We define occupational hygiene as the science dedicated to the anticipation, understanding, evaluation, communication and control of environmental agents in the work place, that could potentially result in injury or illness, or affect the wellbeing of workers and members of staff. When we talk about agents; often called stressors; we can divide them into several categories; physical, ergonomic, psychosocial, and more frequently chemical and biological.
Occupational hygiene uses rigorously enforced, strict scientific methodology. For this reason, more often than not a professional person with the necessary experience and an eye for potential hazards, exposure and risk in the work place is often required when a business is beginning to consider occupational hygiene.
This is where parallels between occupational industrial hygiene and Facilities Management begin to form; indeed, for larger companies entire Facilities Management divisions can be dedicated to hygiene, which can be considered a part of risk management, risk assessment and industrial health and safety. Therefore it is fair to consider that the hygienic standards of a company are important, both to the business and any potential clients, and that keeping a company hygienic creates jobs and business in its own right.
Due to this, it makes sense for a company to ensure that all of its facilities are up to standard when it comes to industrial hygiene; not only does it create jobs, it also protects those workers who are already employed by the business, as well as those who may be employed in the future.
Though we talk about creating jobs in this field, it can be tempting to suggest that this is simply not necessary; some might see it as a waste of money, whilst others cry that it is health and safety gone mad. What it is important to remember is that by removing, or potentially avoiding dangerous contaminants and pollutants, the health of the work force is always kept at an optimum level, and time off is kept at a minimum. Productivity of a healthy work force is obviously much higher, and besides; many of the health and safety precautions instigated by a Facilities Management professional are required by law, and could help your company avoid a hefty fine if you are found to be without some of these measures following a government inspection. However, it is not only your own workers that could be at risk from contamination et al; any customers and potential clients visiting your premises are likely to be put off very quickly if they come away from a meeting feeling very ill, so it makes business sense to ensure that you take hygiene into account.
