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Amin Mohammadirad

As attention to the role of human resources as the most essential productive and economic capital of any country is increasingly important nowadays, the two concepts of safety and health related to the workforce and production environment have become widely discussed priorities for the global community and international organizations. Safety in the workplace is directly related to the health and well-being of the workforce, and managing human resources through safeguarding the workforce will lead to economic growth and development.

In order to achieve safety and health in work environments and production spaces, the science of “Occupational Hygiene” or “Industrial Hygiene” is a specialized and independent field that focuses on identifying, evaluating, and controlling harmful factors that affect the physical and mental health of workers in work environments. The ultimate goal of occupational hygiene is to ensure and improve the physical, mental, and social health of workers, control and prevent work-related diseases and accidents, and optimize the use of labor in environments and occupations that are suitable for the physical and mental conditions of workers. Regardless of its specialized approach, the science of occupational hygiene draws on various sciences and knowledge, such as medicine, statistics, chemistry, toxicology, anatomy, physiology, industrial medicine, and nutrition. The progress and evolution of industries and sciences, and the increasing use of industrial and chemical materials and products by humans, have led to practical investigations and specialized research in the field of assessment, identification, and discovery of preventive and therapeutic technologies for such

First: A history of occupational safety and health. 

Devoid of ancient documents discovered in this field, the scientific history of occupational safety and health discussions dates back to the 16th century. From the mid-16th century onwards, scientists such as Agricola, Hamilton, Paracelsus, and Ramazzini wrote valuable works on this subject and conducted scientific research on the process of exploration and extraction of metals, tools, work environments, accidents, and diseases caused by work, as well as the relationship between certain diseases and specific occupations. Bernardino Ramazzini, known as the father of occupational medicine, was the first to recommend to physicians to inquire about the patient’s occupation as one of the important and influential factors in diagnosing and treating diseases during initial examinations.

In the second half of the 18th century and after the Industrial Revolution, science, industry, and technology made significant progress. In order to industrialize and increase production levels, contemporary humans were exposed to numerous risks and threats, including diseases and accidents caused by working in industrial environments, as well as premature aging due to unfavorable working conditions. In order to find a solution to these unwanted problems, there was a dire need for education, learning, and adherence to modern safety and health principles. It became apparent that in order to protect and safeguard the human workforce and ensure their health, safety, and well-being, scientific and institutional measures must be taken.

It was in this way that the foundations of the modern scientific system known as “occupational health” were established. Occupational health, as a combination of science and art, identifies, prevents, and controls the harmful effects and damages caused by work methods, environments, and characteristics of jobs and occupations, and in some ways provides the means for threatening the safety and health of individuals, and is defined as the cause of occupational diseases, occupational disabilities, and work-related accidents.

The preservation and improvement of the physical, mental, and social health of employees in various occupations is achieved through the identification, education, prevention, and control of potential factors and hazards that threaten and harm the health of workers, by studying inappropriate and harmful factors and conditions in the workplace and examining their negative effects on the health and safety of workers. In this regard, programs related to the protection of workers’ safety and technical skills, regular medical examinations, and the establishment of health, treatment, and emergency facilities in the workplace, as well as educational activities on occupational health and safety, have been planned.

Harmful factors in the workplace can be categorized as follows:

1- Physical factors: including ambient temperature (heat, cold, humidity), pressure level (lack or increase of environmental pressure), sounds, ambient light, vibrations, as well as the presence of rays such as infrared and ultraviolet in the work environment.

2- Chemical factors: including vapors, gases, dust and particles, chemical and industrial materials.

3- Biological factors: including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites.

4- Mechanical factors: Including the position of workers’ bodies during work, working with heavy objects, and the type of tools and equipment used.

5- Psychological factors: Such as job stress, the worker’s relationship with colleagues and employers, as well as the level of salary and job benefits.

In the field of occupational health, the main effort is focused on identifying the mentioned factors and paying attention to educating, controlling, and eliminating these harmful, damaging, and harmful factors for the health and safety of workers.

Second: 

Occupational Safety and Health from an International Law Perspective.

Written programs have been planned by some international organizations based on a focus on safety and occupational health management systems, which are used as a tool to promote and continuously improve policies related to prevention and control of potential hazards on the health and safety of workers in various occupations. Such programs always emphasize the need for integrated use of these systems at national and global levels.

In order to review international rules and principles regarding occupational safety and health, it seems useful to become familiar with some international organizations that are somehow related to occupational safety and health and to have a general overview of their performance.

1. United Nations Organization (UN):

The main and primary goal of the United Nations is to establish international peace and security. In this regard, and in order to achieve peace and security, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a valuable document on December 10, 1948, entitled “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, which recognizes, defines and guarantees the rights and freedoms of all individuals. Some articles of this declaration directly relate to labor rights, including articles 23 and 24, which stipulate:

Article 23:

1) Everyone has the right to work, to freely choose their work, to have fair conditions and satisfactory compensation for their work, and to be protected against unemployment.

2) Everyone has the right to receive equal pay for equal work without any discrimination.

3) Everyone who works has the right to receive fair wages and satisfactory compensation, which ensures a life in accordance with human dignity and honor for themselves and their families, and if necessary, be fully supported by other social means.

4) Every person has the right to form alliances with others or join existing unions to defend their interests.

Article 24:

Every person has the right to rest, leisure, and recreation, and especially should benefit from reasonable limitations on working hours, vacations, and holidays while receiving a salary.

Guaranteeing recognized and emphasized rights of workers – including the right to occupational safety and health – in line with respect for declared human rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for all human beings, is a prerequisite for achieving social justice at the international level. Social justice is one of the pillars of economic and social development and is a guarantor of peace and security in the world.

2- World Health Organization (WHO).

The World Health Organization (W.H.O) is one of the United Nations affiliated institutions. The general objectives of this organization in the field of labor rights include efforts to preserve, secure and improve the physical, mental and social health of workers, efforts to prevent work-related diseases and accidents, and also ensuring the selection of workers for an environment and job that they are physically and mentally capable of performing.

3- International Labour Organization (ILO).

The International Labour Organization (I.L.O) is one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations, established to develop international regulations and laws for optimizing international labor standards and ensuring their implementation. This organization was founded in 1919 and its current constitution, known as the Philadelphia Declaration, was adopted in 1944. The importance of occupational safety and health is stated in the preamble of the I.L.O constitution and has always been a top priority in the organization’s programs.

The main goal of this organization is to coordinate efforts towards improving occupational health and safety at an international level through identifying and strengthening standards and fundamental principles of labor rights, and promoting effective social coverage for all workers.

The International Labour Organization has formulated and determined the following four general strategies for the present century:

A- Diagnosis and improvement of fundamental principles of labor rights at the international level.

B- Striving towards creating more opportunities for both women and men to achieve sufficient income and suitable jobs.

Increase in coverage and efficiency of social support for all workers.

D- Strengthening tripartism through the sharing of interests between representatives of workers and employers in the organization (The International Labour Organization is the only “tripartite” institution in the United Nations composed of representatives of workers, employers, and governments).

It is worth mentioning that the International Labour Organization named April 28th (8th of Ordibehesht) as “World Day for Occupational Health and Safety” in 2003. This day serves as a symbol for promoting safe and healthy work practices worldwide in order to prevent accidents and diseases in the workplace. It is fitting to recognize the immense efforts of this noble cause and to focus on scientific, educational, research, and practical areas to identify hazardous and harmful factors in the workplace, as well as implementing modern and proper methods for controlling and improving the health of the workforce.

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Observing safety and health principles in the workplace has two important and unique functions: firstly, protecting skilled and specialized personnel, and secondly, maintaining and optimizing industrial facilities and machinery. Therefore, international and domestic regulations and laws are in place to ensure the proper implementation of these principles.

In general, it can be said that the trend of technological advancement and increasing power, speed, efficiency, and complexity of industrial machinery on one hand, and the lack of sufficient training for working with machinery and methods of prevention and dealing with accidents and work-related incidents on the other hand, are among the most important causes of work-related accidents and incidents. However, by paying more attention to factors such as industrial equipment safety, increasing safety standards in the workplace, training workers, and reducing stress factors in the work environment (such as noise, vibrations, cold, heat, or excessive humidity), work-related accidents and incidents that can lead to death, disability, or injury can be minimized.