Preface

This book covers aspects of research and practical applications for safety and health issues encountered by individuals in various workplaces when performing daily tasks. Included are ergonomic hazards for women, student spine deformations, workers' health inequalities, social support for worker job satisfactions, good hygiene practices at the workplace, and practical applications to resolve issues. Detailed field findings and empirical studies are included in the book for better understanding for readers.

The intent of writing about safety and health of workers is to give those who are learning about human safety or workplace safety knowledge about what could negatively affect workers' wellbeing while performing their daily tasks. Unlike traditional articles, conference proceedings, and white papers that address only one topic each, this book presents a dual perspective on both research and practice. Likewise, there are many great books on safety and health management, several which are used as texts and references. Meanwhile, workers and individuals need to be knowledgeable in more than one source of workplace hazards. Additionally, in the health and safety issues at workplaces, workers need to be conversant not only with hazard controlling, but also to recognize the main causes of the hazards and part of the body predominantly bearing the consequences. *Safety and Health for Workers - Research and Practical Perspective* treats the subject from the point of view of the worker and individual who is interested in recognizing hazard sources, targeted body parts, and processes for controlling hazards. I have addressed those aspects that will be beneficial to the workers and individuals that may read this book for the purpose of preventing health and safety accidents.

Chapter I, "The Introductory Chapter" describes the general overview of the textbook and potential sources of workplace hazards that are constantly exposed while workers perform their daily activities. Included are ergonomics with real-life scenarios, hand hygiene, workplace conditions, the Workers Act, and products and raw materials.

Chapter II, "Women, Ergonomics and Repetitiveness" describes why females have lower biomechanical negative effects in the upper extremities compared to their male counterparts and a higher rate of productivity, especially in tasks of low force demand.

Chapter III, "Spinal Deformities with Students in Classroom Teaching in Urban and Rural Areas" describes the differences in the spine deformities of students in the urban and rural areas with regards to different postures. Discussion on the degree of spine deformity and the corrective measures is included.

Chapter IV, "Working Conditions and Health Inequalities" describes how working conditions and inappropriate gender inequalities in workplaces could negatively affect the implementation of good health and safety policies.

Chapter V, "Linking Social Support with Job Satisfaction: The Role of Global Empowerment in the Workplace" describes how social support in workplaces could affect the workers' job satisfaction. The mediator effect, structural empowerment, and social support in the workplace, especially in the healthcare industry, was reported.

Chapter VI, "Hand Hygiene Practices in Public Restrooms: Effects and Proposed Solutions" describes human common practices while using public restrooms, and the associated hazards and recommendations to improve hand hygiene practices.

Over the year, many people have contributed technically, intellectually, administratively, and morally toward the success of the first edition of this book. Importantly, I would like to thank Ms. Ivana who is the backbone of the success of this book, all chapter contributors (Prof. Bello Igor, Prof. Elvira Niksic, Edin Beganovic, Dr. Helena De Almeida, Dr. Giammarioli Anna Maria, Prof. George Stefanek, Dr. Maged Milkhail, Mr. Moruf Adegbite), Dr. Gail M. Augustine and Ms. Precious Fasanya for her valuable inspiration. Finally, I would like to thank my wife (Mrs. Olariyike Fasanya) and my son, Victor Fasanya for their unwavering support.

> **Bankole K. Fasanya** Purdue University Northwest, Hammond, Indiana, USA

> > **1**

harm [3].

**Chapter 1**

Applications

*Bankole K. Fasanya*

**1. Introduction**

Introductory Chapter: Safety and

Health for Workers - Theory and

According to 2017 estimates of accidents and work-related diseases and deaths report released by the International Labor Organization (ILO), each year 2.78 million workers die from occupational accidents of which 2.4 million are disease related, approximately 86.3% of the total estimated deaths. The work-related mortality accounted for 5% of the global total deaths (based on the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015) and fatal accidents accounted for the remaining 13.7% [1]. Likewise, for 2017, BLS reported 282,750 MSD cases resulting in days away from work in the private sector, a continued decrease from the previous year (285,950) [2]. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) accounted for 31.2% of all injuries and illnesses involving days away from work and remain the largest source of injury and illness cases [2]. Therefore, work-related issues have led to the explosion of research on safety and health for workers in the ergonomics and human factors, medical, psychological, engineering, science, nursing, and environmental literature for over two decades. The health and safety hazards address both acute and chronic hazards workers are exposed to at workplaces daily. These days health hazards at workplaces attract more attention because of the potential harm associated with the employee's exposure and the monetary cost attributed to a single cause. Thus, everyone wants a safe and healthy workplace for proper operation and productivity of the employees. Therefore, health and safety at work is aimed at creating conditions, capabilities, and habits that enable the worker and the organization to operate efficiently and in a way that avoids events that could cause them

To reduce the rate of accidents reported every year at work, the United State (US) enacted a law to oversee the safety and health of workers at various workplaces in 1970, known as Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). The act was enacted purposely to ensure that employers provide safe working environment for all employees. The importance of human safety and good health cannot be overemphasized or overestimated. Before the existence of OSHA, the National Environmental Protection Policy Act of 1969 became the basis of the environmental protection in the US. This chapter provides the overview of the book on safety and

Everyone is exposed to at least one hazard daily and constantly interacts with

health for workers from research and practical application perspectives.

different hazards on daily basis. The hazards concern with safety and health hazards, include biological, botanical, mechanical, chemical, physical, etc. Human beings cannot escape inhalation, egestion, injection, and absorption processes, even if they refuse to engage in daily work activities. Thus, it is imperative to study in depth the processes and the methods to control and manage the everyday hazards

## **Chapter 1**
