Introduction
Occupational health is an area that seeks to ensure the safety, welfare and health of employees in various places of work as they carry out their duties. The health of an individual may be affected due to the work they do. Some injuries of the bone, sprains, cuts or abrasions may be caused by equipment, machinery or even the space where one is working. Repetitive motion disorder is an occupational disease that comes as a result of the exertion of one part of the body when performing the same tasks continuously. (Occupational Health). Exposure to excess noise may lead to hearing problems, while vision problems, which may sometimes result in blindness, may be caused by exposure of the eye to excess radiation which damages the retina, or when the eye comes in contact with chemicals. Other health problems may also come also appear when certain chemicals enter the body and interfere with the physiological processes of organs. These chemicals may enter via ingestion, breathing or when they penetrate the skin after contact. Radiation also poses a great risk where exposure to high radiation energy may lead to cancer. Finally, some workplaces favor the growth of bacteria or other harmful pathogens that may enter the body and interfere with physiological processes. Most of these health problems apart from the ones that cause immediate physical injury develops over time and it is, therefore, difficult to determine the causative factor or agent immediately. (Occupational Health and Safety Regulations).
Therefore occupational health is a discipline that requires adequate research and constant monitoring to ensure that the health, welfare and safety of employees are upheld and that standards are adhered to. This report seeks to identify some of the occupational health risks that tarmac staff, who include baggage handlers and refuellers, might encounter as they carry out their duties in the airport.
Toxicology
The occupational health hazards that tarmac staff may encounter can be divided into chemical and physical.
The major health hazards that tarmac staff may be exposed to in the airport, are exposure to jet fuel and the noise caused by jet engine noise. There are already concerns among toxicologists on the impacts of jet fuel on populations living near airports. It is therefore obvious that the tarmac staffs that are much closer to the jet fuel are at a much higher risk. Toxicologists outline that chemicals become toxic to human beings on the virtue of their chemical nature, which causes them to react with various biomolecules in the body. The reactions occur due to the physical and chemical properties of these chemicals. Combustion of jet fuel leads to the production of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, water, carbon particles and nitrogenous compounds. (Tesseraux).
Since carbon monoxide is an odorless gas, it is usually inhaled without apparent realization by the victim. Toxicological studies reveal that carbon monoxide adversely reduces the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, and therefore interferes with the delivery of oxygen to cells of various tissues. The implication is that vital organs such as the heart and the brain, that are very much dependent on oxygen may be damaged. In normal circumstances, the hemoglobin of the red blood cells binds reversibly with oxygen in an area of high oxygen tension and releases the oxygen in sites of low oxygen tension, which are the cells. This ensures that oxygen is continuously transported from the lungs to the cells of various tissues. Carbon monoxide, on the other hand, binds irreversibly to hemoglobin thereby reducing the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. Furthermore, Carbon monoxide also causes the hemoglobin to bind the oxygen in the vicinity of cells, thereby worsening the situation further. Apart from the respiratory impairments, studies also indicate that carbon monoxide also binds, with greater affinity than oxygen, to cytochrome c and cytochrome P450 both of which are involved in the electron transfer chain; a process involved in the synthesis of ATP. ATP is the major energy currency in the body. (Shochart).
Carbon dioxide also causes health risks due to its ability to reduce oxygen in the environment. Like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide also enters the body through the respiratory tract, causing asphyxiation. The burning of jet fuel when complete leads to the production of carbon dioxide. Nelson however points out that the toxicity of most gases including carbon dioxide is not due to their direct effects on the respiratory system, but rather to the fact that they reduce the oxygen levels in the surrounding environment. Carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide can be referred to as ‘silent killers,’ because in most instances, during adverse exposure the victims do not have the chance of getting away from the environment. This is because apart from the acid taste on the mouth caused by the reaction of carbon dioxide and saliva, the two gases are odorless and colorless.
Toxicology of carbon particles of carbon black is mostly associated with the ability if the fine particles to deposit inside the lungs and along the respiratory tract. Since these particles are foreign to the body, the body responds via allergic reactions which may have adverse symptoms such as asthma and inflammation. Furthermore, these particles are also potentially carcinogenic and may lead to cancer. (Rhodes).
Nitrogenous compounds, mostly the gaseous ones, are related to their capacity to act as carcinogens. (Colt).
Exposure to noise caused by the airplanes, causes the plane to adjust to these effects by increasing the body’s metabolism rate which may cause ulcers. Noise exposure over long periods of time may lead to deafness. (Health Risks of Noise Exposure).
Medical Surveillance and Biological Monitoring
According to MedlinePlus (2010) medical and biological monitoring and surveillance are fundamental considerations when seeking to optimize the health and safety of employees in the workplace. Screening refers to the clinical ability to detect the adverse effects of various health hazards, at an early stage to allow for proper treatment and management. On the other hand, surveillance refers to the ability of an organization to employ various mechanisms geared towards the detection of health hazards before they cause their effects.
The major occupational health risks identified in the airport are the gases that result from the inhalation of products of combustion of jet fuel and noise. Medical surveillance is geared towards the identification of the exposure, determination of the extent of exposure, identification of physiological effects and monitoring of disease progression. There are various steps that are recommended towards the successful implementation of surveillance. The initial step is the identification of the source of health risk which in this case is caused by jet fuel and jet engines. The next step is the environmental exposure which basically seeks to quantify the gaseous effects of combustion in the immediate environment, and the quantification of the sound in the immediate environment. This step is important and it should involve extensive research to determine whether the quantities of the health risks actually pose a risk to the tarmac staff. The next step involves the determination of the route taken by health risks. For instance, the gases are taken via the respiratory tract while the noise is absorbed by the ear. This step is important for the determination of appropriate preventive measures. The next step is the determination of the metabolism, which in this case is only applicable to the gases and the carbon particles. Metabolism is important because it makes it easier to determine how the chemicals exert their toxicity. Some of the chemicals like carbon particles, which are not metabolized may also bioaccumulate in the lungs. Metabolism also involves the mechanism and route of elimination. The next step is a determination whether there are mechanisms for early detection. The final step is the determination of the resultant disease that arises due to exposure to the chemicals and the noise.
Medical surveillance and biological monitoring are important in the determination of preventive measures and courses of action in case of exposure. Prevention of the gases and carbon particles can be through the use of gas masks by tarmac staff. Noise prevention can be done by using specialized ear equipment and encouraging the tarmac staff to use sign language instead of shouting when communicating. The gas masks and ear equipment are relatively cheap and in fact, are being used by tarmac employees in most airports. Furthermore, there is already a traditional sign language used for communication used by most airports. The tarmac staff can be taught sign language. Biological monitoring can be done through periodical analysis of the levels of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogenous compounds and carbon particles in the blood and various tissues. Furthermore, hearing tests can be carried out on employees to determine whether there is any damage. (Mitchell).
One major drawback to biological monitoring and medical surveillance is that in some instances, they may have a negative ethical impact especially in terms of privacy. During biological monitoring, the staff may be taken through medical tests that may establish certain individuals as being more susceptible to occupational health risks. Therefore a company may terminate the employment of these individuals on this basis. Additionally, employees who are found to be adversely affected may also have their employment terminated to prevent further damage or insurance and health expenses to the company. (Steven).
Conclusion
Occupation health is geared towards ensuring that employees are safe and secure in their working place and does not seek to terminate employees who are more susceptible. The process should therefore be done in an ethical and human manner.
Works Cited
Colt, John and Tchobanoglous George. Evaluation of Short-Term Toxicity of Nitrogenous Compounds to Channel Catfish. Science Direct. Web.
Health Risks of Noise Exposure. Queensland Government. 2009. Web.
Medical Screening and Surveillance. OSHA. 2010. Web.
MedlinePlus. Occupational Health. MedlinePlus. 2010. Web.
Mitchel, Clifford. Medical Surveillance Needs for Workers Involved in Incident Response under the National Response Plan. 2005. Web.
Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2001. New South Wales Consolidated Regulations. 2010. Web.
Rampal, Krishna Steven Sandhra and. Occupational Health: Risk Assessment and Management. London Blackwell Science; 1999.
Rhodes, Chris. Carbon Particles a Factor in Climate Change? Citizen. 2010. Web.
Shochart, Guy. Toxicity: Carbon Monoxide. 2010. Web.
Tesseraux, Irene. Risk Factors of Jet Fuel Combustion Products. Science Direct.2004; 149(3). Web.