SAFETY AND HEALTH: Gap between ministries that manage work safety

THE International Labour Organisation (ILO) recognises today as World Day for Safety And Health at Work. ILO's theme for this year is "Safety and health in the use of chemicals at work".

The use of chemicals in our daily lives is key to healthy living and modern convenience. However, risks exist if health and safety are neglected at workplaces.

Adverse health effects of chemical exposure at the workplace affect our body, including the respiratory, heart, immune, kidney, skin and liver systems.

Many common occupational diseases caused by chemicals, like work related asthma, contact dermatitis or cancers, go undiagnosed.

Absorption of chemicals is generally through the lungs (breathing), skin and gastrointestinal tract (ingestion).

In Malaysia, some of multinational companies have occupational physicians or occupational health nurses in their organisations.

However, there are many informal workers who don't have access to occupational health services. Occupational health clinics in government healthcare facilities are almost non-existent.

A public university runs a successful referral occupational health clinic.

To diagnose many of the occupational diseases, physicians need to conduct a workplace survey to link probable workplace exposure to a patient before terming it an occupational disease.

It is challenging to diagnose occupational diseases by being an armchair physician.

Occupational physicians who work with the Health Ministry do not have powers of entry to workplaces, unlike the occupational physicians from the Human Resource Ministry.

There seems to be a gap between both ministries in dealing with occupational health. In reality, safety issues relating to chemicals like accidents, spillage, fire and explosions seem to take precedence as they are visually more alarming.

In contrast, occupational diseases generally take many years to manifest and the link between the disease and the hazardous work exposure is hardly recognised when the symptoms present themselves after many years.

A misdiagnosis of an occupational disease or accident also denies a worker compensation from Socso.

It is suggested that the powers of entry to workplaces be vested in occupational physicians of the Health Ministry in addition to the doctors of the Human Resource Ministry to inspect workplaces and diagnose occupational diseases. The enforcement authority can be retained by the Human Resource Ministry.

Occupational health clinics need to be created at government healthcare facilities.

Legislation, like the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 and the Notification of Accident, Dangerous Occurrence, Occupational Poisoning and Occupational Disease Regulations 2004, are in place.

However, awareness and enforcement have to be enhanced.

Assoc Prof Dr G. Jayakuma, Perdana University Graduate School of Medicine Perdana University, Serdang, Selangor