Education and Training in Occupational Hygiene in India

Transcription

1 Special Articles Education and Training in Occupational Hygiene in India D. J. PARIKH* AND H. N. SAIYED** 1. PREAMBLE : India occupies tenth position among the industrialized nations of the world. It will occupy even higher position, arriving the cause of liberalization and globalization. Following the declaration of liberalization policy by the Government of India (1991), new industries and technologies are mushrooming and multinationals showing greater interest with the aim of achieving higher productivity. However, such large-scale growth of industries may lead to environment degradation if appropriate legislation is not enacted and implemented forthwith. We are still producing some chemicals, e.g. certain pesticides and insecticides, and asbestos etc. in spite of worldwide ban on them. Some of these chemicals are potentially carcinogenic. Moreover, poor control technology has also aggravated the problems of pollution within and out side the work places. To deal with such problems and to find out the appropriate, feasible and cost effective solution, there is a vital need of the services of occupational hygienist in the country. Such academically qualified professionals are scarcely available in India at present. This can be achieved fast by introducing academic courses and organizing training in occupational hygiene through active participation of Academic and Research Institutes. 2. SCOPE & OBJECTIVES OF OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE: Occupational hygiene has been defined as the practice of science and art devoted to the identification, evaluation and control of occupational * Dy. Director, National Institute of Occupational Health. ** Director, National Institute of Occupational Health. stresses. The objective of occupational hygiene programme involves recognition, evaluation and control of work environment in industry. It is broadly concerned with the chemical, biological and physical stress that may impair the health and wellbeing of the workers. For the last few years, in occupational hygiene programmes, the effect of outside environment, i.e. community environment of the people at large is also considered as an important factor. The global strategy on Occupational Health for All will yield an immense impact on the health and safety of workers in the long run. The leading principle of this strategy is that Every citizen in the world has the right to a Healthy and safe work environment and to one that enable socially and environmentally productive lives (WHO, 1995) 2. It means, that for healthy life of every citizen, safe, comfortable and clean work environment is a necessity. Practice of Occupational Hygiene and Industrial Safety can bring safe and comfortable work-environment in industry. 3. PRESENT SCENARIO OF OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN INDIA: 3.1 Present Status: There exists a general shortage of various categories of Occupational Health manpower at all levels in most of the developing countries 3. Regular courses at graduation or post-graduation levels for personnel such as occupational hygienists, safety officers, occupational health nurses and ergonomists etc., are rare and are generally lacking in details 3. India is no exception to it. However, short orientation and 11 INDIAN JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE VOL. 7, NO. 1, JANUARY-APRIL 2003

2 specialized training courses, symposia, seminars, conferences and educational campaigns are conducted regularly in occupational hygiene in India by the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Ahmedabad, Mumbai, AIIH&PH (All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health), Kolkata, ITRC (Industrial Toxicology Research Centre), Lucknow, The Master of Industrial Hygiene (MIH) course being conducted by the Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Anand, from last five years in collaboration with Cincinnatti University, USA, is an exceptional case. 3.2 Existing Facilities for Education and Training in Occupational Hygiene: Physicians, chemists, physicists, safety officers often perform some of the functions of occupational hygienists in the developing countries. Similar trend is seen in India. After getting practical experience in this field and basic training or orientation in occupational hygiene, they perform the duties of occupational hygienists in the country. More often, they are scientists or engineers drawn from different disciplines with on-job training in the field. Full time courses leading to a degree (graduate or master degree) in industrial hygiene are currently available in many developing countries. The industrial hygienist is trained in a variety of disciplines in these courses. As a rule, chemistry, microbiology, physics, medical doctors or engineers are admitted in such courses, who have exposure or brief experience or willingness to study this course. The principles of occupational hygiene forms a part of the curriculum in public health diploma courses to doctors and is covered in about 20 to 25 hours of lectures, demonstrations and field visits. The graduates in engineering who are qualifying for a master degree in pubic health are also given a similar orientation in the subject. Almost 30 percent of the nine months of Diploma in Industrial Hygiene (DIH) course and 25% of the one year Diploma in Industrial and Occupational Health (DIOH), courses are devoted to Industrial Hygiene. Master of Environmental Science and Postgraduate Diploma in Industrial Safety also cover about 60 hours of lectures, demonstration and field visits. Even then, it is considered that these trained persons do not acquire adequate confidence or qualify for independent practice of industrial hygiene, despite the sufficient theoretical knowledge they have acquired during the course. # MIH Students Trained Trained Studying Studying Calender Year Figure 1 : Students of Masters of Industrial Hygiene Trained at Sardar Patel University, V. V. Nagar-Anand 3.3. Number of Occupational Hygienists and National Assessment of the Need for Occupational Hygienists There is no acceptable statistics available as regards the number of qualified occupational hygienists employed in the country. Dr. T. Rajgopal 4 has mentioned in his recent article on Occupational Health Status in India An Overview that there are only 100 qualified occupational hygienists in India, although factories act requires environmental monitoring of a large number of harmful substances. Figure 1 depicts the qualified industrial hygienists, who completed Master of Industrial Hygiene (MIH) course from Vallabh Vidyanagar from last four years. They are employed now mainly in the industry, NIOH or university. Every year a few safety engineers who completed diploma in safety or environmental science or environmental engineering students join the industry, after taking specialized training in hygiene. Some of them are working for safety and hygiene or heading such departments in a large industry. The Institutions like the NIOH, DG-FASLI and ITRC have trained a few occupational hygienists but most of them are carrying out research and training work in this field in the respective institute itself. As far as our knowledge goes, there are no qualified industrial hygienists even in the factory inspectorate laboratory of the State Department of Labour except at the DG-FASLI, Mumbai. It is difficult to assess the demand for occupational hygienists in a vast country like India, but the guidelines formulated by the developed countries for occupational hygienists could be tried. We feel that it is the right time now that the other university like Vallabh Vidyanagar should take the lead, with the help of National Institutes like NIOH, ITRC, and DG-FASLI etc. to start master or graduation courses in occupational hygiene and also generate employment opportunities. 12 EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE IN INDIA

3 3.4 Future Development of Academic Education and Training on Occupational Hygiene It is clear from the above discussion that hygienists are self taught or trained in abroad/india or on through regular academic training like MIH at Vallabh Vidyanagar, Anand. On the other side, there is a growing demand in occupational health and hygiene services in large industries especially those which obtained ISO certificates or manufacturing eco-friendly products or have foreign collaborations. It is essential that such specialized training in occupational hygiene should be given in this country. The training could be at two levels, namely training at lower level for occupational hygiene technicians, and at higher level for occupational hygienists. In addition a few training programmes in occupational hygiene is necessary at the undergraduate level for both medical and engineering students, who are expected to be involved in public and occupational health programmes in future. 3.5 Functions of Occupational Hygiene: The following are the major functions of the occupationsl hygienist: (1) Planning of occupational hygiene programmes. (2) Recognition and evaluation of work environment. (3) Interpretation of the results of examination of the work environment and environs, in terms of nature of health impairment, work efficiency and community nuisance and/or damage, and presenting specific conclusions to authorities/ parties such as health officials and management. (4) Determine the need for control measures, when necessary, recommend suitable and effective procedure for the environment and environs. (5) Present expert testimony before court of law, hearing boards, and workman s compensation commissions, regulatory agencies and legally appointed investigative bodies covering all matters pertaining to occupational hygiene. (6) Conduct programmes for education of workers and the public in general for prevention of occupational diseases and community nuisance. (7) Establish or improve threshold limit values or standards as guidelines for maintenance of health and efficiency. (8) Conduct research to advance knowledge on the effects of occupation on health and means for the prevention of occupational health hazards and problems related, community air pollution, noise nuisance etc. 3.6 Teaching Curriculum: The teaching curriculum in occupational hygiene will have to be made in such a way that it suits the demand of the country. This curriculum should be practicable, and problem oriented, with extensive academic and field training. Occupational Hygiene education may be divided in to two categories: (A) Undergraduate Education (B) Postgraduate Education The syllabus for postgraduate education has been already prepared by the Sardar Patel University, Anand. The major areas, as given in Annexure I. The syllabus for graduate education for occupational hygiene can be worked out. ANNEXURE 1 Master of Industrial Hygiene (MIH) course at Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidhyanagar covers following major area. 1. Introduction in Occupational Health 2. Introduction to Epidemiology and bio-statistics 3. Basic Physiology 4. Physical Aspects of Environment (noise, illumination, heat stress etc.) 5. Air Sampling and Analysis 6. Industrial Hygiene and Safety Technology 7. Industrial Ventilation 8. Toxicology 9. Radiation Protection 10. Occupational Safety and Fire Protection 11. Ergonomics 12. Hazardous Waste Management 13. Legislation on Health and Safety 4. SCENARIO OF OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE EDUCATION IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES: The World Health Organization (WHO), the Commission of the European Communities (CEC), the International Commission of Occupational Health, and the American Conference of Industrial Hygienists have organized International Workshop on Training and Education in Occupational Hygiene in Luxembourg, (1986) 5 and they recommended the need of such type of specialized course in Industrial hygiene in developed and developing countries. They also felt that there is an urgent need of Industrial Hygienists in developing countries. 13 INDIAN JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE VOL. 7, NO. 1, JANUARY-APRIL 2003

4 The first academic programme in Industrial Hygiene in the US was created in 1918 at Harvard University and provided training to industrial physicians. The social security act passed in the 1930 provided funds for industrial hygiene training in several universities (like California, Columbia, Harward, Hohn Hopkins, Michigan and Yale). The university of Cincinnati began its MS and Ph.D. programmes in industrial hygiene in The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) currently supports industrial hygiene programmes at all 16 Education and Research Centres (ERCs) and 11 TPGS (Training Programme Grants). Each has MS (Master of Science) Programme and many have Ph.D programme also. Recent NIOSH statistics for the years 1977 to 2000, shows that the ERCs have graduated 2151 Master students, produced 282 doctorates and 2 post-doctorates for a total The TPGs who have graduated are 1191 masters and 42 doctorates for a total of Figure 2 depicts ERC and TPG industrial hygiene graduates supported by NIOSH, USA, for the years Hygiene making this field as a well established and defined one. 5. SUGGESTED PROGRAMME/ACTIVITIES: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recently prepared a report of the Working Group on Environmental and Occupational Health for the 10 th Five year Plan 6, on behalf of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India, in which, following recommendations have been made. Review of existing curricula and development of Environmental and Occupational Medicine Curricula: This recommendation also indicates the importance of education and training in occupational health and hygiene. We also suggest that such specialized education in occupational hygiene should be initiated at Graduate and Post Graduate levels through Universities/Institutions. At the initial stage MIH programmes should be initiated in another three TOTALS ERCs = 3,235 ( ) TPGs = 1,223 ( ) 4, Calender Year ERC IH Masters ERC IH Doctorate TPG IH Masters TPG IH Doctorate Figure 2 : ERC + TPG Industrial Hygiene Graduates trained at USA Feb The Singapore National University offers graduate programmes in industrial hygiene. Australia and Taiwan also have such graduate course. In short, countries like USA, UK, Sweden, Yugoslavia, Germany, Australia and Singapore have supported Graduate and Master Programmes in Industrial regions (South, East and North) of the Country. It is necessary to have Diploma Courses for trained graduates in science in the field of occupational hygiene technology. The institutes like NIOH, ITRC, DG-FASLI, etc. should develop more refresher courses on occupational hygiene and 14 EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE IN INDIA

5 for candidates from Middle East and South East Asia on behalf of World Health Organization (WHO) and International Labour Organization (ILO). The facilities for training developed at NIOH should be made available to other developing countries for training candidates in occupational hygiene according to their individual national requirements. For organizing latest training in occupational hygiene, suitable fellowship programme of experts and equipment should be made available from international sources. 6. SUMMARY/CONCLUSION: To improve and strengthen the activities and programmes of Occupational Hygiene and conducting Occupational Health and Hygiene services in Indian Industries, it is necessary to introduce training and education in occupational hygiene for Engineers, Chemists, Physicists, Medical Doctors, Microbiologist, etc. at both Under Graduate and Post Graduate levels. Refresher training courses for the Factory Inspectors, Safety Officers, Industrial Physicians and Industrial Chemists, etc. should also be organized. REFERENCES: 1. Parikh D.J. and Kashyap S.K. Industrialization and its impact on Occupational Hygiene Indian Journal of Industrial Medicine, 41, Vol. 4, Page No , Dec World Health Organization Collaborating Centres in Occupational Health, News Letter, Vol. 6, Page 1, May Phoon, W.O. (1985) Occupational Health in Developing countries in Asia, Edited by W.O Phoon and C.N Ong. Published by South-East Asia Medical Information Center, Tokyo, Rajgopal T. Occupational Health Status in India An Overview Published by National Safety Council, in 10 th National Conference HSE Challenges in the Era of Globalization, 1-11 April 2002, Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, pp. C-I, 1-7, International conference and workshop on Training and Education in Occupational Hygiene, Luxembourg, June Report of the working group on Environmental and occupational health for 10 th five year plan, prepared by Indian council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, pp , August, INDIAN JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE VOL. 7, NO. 1, JANUARY-APRIL 2003