithic period (about 3000 years ago), when human societies shifted from hunter–

gatherer to farming civilisations. During a 1972–1973 archaeological excavation in

Aber-Hureyra (today’s northern Syria), Andrew M.T. Moore found the remains of

162 people from two settlements. An analysis of the women’s bones showed work￾related changes (Molleson 1994). Many hours of daily monotonous work, for exam￾ple, grinding grain using a saddle quern-stone, were performed in a kneeling and

flexed posture. This led to significant degenerative changes in the lumbar spine (as a

result of flexion while the body is bent forward), knee joints (caused by the pressure

of the ground) and big toes (as a result of hyperextension while kneeling). Carrying

loads on their heads led to changes in the first cervical vertebra—the addition of lat￾eral processes of the vertebrae to stabilise the position of the neck. Changes caused

by daily forced postures over a long period of time gradually resulted in degen￾erative changes in other organs; these can be considered work-related pathological

changes.

These changes intensified with a decrease in the egalitarianism of communities—

people began to specialise in specific tasks in order to increase the quantity of goods

produced and the associated income. People who performed the same type of work all

the time reached a high level of excellence in that work; however, the price was often

high, with the work resulting in deterioration of health or even death (Chapanis 1951).

These hazards did not disappear with industrialisation; their types simply changed.

Excessive dynamic physical workload was replaced with static workload, excess of

signal stimuli (Paluszkiewicz 1975), noise and chemical hazards and, later, radiation.

Automation, introduced thanks to technical progress, has resulted in monotonous

work tasks and mental processes, which are dangerous for the musculoskeletal sys￾tem (Rahimi and Karwowski 1992).

In the past decade, we have been experiencing another revolution in workstations

and work processes (Ozok and Salvendy 1996). Computerisation, while increasing

xiv Introduction

the possibilities for controlling and carrying out work processes, has made work even

more monotonous and has increased the eye strain and static workload associated

with a forced sitting posture (Strasser 2007). Computerisation has also increased

the overload of some muscle groups (Christensen 1960; Dul and Hildebrandt 1987;

Grandjean and Hunting 1977; Kidd and Karwowski 1994). Occupational risk is

also associated with biological factors. Biotechnologies are yet another challenge

for humankind. All of these hazards and cases of strain are inherently accompa￾nied by stress, which is universal among workers who are striving to be the best in

order to maintain their position at work or even just to keep their jobs (European

Agency for Safety and Health at Work 2002). When stress is too great, workers

may become passive and escape into alcohol or the world of ‘wonder’ pills. Thus,

substantial technical progress has not solved the problems of occupational safety

and health, but has only shifted the core of the problems from chemical and physi￾cal hazards to psychophysical and biological ones. Labour protection—like art in

the Renaissance—must now focus on people with limited psychophysical abilities

in the workplace.

Workers’ abilities are limited due to the requirements of homeostasis, that is, the

need to maintain a constant internal environment of parameters such as the internal

temperature or pH of the blood. These parameters must be at a constant level in

order for biochemical and enzymatic processes, which are necessary for health and

life (Figure 1), to occur. In the living environment, and especially in the work envi￾ronment, humans are exposed to extreme levels of factors such as temperature (from

−20°C to + 70°C) and noise (up to 140 dB). In the course of phylogenetic develop￾ment, our bodies have developed mechanisms to prevent an imbalance in the inter￾nal environment by physiological processes such as increasing heart rate, breath rate

and sweating and changing the placenta of the peripheral blood vessels (Astrand and

Rodahl 1977). These mechanisms, however, have a limited ability to compensate

for harmful factors in the work environment (Koradecka 1982). Moreover, long￾term involvement of these mechanisms results in a substantial increase in the physi￾cal work capacity (Brouha 1962; Lehmann 1962), which, in turn, leads to chronic

fatigue.

These processes influence the development of occupational diseases (Ramazzini

2009), defined as diseases associated with exposure to harmful work conditions.

Paraoccupational diseases are those associated indirectly with work conditions (the

so-called civilisation diseases such as hypertension, obesity, diabetes) and are often

rooted indirectly in unsuitable work and living conditions. We often assume that

work conditions may constitute a ‘trigger mechanism’, which increases the onset of

diseases to which the human body has a genetic predisposition and which would not

have developed under different conditions (e.g., carcinogenic diseases).

We tend to perceive the conditions of work and life of humans from a broader per￾spective because of these factors. This is consistent with the definition provided in the

Constitution of the World Health Organization, which states that ‘health is the state

of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of

disease or infirmity’ (Stellman 1998). In our efforts to meet the requirements result￾ing from such a perception of health in the work environment, ergonomics brings

us closer to the objective (Stanton 2005). Ergonomics is defined as an adaptation of