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Workplace pollution is the presence of hazardous materials within a workplace that may affect workers' health, especially if exposure continues over longer periods of time even at low levels.

The industries with higher risk of air pollution are:

·        Mining and smelting jobs

·        Foundry workers

·        Construction workers

·        Chemical industry jobs (including chemical manufacture, as well as chemical re-package and storage)

·        Manufacturing jobs (including auto manufacturing)

·        Aerospace jobs

·        Dry cleaning jobs

·        Auto repair shops

·        Gas station jobs

·        Convenience store or shopping mall jobs

·        Textile industry jobs

·        Some office jobs – depending on the location and/or building materials used for the office building

·        Research jobs (researchers) – may be exposed to various hazardous materials if accidents occur in the research lab

 The quality of indoor air is often affected by factors such as poor ventilation (lack of outside air), problems controlling temperature, high or low humidity, recent remodeling, and other activities in or near a building that carries contaminants like dust from construction or renovation, mold, cleaning supplies, pesticides, or other airborne chemicals (including small amounts of chemicals released as a gas over time)

 Health Effects of workplace Indoor Air Quality:

Depending on specific type of contaminant poor IAQ can cause health issues. The basic symptoms can be  headaches, fatigue, trouble concentrating, and irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs are typical. It can lead to some diseases such as asthma with damp indoor environments.

 There are no specific standards as defined by OSHA for formal IAQ, but it is a recognized hazard defined in the General Duty Clause Section 5(a)(1). OSHA also responds to questions about IAQ issues with letters of interpretation found in OSHA publication 3430-04 (2011) titled "Indoor Air Quality in Commercial and Institutional Buildings." This publication is a comprehensive guide provided by OSHA addressing IAQ issues.

 The health issues related to IAQ can be eliminated by taking the following steps:

Eliminating/ Engineering Controls: The first option is eliminating the source of the pollutant.

Administrative Controls: Other than elimination/ engineering controls, administrative controls must always be in place which includes basics like training, housekeeping and PPE. Additionally, the work schedule must be planned to reduce the exposure to contaminated airs.

Personal Protective Equipment: Relevant PPE must be provided to avoid exposure to indoor pollutants by use of respirators, gloves, protective clothing, eyewear, and footwear.

·        A HIRA can:

1.      Helps to prepare for the worst and/or most likely hazards

2.      Save time by isolating any hazards which can not affect your community

3.      Allows for the creation of emergency plans, exercises and training based on the most likely and/or highest risk scenarios

4.      Helps  program to become proactive rather than just reactive

·        A HIRA is a hazard identification and risk assessment tool that can be used to assess which hazards pose the greatest risk in terms of how likely they are to occur and how great their potential impact may be. It is not intended to be used as a prediction tool to determine which hazard will cause the next emergency

·        Some effective and important HIRA methods are:

1.      Preliminary hazard analysis

2.      Job hazard analysis

3.      HAZOP (hazard analysis and operability study)

4.      What if analysis

5.      Checklist

6.      Event tree analysis

7.      Fault tree analysis

8.      FMEA (failure mode effect analysis)

·        Plant stage along with Hazard identification and analysis methods:

1.      Pre design- hazard indices, preliminary hazard analysis, What-if analysis, Checklist

2.      Design/ modification- HAZOP, FMEA, event tree analysis, Fault tree analysis, What-if analysis, Checklist

3.      Construction- What –if analysis, Checklist

4.      Commissioning- What-if analysis, Checklists, plant safety audits

5.      Operation & maintenance- What-if analysis, Checklists, plant safety audits

6.      Decommissioning/shutdown- What-if analysis, Checklists

1. PHA: Preliminary Hazard Analysis is carried out to identify and describe Hazards & Threats at earliest stage of the Project design development

2. JHA: Job Hazard Analysis is a method of studying a job in order to: identify hazards or potential incidents associated with each step or task and develop solutions that will eliminate, nullify, or prevent such hazards or incident potential

3. HAZOP: Hazard and Operability study is a hazard identification technique that systematically divides a system, equipment, or process into a series of nodes to identify possible deviations from normal operations and ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to help prevent accidents

4.What –if Analysis: It is a brainstorming approach in which a group of people familiar with the process ask questions about possible deviations or failures and what things can go wrong

5. Checklist: It consists of using a detailed list of prepared questions about the design and operation of the facility

6.  Event Tree Analysis: Event tree analysis is based on binary logic, in which an event either has or has not happened or a component has or has not failed. It is valuable in analyzing the consequences arising from a failure or undesired event

7. Fault Tree Analysis: to help identify potential causes of system failures before the failures actually occur. It can also be used to evaluate the probability of the top event using analytical or statistical methods

Stress management consists of making changes to one’s life if one is in a constant stressful situation, preventing stress by practicing self-care and relaxation and managing one’s response to stressful situations when they do occur.

The most important point is to recognize the source of the negative stress

Stress Control through ABC technique:

A=Awareness (what causes you stress? How do you react?)

B= Balance (there is a fine line between positive & negative stress)

C= Control (what can you do to help yourself combat the negative effects of stress?)

Stress Management techniques:

a)      Change your thinking by-

         i.          Re-Framing (techniques to change the way you  look at things in order to feel better about them. It does not change the external reality, but helps you view things in a different light less stressfully.)

        ii.          Positive thinking ( try to forget failure, dejection, despair instead focus on the strengths, learn from the stress one is under, look for opportunities)

b)     Change your behavior by-

        i.          Being Assertive (helps to manage stressful situations. Lack of assertiveness leads to low self esteem, low self confidence)

       ii.          Getting organized (poor organization is a  common cause of stress. Prioritizing objectives, duties and activities make them manageable and achievable. organization will help avoid personal and professional chaos with proper time management)

      iii.          Ventilation (develop a support network through friends and colleagues to talk with.)

     iv.          Humor (good stress reducer, relieves muscular tension, improves breathing, pumps endorphins into the blood streams- the body’s natural pain killer)

     v.          Diversion and distraction (get away from things that bothers, calm down, think logically, take time out)

     vi.          Change lifestyle( avoid alcohol, drugs, smoking ) by adopting a healthy one though daily exercise, healthy food style, get appropriate sleep, leisure)

Other Alternatives: seek professional help (psychotherapy, counseling), meditation, yoga, acupuncture and reflexology.

Cause of stress in an organization: poor company culture, long hour and excessive workload, worrying about job security, poor management, lack of communication/ transparency and workplace harassment.

Advantages of stress management in workplace:

a)      Strong Company culture

b)     Less sick days

c)      Employee retention and talent acquisition

d)     It shows that the company/ organization cares

How can employee reduce stress at workplace:

a)      Address known issues