Environmental engineering is the application of science andengineering principles to improve the environment (air, water, and/or

land resources), to provide healthy water, air, and land for human habitation and for other organisms, and to

remediate polluted sites.

Environmental engineering involves water and air pollution control, recycling, waste disposal, and public health issues as well as a

knowledge of environmental engineering law. It also includes studies on the environmental impact of proposed construction

projects.

Environmental engineers conduct hazardous-waste management studies to evaluate the significance of such hazards, advise on

treatment and containment, and develop regulations to prevent mishaps. Environmental engineers also design municipal water

supply andindustrial wastewater treatment systems as well as address local and worldwide environmental issues such as the effects

of acid rain, global warming, ozone depletion, water pollution and air pollution fromautomobile exhausts and industrial sources. At

many universities, Environmental Engineering programs follow either the Department of Civil Engineering or The Department

of Chemical Engineering at Engineering faculties. Environmental "civil" engineers focus on hydrology, water resources management,

bioremediation, and water treatment plant design. Environmental "chemical" engineers, on the other hand, focus on environmental

chemistry, advanced air and water treatment technologies and separation processes.

Additionally, engineers are more frequently obtaining specialized training in law (J.D.) and are utilizing their technical expertise in

the practices of Environmental engineering law.

Most jurisdictions also impose licensing and registration requirements.

Development of environmental engineering

Ever since people first recognized that their health and well-being were related to the quality of their environment, they have

applied thoughtful principles to attempt to improve the quality of their environment. The ancient Harappan civilization utilized early

sewers in some cities. The Romans constructed aqueducts to prevent drought and to create a clean, healthful water supply for

the metropolis of Rome. In the 15th century, Bavaria created laws restricting the development and degradation of alpine country

that constituted the region's water supply.

The field emerged as a separate environmental discipline during the middle third of the 20th century in response to widespread

public concern about water and pollution and increasingly extensive environmental quality degradation. However, its roots extend

back to early efforts in public health engineering. Modern environmental engineering began in London in the mid-19th century

when Joseph Bazalgette designed the first major sewerage system that reduced the incidence of waterborne diseases such

as cholera. The introduction of drinking water treatment and sewage treatment in industrialized countries reduced waterborne

diseases from leading causes of death to rarities.

In many cases, as societies grew, actions that were intended to achieve benefits for those societies had longer-term impacts which

reduced other environmental qualities. One example is the widespread application of DDT to control agricultural pests in the years

following World War II. While the agricultural benefits were outstanding and crop yields increased dramatically, thus reducing world

hunger substantially, and malariawas controlled better than it ever had been, numerous species were brought to the verge of

extinction due to the impact of the DDT on their reproductive cycles. The story of DDT as vividly told in Rachel Carson's "Silent

Spring" is considered to be the birth of the modern environmental movement and the development of the modern field of

"environmental engineering."

Conservation movements and laws restricting public actions that would harm the environment have been developed by various

societies for millennia. Notable examples are the laws decreeing the construction ofsewers in London and Paris in the 19th century

and the creation of the U.S. national park system in the early 20th century.

Briefly speaking, the main task of environmental engineers is to protect public health by protecting (from further degradation),

preserving (the present condition of), and enhancing the environment. Also, they develop new forms of energy and ways to increase

the efficiency of generating and using energy. They try to get people to convert to environmental friendly energy and products.

Scope of environmental engineering

Pollutants may be chemical, biological, thermal, radioactive, or even mechanical. Environmental engineering is a diverse field, which

emphasizes several areas: process engineering, environmental chemistry, water andsewage treatment (sanitary engineering),

waste reduction/management, and pollution prevention/cleanup. Environmental engineering is a synthesis of various disciplines,

incorporating elements from the following:

Agricultural engineering

Biology

Chemical engineering

Geology

Hydrogeology

Public health

Chemistry

Civil engineering

Ecology

Geography

Solid waste

Hazardous waste

Water treatment

Wastewater treatment

Statistics

Environmental engineering is the application of science and engineering principles to the environment. Some consider

environmental engineering to include the development of sustainable processes. There are several divisions of the field of

environmental engineering.

Environmental impact assessment and mitigation

In this division, engineers and scientists use a systemic identification and evaluation process to assess the potential impacts of a

proposed project , plans, programs, policies, or legislative actions upon the physical-chemical, biological, cultural, and

socioeconomic components on environmental conditions. They apply scientific and engineering principles to evaluate if there are

likely to be any adverse impacts to water quality, air quality, habitat quality, flora and fauna, agricultural capacity, traffic impacts,

social impacts, ecological impacts, noise impacts, visual(landscape) impacts, etc. If impacts are expected, they then develop

mitigation measures to limit or prevent such impacts. An example of a mitigation measure would be the creation of wetlands in a

nearby location to mitigate the filling in of wetlands necessary for a road development if it is not possible to reroute the road.

The practice of environmental assessment was intitiated on January 1, 1970, the effective date of the National Environmental Policy

Act (NEPA) in the United States. Since that time, more than 100 developing and developed nations either have planned specific

analogous laws or have adopted procedure used elsewhere. NEPA is applicable to all federal agencies in the United States.

Water supply and treatment

Engineers and scientists work to secure water supplies for potable and agricultural use. They evaluate the water balance within

a watershed and determine the available water supply, the water needed for various needs in that watershed, the seasonal cycles of

water movement through the watershed and they develop systems to store, treat, and convey water for various uses. Water is

treated to achieve water quality objectives for the end uses. In the case of potable water supply, water is treated to minimize the

risk ofinfectious disease transmission, the risk of non-infectious illness, and to create a palatable water flavor. Water distribution

systems are designed and built to provide adequate water pressure and flow rates to meet various end-user needs such as domestic

use, fire suppression, and irrigation.

Wastewater conveyance and treatment

Water pollution

Most urban and many rural areas no longer discharge human waste directly to the land through outhouse, septic, and/orhoney

bucket systems, but rather deposit such waste into water and convey it from households via sewer systems. Engineers and

scientists develop collection and treatment systems to carry this waste material away from where people live and produce the

waste and discharge it into the environment. In developed countries, substantial resources are applied to the treatment

and detoxification of this waste before it is discharged into a river, lake, or ocean system. Developing nations are striving to obtain

the resources to develop such systems so that they can improve water quality in their surface waters and reduce the risk of water-

borne infectious disease.

Sewage treatment plant, Australia.

There are numerous wastewater treatment technologies. A wastewater treatment train can consist of a primary clarifier system to

remove solid and floating materials, a secondary treatment system consisting of an aerationbasin followed

by flocculation and sedimentation or anactivated sludge system and a secondary clarifier, a tertiary biological nitrogen removal

system, and a finaldisinfection process. The aeration basin/activated sludge system removes organic material by growing bacteria

(activated sludge). The secondary clarifier removes the activated sludge from the water. The tertiary system, although not always

included due to costs, is becoming more prevalent to remove nitrogen and phosphorus and to disinfect the water before discharge

to a surface water stream or ocean outfall.

Air quality management

Engineers apply scientific and engineering principles to the design of manufacturing and combustionprocesses to reduce

air pollutant emissions to acceptable levels. Scrubbers, electrostatic precipitators,catalytic converters, and various other processes

are utilized to remove particulate matter, nitrogen oxides,sulfur oxides, volatile organic compounds (VOC), reactive organic gases

(ROG) and other air pollutants fromflue gases and other sources prior to allowing their emission to the atmosphere.

Scientists have developed air pollution dispersion models to evaluate the concentration of a pollutant at a receptor or the impact on

overall air quality from vehicle exhausts and industrial flue gas stack emissions.

To some extent, this field overlaps the desire to decrease carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasemissions from combustion

processes.

Environmental policy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Environmental policy is any [course of] action deliberately taken [or not taken] to manage human activities with a view to prevent, reduce, or mitigate

harmful effects on nature and natural resources, and ensuring that man-made changes to the environment do not have harmful effects on humans.[1]

Definition

It is useful to consider that environmental policy comprises two major terms: environment and policy. Environment primarily refers to the ecological

dimension (ecosystems), but can also take account of social dimension (quality of life) and an economic dimension (resource management). [2]Policy

can be defined as a "course of action or principle adopted or proposed by a government, party, business or individual" [3]. Thus, environmental policy

focuses on problems arising from human impact on the environment, which retroacts onto human society by having a (negative) impact on human

values such as good health or the 'clean and green' environment.

Environmental issues generally addressed by environmental policy include (but are not limited to) air and water pollution, waste

management, ecosystem management, biodiversityprotection, and the protection of natural resources, wildlife and endangered species. Relatively

recently, environmental policy has also attended to the communication of environmental issues.[4]

Rationale

The rationale for governmental involvement in the environment is market failure in the form of externalities, including the free rider problem and

the tragedy of the commons. An example of an externality is a factory that engages in water pollution in a river. The cost of such action is paid by

society-at-large, when they must clean the water before drinking it and is external to the costs of the factory. The free rider problem is when the private

marginal cost of taking action to protect the environment is greater than the private marginal benefit, but the social marginal cost is less than the social

marginal benefit. The tragedy of the commons is the problem that, because no one person owns the commons, each individual has an incentive to

utilize common resources as much as possible. Without governmental involvement, the commons is overused. Examples of tragedies of the common

are overfishing and overgrazing.[5]

[edit]Environmental policy instruments

Environmental policy instruments are tools used by governments to implement their environmental policies. Governments may use a number of

different types of instruments. For example, economic incentives and market-based instruments such as taxes and tax exemptions, tradable permits,

and fees can be very effective to encourage compliance with environmental policy. [6]

Voluntary measures, such as bilateral agreements negotiated between the government and private firms and commitments made by firms independent

of government pressure, are other instruments used in environmental policy. Another instrument is the implementation of greener public purchasing

programs. [7]

Often, several instruments are combined in an instrument mix formulated to address a certain environmental problem. Since environmental issues

often have many different aspects, several policy instruments may be needed to adequately address each one. Furthermore, instrument mixes may

allow firms greater flexibility in finding ways to comply with government policy while reducing the uncertainty in the cost of doing so. However,

instrument mixes must be carefully formulated so that the individual measures within them do not undermine each other or create a rigid and cost-

ineffective compliance framework. Also, overlapping instruments lead to unnecessary administrative costs, making implementation of environmental

policies more costly than necessary[8] In order to help governments realize their environmental policy goals, the OECD Environment Directorate studies

and collects data on the efficiency of the environmental instruments governments use to achieve their goals as well as their consequences for other

policies.[9]. The site www.economicinstruments.com [1] [10] serves as a complementary database detailing countries' experience with the application of

instruments for environmental policy.

The current reliance on a market based framework is controversial, however, with many prominent environmentalists arguing that a more radical,

overarching, approach is needed than a set of specific initiatives, to deal coherently with the scale of the climate change challenge. For an example of

the problems, energy efficiency measures may actually increase energy consumption in the absence of a cap on fossil fuel use, as people might drive

more efficient cars further and they might sell better. Thus, for example, Aubrey Meyer calls for a 'framework based market' of contraction and

convergence examples of which are ideas such as the recent Cap and Share and 'Sky Trust' proposals.

Environmental law

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Environmental law is a complex and interlocking body of treaties, conventions, statutes, regulations, and common law that, very broadly, operate to

regulate the interaction of humanity and the rest of the biophysical or natural environment, toward the purpose of reducing the impacts of human

activity, both on the natural environment and on humanity itself. The topic may be divided into two major subjects: (1)pollution control and remediation,

(2) resource conservation and management. Laws dealing with pollution are often media-limited - i.e., pertain only to a single environmental medium,

such as air, water (whether surface water, groundwater or oceans), soil, etc. - and control both emissions of pollutants into the medium, as well as

liability for exceeding permitted emissions and responsibility for cleanup. Laws regarding resource conservation and management generally focus on a

single resource - e.g., natural resources such as forests, mineral deposits or animal species, or more intangible resources such as especially scenic

areas or sites of high archeological value - and provide guidelines for and limitations on the conservation, disturbance and use of those resources.

These areas are not mutually exclusive - for example, laws governing water pollution in lakes and rivers may also conserve the recreational value of

such water bodies. Furthermore, many laws that are not exclusively "environmental" nonetheless include significant environmental components and

integrate environmental policy decisions. Municipal, state and national laws regarding development, land use and infrastructure are examples.

Environmental law draws from and is influenced by principles of environmentalism,

including ecology, conservation, stewardship,responsibility and sustainability. Pollution control laws generally are intended (often with varying degrees

of emphasis) to protect and preserve both the natural environment and human health. Resource conservation and management laws generally balance

(again, often with varying degrees of emphasis) the benefits of preservation and economic exploitation of resources. From an economic perspective

environmental laws may be understood as concerned with the prevention of present and future externalities, and preservation of commonresources

from individual exhaustion. The limitations and expenses that such laws may impose on commerce, and the often unquantifiable (non-monetized)

benefit of environmental protection, have generated and continue to generate significant controversy.

Given the broad scope of environmental law, no fully definitive list of environmental laws is possible. The following discussion and resources give an

indication of the breadth of law that falls within the "environmental" metric.

[edit]International

Pollution does not respect political boundaries, making international law an important aspect of environmental law. A plethora of legally binding

international agreements now encompass a wide variety of issue-areas, from terrestrial, marine and atmospheric pollution through to wildlife and

biodiversity protection.

While the bodies that proposed, argued, agreed upon and ultimately adopted existing international agreements vary according to each agreement,

certain conferences - including 1972'sUnited Nations Conference on the Human Environment, 1983's World Commission on Environment and

Development, 1992's United Nations Conference on Environment and Developmentand 2002's World Summit on Sustainable Development have been

particularly important.

[edit]Organizing principles

International environmental law's development has included the statement and adoption of a number of important guiding principles. As with all

international law, international environmental law implicates questions of sovereignty, comity and even perhaps the Golden Rule. Other guiding

principles include the polluter pays principle, the precautionary principle, the principle of sustainable development, environmental procedural rights,

common but differentiated responsibilities, intragenerational and intergenerational equity, the "common concern of humankind", and the common

heritage.

[edit]Sources

[edit]Treaties, protocols, conventions, etc.

International environmental agreements are generally multilateral (or sometimes bilateral) treaties (a.k.a. convention, agreement, protocol, etc.). The

majority of such conventions deal directly with specific environmental issues. There are also some general treaties with one or two clauses referring to

environmental issues but these are rarer.[citation needed] There are about 1000 environmental law treaties in existence today; no other area of law has

generated such a large body of conventions on a specific topic.[citation needed]

Protocols are subsidiary agreements built from a primary treaty. They exist in many areas of international law but are especially useful in the

environmental field, where they may be used to regularly incorporate recent scientific knowledge. They also permit countries to reach agreement on a

framework that would be contentious if every detail were to be agreed upon in advance. The most widely known protocol in international environmental

law is the Kyoto Protocol.

[edit]Customary international law

Customary international law is an important source of international environmental law. These are the norms and rules that countries follow as a matter

of custom and they are so prevalent that they bind all states in the world. When a principle becomes customary law is not clear cut and many

arguments are put forward by states not wishing to be bound. Examples of customary international law relevant to the environment include the duty to

warn other states promptly about icons of an environmental nature and environmental damages to which another state or states may be exposed, and

Principle 21 of the Stockholm Declaration ('good neighbourliness' or sic utere).

[edit]Judicial decisions

International environmental law also includes the opinions of international courts and tribunals. While there are few and they have limited authority, the

decisions carry much weight with legal commentators and are quite influential on the development of international environmental law.

The courts include: the International Court of Justice (ICJ); the international Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS); the European Court of Justice;

and regional treaty tribunals. Arguably the World Trade Organisation's Dispute Settlement Board (DSB) is getting a say on environmental law also.

Important cases have included:

the Trail Smelter Arbitration, 33 AJIL (1939)

the various nuclear weapons testing cases such as between New Zealand and France before the International Court of Justice;

Gabcikovo-Nagyramos Dam Case, ICJ Rep (1997)

[edit]Administration and enforcement

Main article: United Nations Environment Programme

[edit]United States

Laws from every stratum of the laws of the United States pertain to environmental issues. The United States Congress has passed a number of

landmark environmental regulatory regimes, but many other federal laws are equally important, if less comprehensive. Concurrently, the legislatures of

the fifty states have passed innumerable comparable sets of laws.[1]These state and federal systems are foliated with layer upon layer of administrative

regulation. Meanwhile, the U.S. judicial system reviews not only the legislative enactments, but also the administrative decisions of the many agencies

dealing with environmental issues. Where the statutes and regulations end, the common law begins.[2]

[edit]Sources

[edit]Federal statutes

Main article: List of United States Federal Environmental Statutes

See also: Environmental policy of the United States

[edit]Federal regulation

Consistent with the federal statutes that they administer, U.S. federal agencies promulgate regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations that fill out

the broad programs enacted by Congress. Primary among these is Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, containing the regulations of

the Environmental Protection Agency. Other import CFR sections include Title 10 (energy), Title 18 (Conservation of Power and Water Resources),

Title 21 (Food and Drugs), Title 33 (Navigable Waters), Title 36 (Parks, Forests and Public Property), Title 43 (Public Lands: Interior) and Title 50

(Wildlife and Fisheries).

[edit]Judicial decisions

The federal and state judiciaries have played an important role in the development of environmental law in the United States, in many cases resolving

significant controversy regarding the application of federal environmental laws in favor of environmental interests. The decisions of the Supreme Court

in cases such as Calvert Cliffs Coordinating Committee v. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (broadly reading the procedural requirements of

the National Environmental Policy Act), Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill (broadly reading the Endangered Species Act), and, much more

recently, Massachusetts v. EPA (requiring EPA to reconsider regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act) have had policy impacts far

beyond the facts of the particular case.

See also: List of environmental lawsuits

[edit]Common law

The common law of tort is an important tool for the resolution of environmental disputes that fall beyond the confines of regulated activity. Prior to the

modern proliferation of environmental regulation, the doctrines of nuisance, trespass, negligence, and strict liability apportioned harm and assigned

liability for activities that today would be considered pollution and likely governed by regulatory regimes.[3] These doctrines remain relevant, and most

recently have been used by plaintiffs seeking to impose liability for the consequences of global climate change.[4].

The common law also continues to play a leading role in American water law, in the doctrines of riparian rights and prior appropriation.

[edit]Administration

In the United States, responsibilities for the administration of environmental laws are divided between numerous federal and state agencies with

varying, overlapping and sometimes conflicting missions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the most well-known federal agency,

with jurisdiction over many of the country's national air, water and waste and hazardous substance programs.[5] Other federal agencies, such as

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service pursue primarily conservation missions,[6] while still others, such as the United States

Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, tend to focus more on beneficial use of natural resources.[7]

Federal agencies operate within the limits of federal jurisdiction. For example, EPA's jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act is limited to "waters of the

United States". Furthermore in many cases federal laws allow for more stringent regulation by states, and of transfer of certain federally mandated

responsibilities from federal to state control. U.S. state governments, therefore, administering state law adopted under state police powers or federal

law by delegation, uniformly include environmental agencies.[8] The extent to which state environmental laws are based on or depart from federal law

varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

Thus, while a permit to fill non-federal wetlands might require a permit from a single state agency, larger and more complex endeavors - for example,

the construction of a coal-fired power plant - might require approvals from numerous federal and state agencies.

See also: List of environmental organizations#Government organizations

[edit]Enforcement

In the United States, violations of environmental laws are generally civil offenses, resulting in monetary penalties and, perhaps, civil sanctions such

as injunction. Many environmental laws do, however, provide for criminal penalties for egregious violations. Often, environmental agencies include

separate enforcement offices, with duties including monitoring permitted activities, performing compliance inspections, issuing citations and prosecuting

(civilly or criminally, depending on the violation) wrongdoing. EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance is one such agency. Others,

such as the United States Park Police, carry out more traditional law enforcement activities.

Adjudicatory proceedings for environmental violations are often handled by the agencies themselves under the strictures of administrative law. In some

cases, appeals are also handled internally (for example, EPA's Environmental Appeals Board). Generally, final agency determinations may

subsequently be appealed to the appropriate court.

[edit]Controversy

[edit]Necessity

The necessity of directly regulating a particular activity due to the activity's environmental consequences is often a subject of debate. These debates

may be scientific - for example, scientific uncertainty undergirds the ongoing debate over greenhouse gas regulation, and is a major factor in the

debate over whether to ban pesticides.[9]

[edit]Cost

It is very common for regulated industry to argue against environmental regulation on the basis of cost. Indeed, in the U.S. estimates of the

environmental regulation's total costs reach 2% of GDP,[10] and any new regulation will arguably contribute in some way to that burden. Difficulties

arise, however, in performing cost-benefit analysis. The value of a healthy ecosystem is not easily quantified, nor the value of clean air, species

diversity, etc. Furthermore environmental issues may gain an ethical or moral dimension that would discount cost.

[edit]Effectiveness

Environmental interests will often criticize environmental regulation as inadequately protective of the environment. Furthermore, strong environmental

laws do not guarantee strong enforcement.

[edit]Education and training

Environmental law courses are offered as elective courses in the second and third years of JD study at many American law schools. Curricula vary: an

introductory course might focus on the "big five" federal statutes - NEPA, CAA, CWA, CERCLA and RCRA (or FIFRA) - and may be offered in

conjunction with a natural resources law course. Smaller seminars mights be offered on more focused topics. Some U.S. law schools also offer

an LLM or JSD specialization in environmental law. Additionally, several law schools host legal clinics that focus on environmental law, providing

students with an opportunity to learn about environmental law in the context of real world disputes involving actual clients.[11] U.S. News & World

Report has consistently ranked Vermont Law School, Lewis & Clark Law School, and Pace University School of Law as the top three Environmental

Law programs in the United States.[12]

Many law schools host student-published law journals. The environmental law reviews at Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, NYU and Lewis & Clark Law

School are regularly the most-cited such publications. [13]

The IUCN Academy of Environmental Law[14] is a network of some 60 law schools worldwide that specialise in the research and teaching of

environmental law.

International environmental lawyers often receive specialized training in the form of an LL.M. degree after having a first law degree – often in another

country from where they got their first law degree.

References

1. ̂  See, e.g., Pennsylvania

2. ̂  See, e.g., Second Circuit Clarifies Superfund Cost Recovery and Liability Issues (analyzing court application of statutory provisions of

CERCLA, the Superfund statute.)

3. ̂  See West's Encyclopedia of American Law, Environmental Law.

4. ̂  Cases collected at Climatecasechart.com (Common Law Claims)

5. ̂  See EPA, Laws That We Administer; EPA, Alphabetical Listing of EPA programs.

6. ̂  See National Park Service, Our Mission; USFWS, National Policy Issuance #99-01

7. ̂  See USFS Mission Statement.

8. ̂  See EPA, State Environmental Agencies

9. ̂  See, e.g., DDT.

10. ̂  Pizer & Kopp, Calculating the Costs of Environmental Regulation, 1 (2003 Resources for the Future).

11. ̂  See, e.g., Adam Babich, The Apolitical Law School Clinic, 11 Clinical L. Rev. 447 (2005).

12. ̂  US News & World Report

13. ̂  See Washington and Lee University School of Law, Law Journal Rankings

14. ̂  IUCN Academy of Environmental Law

Occupational safety and health

Occupational health and safety is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or

employment. The goal of all occupational health and safety programs is to foster a safe work environment.[1] As a secondary effect, it may also protect

co-workers, family members, employers, customers, suppliers, nearby communities, and other members of the public who are impacted by the

workplace environment. It may involve interactions among many subject areas, including occupational medicine, occupational (or industrial)

hygiene, public health, safety engineering, chemistry, health physics.

[edit]Definition

Since 1950, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have shared a common definition of occupational

health. It was adopted by the Joint ILO/WHO Committee on Occupational Health at its first session in 1950 and revised at its twelfth session in 1995.

The definition reads: "Occupational health should aim at: the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-

being of workers in all occupations; the prevention amongst workers of departures from health caused by their working conditions; the protection of

workers in their employment from risks resulting from factors adverse to health; the placing and maintenance of the worker in an occupational

environment adapted to his physiological and psychological capabilities; and, to summarize, the adaptation of work to man and of each man to his job."

[edit]Relationship to occupational health psychology

Occupational health psychology (OHP), a related discipline, is a relatively new field that combines elements of occupational health and

safety, industrial/organizational psychology, andhealth psychology.[2] The field is concerned with identifying work-related psychosocial factors that

adversely affect the health of people who work. OHP is also concerned with developing ways to effect change in workplaces for the purpose of

improving the health of people who work. For more detail on OHP, see the section on occupational health psychology.

[edit]Reasons for Occupational health and safety

The event of an incident at work (such as legal fees, fines, compensatory damages, investigation time, lost production, lost goodwill from the workforce,

from customers and from the wider community).

Legal  - Occupational requirements may be reinforced in civil law and/or criminal law; it is accepted that without the extra "encouragement" of

potential regulatory action or litigation, many organisations would not act upon their implied moral obligations.

Occupational health and safety officers promote health and safety procedures in an organisation. They recognize hazards and measure health and

safety risks, set suitable safety controls in place, and give recommendations on avoiding accidents to management and employees in an organisation.

This paper looks at the main tasks undertaken by OHS practitioners in Europe, Australia and the USA, and the main knowledge and skills that are

required of them. “Like it or not, organisations have a duty to provide health and safety training. But it could involve much more than you think.”

(Damon, Nadia. 2008. ‘Reducing The Risks’, Training and Coaching Today, United Kingdom, pg.14)

[edit]Safety Professionals in Europe

In Norway, the main required tasks of an Occupational Health and Safety Practitioner include:

• Systematic evaluations of the working environment

• Endorsing preventative measures which eliminate reasons for illnesses in the work place

• Giving information in the subject of employees’ health

• Giving information on occupational hygiene, ergonomics and also environmental and safety risks in the work place (Hale A, Ytehus I, 2004, ‘Changing

requirements for the safety profession: roles and tasks’, Journal of Occupational Health & Safety – Australia and New Zealand)

In the Netherlands, required tasks for health and safety staff are only summarily defined, and include:

• Voluntary medical examinations

• A consulting room on the work environment for the workers

• Health check assessments (if needed for the job concerned) (Hale, A et alia. 2004)

‘The main influence on the Dutch law on the job of the safety professional is through the requirement on each employer to use the services of a

certified working conditions service to advise them on health and safety’ (Hale, A et alia. 2004). A ‘certified service’ must employ sufficient numbers of

four types of certified experts to cover the risks in the organisations which use the service:

• A safety professional

• An occupational hygienist

• An occupational physician

• A work and organisation specialist. (Hale, A et alia. 2004)

It shows in Table 1 (based on the European Network of Safety and Health Practitioner Organisations [ENHSPO] survey to) that in Norway, 37 % of

Health and Safety practitioners had a MSc education level, and 14% in the Netherlands; 44% were BSc graduates and 63% in the Netherlands; and

19% were of a Technician level and 23% in the Netherlands (Hale, A et alia. 2004).

[edit]Safety Professionals in the USA

The main tasks undertaken by the OHS practitioner in the USA include:

• Develop processes, procedures, criteria, requirements, and methods to attain the best possible management of the hazards and exposures that can

cause injury to people, and damage property, or the environment; • Apply good business practices and economic principles for efficient use of

resources to add to the importance of the safety processes;

• Promote other members of the company to contribute by exchanging ideas and other different approaches to make sure that every one in the

corporation possess OHS knowledge and have functional roles in the development and execution of safety procedures; • Assess services, outcomes,

methods, equipment, workstations, and procedures by using qualitative and quantitative methods to recognise the hazards and measure the related

risks; • Examine all possibilities, effectiveness, reliability, and expenditure to attain the best results for the company concerned (Board of Certified

Safety Professionals, 2006, “Examination Guide” accessed 20 April at http://www.bcsp.org/bcsp/media/exam_guide.pdf)

Knowledge required by the OHS professional in USA include:

• Constitutional and case law controlling safety, health, and the environment • Operational procedures to plan/ develop safe work practices • Safety,

health and environmental sciences • Design of hazard control systems (i.e. fall protection, scaffoldings) • Design of recordkeeping systems that take

collection into account, as well as storage, interpretation, and dissemination • Mathematics and statistics • Processes and systems for attaining safety

through design (Board of Certified Safety Professionals, 2006)

Some skills required by the OHS professional in the USA include (but are not limited to):

• Understanding and relating to systems, policies and rules • Holding checks and having control methods for possible hazardous exposures •

Mathematical and statistical analysis • Examining manufacturing hazards • Planning safe work practices for systems, facilities, and equipment

• Understanding and using safety, health, and environmental science information for the improvement of procedures • Interpersonal communication

skills (Board of Certified Safety Professionals, 2006)

[edit]The differences in each location

Similar to the findings of the ENHSPO survey conducted in Australia, the Institute of Occupational Medicine found that in the UK, there is a need to put

a greater emphasis on work-related illness (Anonymous. 2008. ‘Occupational Health’, Health and Safety News: In Brief, Vol 60, Iss. 3; UK. pg. 6). Its

been shown that in Australia and the USA that a major responsibility of the OHS professional is to keep company directors and managers aware of the

issues that they face in regards to Occupational Health and Safety principles and legislation. However, in Europe, it has been shown that this is where

they are lacking. “Nearly half of senior managers and company directors do not have an up-to-date understanding of their health and safety-related

duties and responsibilities.” (Paton, Nic. 2008. ‘Senior Managers Fail to Show Competence in Health and Safety’ Occupational Health, Vol. 60, Iss. 3;

pg. 6)

[edit]National implementing legislation

Different states take different approaches to legislation, regulation, and enforcement.

In the European Union, member states have enforcing authorities to ensure that the basic legal requirements relating to occupational health and safety

are met. In many EU countries, there is strong cooperation between employer and worker organisations (e.g. Unions) to ensure good OSH

performance as it is recognized this has benefits for both the worker (through maintenance of health) and the enterprise (through

improved productivity and quality). In 1996 the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work was founded.

Member states of the European Union have all transposed into their national legislation a series of directives that establish minimum standards on

occupational health and safety. These directives (of which there are about 20 on a variety of topics) follow a similar structure requiring the employer to

assess the workplace risks and put in place preventive measures based on a hierarchy of control. This hierarchy starts with elimination of the hazard

and ends with personal protective equipment.

In the UK, health and safety legislation is drawn up and enforced by the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities (the local council) under

the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Increasingly in the UK the regulatory trend is away from prescriptive rules, and towards risk assessment.

Recent major changes to the laws governing asbestos and fire safety management embrace the concept of risk assessment.

In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 created both the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).[3] OSHA, in the U.S. Department of Labor, is responsible for developing and enforcing

workplace safety and health regulations. NIOSH, in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is focused on research, information,

education, and training in occupational safety and health.[4]

OSHA have been regulating occupational safety and health since 1971. Occupational safety and health regulation of a limited number of specifically

defined industries was in place for several decades before that, and broad regulations by some individual states was in place for many years prior to

the establishment of OSHA.

In Canada, workers are covered by provincial or federal labour codes depending on the sector in which they work. Workers covered by federal

legislation (including those in mining, transportation, and federal employment) are covered by the Canada Labour Code; all other workers are covered

by the health and safety legislation of the province they work in. TheCanadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), an agency of the

Government of Canada, was created in 1978 by an Act of Parliament. The act was based on the belief that all Canadians had "...a fundamental right to

a healthy and safe working environment." CCOHS is mandated to promote safe and healthy workplaces to help prevent work-related injuries and

illnesses.

In Malaysia, the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) under the Ministry of Human Resource is responsible to ensure that the safety,

health and welfare of workers in both the public and private sector is upheld. DOSH is responsible to enforce the Factory and Machinery Act 1969 and

the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994.

In the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Health is responsible for occupational disease prevention and the State Administration of Work Safety

for safety issues at work. On the provincial and municipal level, there are Health Supervisions for occupational health and local bureaus of Work Safety

for safety. The "Occupational Disease Control Act of PRC" came into force on May 1, 2002.[5] and Work safety Act of PRC on November 1, 2002.[6] The

Occupational Disease Control Act is under revising. The prevention of occupational disease is still in its initial stage compared with industried countries

such as the US or UK.

[edit]Identifing Safety and Health Hazards

[edit]Hazards, risks, outcomes

The terminology used in OSH varies between states, but generally speaking:

A hazard is something that can cause harm if not controlled.

The outcome is the harm that results from an uncontrolled hazard.

A risk is a combination of the probability that a particular outcome will occur and the severity of the harm involved.

“Hazard”, “risk”, and “outcome” are used in other fields to describe e.g. environmental damage, or damage to equipment. However, in the context of

OSH, “harm” generally describes the direct or indirect degradation, temporary or permanent, of the physical, mental, or social well-being of workers.

For example, repetitively carrying out manual handling of heavy objects is a hazard. The outcome could be a musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) or an

acute back or joint injury. The risk can be expressed numerically (e.g. a 0.5 or 50/50 chance of the outcome occurring during a year), in relative terms

(e.g. "high/medium/low"), or with a multi-dimensional classification scheme (e.g. situation-specific risks).

[edit]Hazard Assessment

Hazard analysis or hazard assessment is a process in which individual hazards of the workplace are identified, assessed and controlled/eliminated as

close to source (location of the hazard) as reasonable and possible. As technology, resources, social expectation or regulatory requirements change,

hazard analysis focuses controls more closely toward the source of the hazard. Thus hazard control is a dynamic program of prevention. Hazard-based

programs also have the advantage of not assigning or impling there are "acceptable risks" in the workplace. A hazard-based program may not be able

to eliminate all risks, but neither does it accept "satisfactory" -- but still risky—outcomes. And as those who calculate and manage the risk are usually

managers while those exposed to the risks are a different group, workers, a hazard-based approach can by-pass conflict inherent in a risk-based

approach.

[edit]Risk assessment

Further information: Risk assessment#Risk assessment in public health

Modern occupational safety and health legislation usually demands that a risk assessment be carried out prior to making an intervention. It should be

kept in mind that risk management requires risk to be managed to a level which is as low as is reasonably practical.

This assessment should:

Identify the hazards

Identify all affected by the hazard and how

Evaluate the risk

Identify and prioritize appropriate control measures

The calculation of risk is based on the likelihood or probability of the harm being realized and the severity of the consequences. This can be expressed

mathematically as a quantitativeassessment (by assigning low, medium and high likelihood and severity with integers and multiplying them to obtain

a risk factor, or qualitatively as a description of the circumstances by which the harm could arise.

The assessment should be recorded and reviewed periodically and whenever there is a significant change to work practices. The assessment should

include practical recommendations to control the risk. Once recommended controls are implemented, the risk should be re-calculated to determine of it

has been lowered to an acceptable level. Generally speaking, newly introduced controls should lower risk by one level, i.e., from high to medium or

from medium to low.

[edit]Common workplace hazard groups

Mechanical hazards include:

By type of agent:

Impact force   

Collisions   

Falls from height   

Struck by objects   

Confined space   

Slips and trips   

Falling on a pointed object   

Compressed air   /high pressure fluids (such as cutting fluid)

Entanglement   

Equipment   -related injury

By type of damage:

Crushing   

Cutting   

Friction    and abrasion

Shearing   

Stabbing    and puncture

Other physical hazards:

Noise   

Vibration   

Lighting   

Barotrauma    (hypobaric/hyperbaric pressure)

Ionizing radiation   

Electricity   

Asphyxiation   

Cold stress (hypothermia)

Heat stress (hyperthermia)

Dehydration    (due to sweating)

Biological hazards  include:

Bacteria   

Virus   

Fungi   

Mold   

Blood-borne pathogens   

Tuberculosis   

Fire prevention (fire protection/fire safety) often comes within the remit of health and safety professionals as well.

[edit]Canadian Clasification

In Canada, Hazards are typically categorized into one of six groups:

1. Safety (moving machinery, working at heights, slippery surfaces, mobile equipment, etc.)

2. Ergonomic (material handling, environment, work organization, etc.)

3. Chemical Agents

4. Biological Agents

5. Physical Agents(noise, lighting, radiation, etc.)

6. Psychosocial(stress, violence, etc.)

[edit]Future developments

Occupational health and safety has come a long way from its beginnings in the heavy industry sector. It now has an impact on every worker, in every

work place, and those charged with managing health and safety are having more and more tasks added to their portfolio. The most significant

responsibility is environmental protection. The skills required to manage occupational health and safety are compatible with environmental protection,

which is why these responsibilities are so often bolted onto the workplace health and safety professional.

[edit]See also

[edit]General

ANSI Z10

Environment, Health and Safety  - EHS, SHE or HES

Material safety data sheet  - MSDS

Mountain & Plains ERC  - A NIOSH-Funded Education and Research Center in Colorado

Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems  - OHSMS

Occupational Medicine Specialists of Canada

OHSAS 18001

Public safety

[edit]Government organizations

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety  (Canada)

Congressional Office of Compliance  (US)

European Agency for Safety and Health at Work  (EU)

Government & Educational OHS Resources  (Australia)

Health and Safety Executive  (UK)

Health for Work Adviceline for small businesses  (UK)

Information Center of Occupational Safety and Health  (Israel)

Institute of Occupational Safety_and_Health[http://www.labourdept.gov.lk

International Labour Organisation  (United Nations)

KOSHA:Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency  (South Korea)

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health  (US)

National Institute of Occupational Health  (India)

National Institute of Occupational Health  (Norway)

National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Malaysia)

National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health  (Sri Lanka)

Occupational Safety and Health Administration  (US)

Safe Work Australia  (Australia)

Work Safe BC formerly Workers' Compensation Board of BC (WCB)  (British Columbia, Canada)

Workplace Safety & Health Council  (Singapore)

Workplace Safety & Insurance Board  (Ontario, Canada)

WorkSafe Victoria , Australia

[edit]Laws

Health and Safety at Work Act  (UK)

Indonesian Act No.1/1970 about Occupational Safety at Work 1970  (Indonesia)

Occupational Safety and Health Act  (US)

Occupational Health and Safety Act 1991  (Australia)

Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994  (Malaysia)

Timeline of major U.S. environmental and occupational health regulation

Workplace Safety and Health Act  (Singapore)

[edit]Lawsuits

Castillo v. Case Farms of Ohio

[edit]Related fields

Construction safety

Epidemiology

Ergonomics , Participatory Ergonomics

Hazard analysis

Hazard prevention

Hazop

Industrial hygiene

Infection control

Mine safety

Occupational health psychology

Process Safety Management

Psychology

Public health

Toxicology

[edit]Workplace environmental standards

ISO 8518

ISO 8672

ISO 8760 - ISO 8762

ISO 9486 - ISO 9487

ISO 11041

ISO 11174

ISO 15202

ISO 15767

ISO 16107

ISO 16200

ISO 16702

ISO 16740

ISO 17733 - ISO 17734

ISO 17737

ISO 20552

[edit]Other

Active Agenda  is a free and open source project to reduce workplace risk.

Advocates for Injured Workers  (AIW)

Asbestosis - Compensation and Liability Disputes

Disability Management

Examinetics  - mobile occupational health screening

Hazards  a UK-based, independent, union-friendly health and safety magazine

Juliana Mateo Foundation for Disabled Farmworkers

NIOSH Power Tools Database

Occupational hygiene

Occupational illness

Occupational rehabilitation

Occupational risk assessment

Occupational therapy

Institute of Occupational Medicine

Prevention through design

Safe-In-Sound Award  Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Award

Safeguard (magazine)  (in New Zealand)

Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health

Workers' compensation

[edit]References

1. ̂  Oak Ridge National Lab Safety Document http://www.ornl.gov

2. ̂  Everly, G. S., Jr. (1986). An introduction to occupational health psychology. In P. A. Keller & L. G. Ritt (Eds.), Innovations in clinical

practice: A source book, Vol. 5 (pp. 331-338). Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Exchange.

3. ̂  Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

4. ̂  About NIOSH. National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

5. ̂  "Occupational Disease Control Act of the People's Republic of China" http://www.gov.cn/banshi/2005-08/01/content_19003.htm

6. ̂  "The Work Safety Act of the People's Republic of China" http://www.gov.cn/ztzl/2006-05/27/content_292725.htm

[edit]External links

References

1. ̂  Danny D. Reible (1998). Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering. CRC Publishers. ISBN 1-56670-047-7.

2. ̂  James R. Mihelcic, Martin T. Auer, and others (1999). Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering. John Wiley. ISBN 0-471-24313-2.

3. ̂  Beychok, Milton R. (1967). Aqueous Wastes from Petroleum and Petrochemical Plants (1st Edition ed.). John Wiley &

Sons. LCCN 67019834.

4. ̂  Tchobanoglous, G., Burton, F.L., and Stensel, H.D. (2003). Wastewater Engineering (Treatment Disposal Reuse) / Metcalf & Eddy,

Inc. (4th Edition ed.). McGraw-Hill Book Company. ISBN 0-07-041878-0.

5. ̂  Turner, D.B. (1994). Workbook of atmospheric dispersion estimates: an introduction to dispersion modeling (2nd Edition ed.). CRC

Press. ISBN 1-56670-023-X.

6. ̂  Beychok, M.R. (2005). Fundamentals Of Stack Gas Dispersion (4th Edition ed.). author-published. ISBN 0-9644588-0-2.

7. ̂  [1]

8. ̂  Career Information Center. Agribusiness, Environment, and Natural Resources (9th Edition ed.). Macmillan Reference. 2007.

9. ̂  [2]

10. ̂  [3]

11. ̂  Sustainable Development (n.d.) Environmental Science. Detroit. 2009.

12. ^ a b McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Environmental Science and Engineering (3rd Edition ed.). McGraw-Hill, Inc. 1993.

13. ̂  Sims, J. (2003). Activated sludge, Environmental Encyclopedia. Detroit.