Occupational Health and Safety Statistics as an Indicator of Worker Physical Health in South African Industry

Abstract

Operations in general industry, including manufacturing, expose employees to a myriad of occupational health hazards. To prevent exposure, occupational health and safety regulations were enacted, with both employers and workers instituting various risk reduction measures. The analysis of available occupational disease and injury statistics (indicators of worker physical health) can be used to infer the effectiveness of risk reduction measures and regulations in preventing exposure. Thus, using the READ approach, analyses of occupational disease and injury statistics from South African industry, derived from annual reports of the Compensation Fund, were conducted. The publicly available database of occupational disease and injury statistics from the South African general industry is unstructured, and the data are inconsistently reported. This data scarcity, symptomatic of an absence of a functional occupational disease surveillance system, complicates judgement making regarding the effectiveness of implemented risk reduction measures, enacted occupational health and safety regulations and the status of worker physical health from exposure to workplace hazards. The statistics, where available, indicate that workers continue to be exposed to occupational health impacts within general industry, notwithstanding risk reduction measures and enacted regulations. In particular, worker physical health continues to be impacted by occupational injuries and noise-induced hearing loss. This is suggestive of shortcomings and inefficiencies in industry-implemented preventive measures and the regulatory state. A robust national occupational disease surveillance system is a regulatory tool that should detect and direct policy responses to identified occupational health hazards.

“Asthma is a very bully disease” – patient experiences of living with chronic respiratory diseases in Cape Town, South Africa

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Noise risk assessment practices of four South African manufacturing and utilities companies

“…Noise induced hearing loss prevalence from various industries in South Africa, indicates that hazard elimination has seemingly been impossible. According to Rikhotso et al ( 2022b ), publicly available occupational disease statistics from South African general industry indicates that a total of 19 084 NIHL cases were compensated between 2001 and 2020. This indicates the importance of proper and responsive noise risk management, which is grounded on risk assessments and exposure control (Center for Chemical Process Safety, 2010 ).…”

The Effect of Noise Exposure on High-Frequency Hearing Loss among Chinese Workers: A Meta-Analysis

“…The main causes of sensorineural hearing loss are aging, noise exposure, and exposure to therapeutic drugs with ototoxic side effects [ 4 ]. Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is hearing damage caused by sudden exposure to pulse noise or long-term exposure to high-intensity noise [ 5 ]. Hearing loss due to workplace noise exposure has been a serious health problem.…”