Running Head: WORKER’S HYGIENE 1 Introduction Workers often carry substances that could be dangerous from work to their homes on their bodies, clothes, work tools or any other items that they may carry from work. They end up exposing their families to these toxic substances which may cause negative health to their kids or partners. It does not need to be work from home necessarily, other works around the home such as farming could also expose the entire family to hazardous substances unknowingly. A study was conducted by the national institute of occupational safety and health (NIOSH) on the number of homes that had been contaminated as a result of substances carried from their workplaces (Wegman, D. H., 2015). This research indicated that instances of contamination noticed in 36 states and 28 counties. This is a very large number of homesteads, therefore, calling for further research on the workers home contamination. Methods Most of the data I came up with about workers hygiene and more specifically workers home contamination study was obtained from the national institute of occupational safety and health (NIOSH) website which has always conducted the studies that help improve workers hygiene and prevent their exposure to any type of illness-causing contaminants. Other online websites were also of help as I needed to do further research and determine the main issue that revolved around worker health contamination from its prevention to exposure of the contaminants. Some of the information I got was from other journal and books that highlighted issues dealing with the worker contamination. I then thoroughly reviewed the work to ensure that all the points and ideas were correct and relevant to workers home contamination. WORKERS HOME CONTAMINATION STUDY 2 Results Workers home contamination has been an issue of serious health concern but has been overlooked due to the perception that there are very slim chances for a worker to carry the toxic chemicals back home and cause infection. As the study by NIOSH indicates, there have been instances of workers contaminating their own homes unknowingly leading to the different types of health effects to the workers themselves, their families and these infections may even extend to the neighborhood. These sicknesses range from respiratory disorders, dangerous poisonings and various forms of neurologic problems. Contaminants Various chemicals are known to widely cause contamination from the workplaces into the homes of these workers. Among the contaminants that mainly cause these health effects to include beryllium, asbestos, lead, mercury, arsenic, pesticides, caustic farm products, chlorinated hydrocarbons, fibrous glass, and other infectious agents. These substances are toxic and may cause a wide range of health effects on the workers themselves and their families. At extreme cases, if such reports of contamination are not reported in time, they may lead to the death of an individual (United Nations. 2017). Care has to be taken therefore against these toxic substances which should be kept away from the reach of anyone at the homesteads. Methods of exposure There are several routes through which a worker may get exposed to these contaminants and end up taking them home ignorantly. These include; WORKERS HOME CONTAMINATION STUDY • 3 One may carry the chemicals through the work clothing. For instance, when one works in a laundry and his clothes come into contact with the chemicals he uses and then takes the contaminated cloth back home. • One may carry the toxic substances in his work equipment and tools which may not have been cleaned properly. Cases involved include farm pesticides and radioactive materials. • Another method is when workers take home some items from work such as metal drums or paper bags. This is one of the leading causes of poisoning as a result of workers home contamination. • The fourth method would be the presence of the toxic substances on the worker's body which he exposes to his family through any contact made such as just shaking hands. • Farming is also a leading cause of workers home contamination if practiced close to the homes. Exposure to pesticides and other farm inputs may pose health dangers to the family. • Finally, family visits to the workplace would also be another cause of worker home contamination as they get quite likely to get contaminated by the toxic dust or air that surrounds them. Preventive measures against contamination Various preventive measures would be very desirable if these workers and their families adopted so that the chances of getting exposed to the contaminant agents become as slim as possible or even be eliminated. For the individuals who work away from their homes, taking the following preventive measures would be advisable. They should make sure they apply all the relevant safety standards WORKERS HOME CONTAMINATION STUDY 4 at their workplaces, all their soiled clothes should always be left at the stores in the workplaces, they should make sure to always change their clothes before leaving work and probably take a bath if the chemicals involved are quite toxic, work clothes should be kept away from the nonwork ones, any work tools or equipment should always be left at work and finally, they should not let their families visit them often at their workplaces since that exposes them to the risk of contacting the contaminants (Hutt, C. W. 2015). When all these preventive measures are observed by workers who work away from home, chances of affecting the health of their families as a result of contamination will be greatly reduced. In case the worker does his job from home, or somewhere within the compound, there is the need that he takes the following measures to avoid contaminating anything or anybody. The work areas and the living areas should be kept significantly separate, the family members should not be allowed into the work areas unless precautious measures are taken, any hazardous chemicals should be kept properly and out of the reach of the children, care should be taken to always dispose of wastes carefully, the work clothes he uses should be washed and kept separately and finally inform the workers or family members of any substances that may be harmful to them so that they take care as well. Methods of decontamination It is very advisable that the households should focus on preventing the occurrence of contamination rather than waiting to decontaminate it after exposure. Decontamination is not as effective as preventing the exposure to the contaminants in the first place. The effectiveness of the method used for decontaminating depends on the type of cleaning and the substances used to clean the contaminated tool or cloth, the type of the material or chemical that should be wiped WORKERS HOME CONTAMINATION STUDY 5 off and the surface that requires the decontamination. It was very difficult to successfully clean soft materials such as simple clothing or even chemicals. Doing away with substances such as lead, asbestos, and pesticides may also pose a lot of difficulty to the cleaner. The application of normal laundry or washing of this equipment may always fail once the contamination has taken route and even at times, the strongest decontaminants may fail to eliminate the toxic substances effectively (Rothstein, M. A. 2016). Among the methods that would at times help in decontaminating the cloths or equipment include air showers, airing, shampooing, laundering dry cleaning, vacuuming and several other methods that may be of convenience to specific households with different risks of exposures to certain chemicals. Various federal laws have been created in line with workers home contamination following the concerns that this issue has caused a lot of health effects to several families in different states and counties. These include the occupational safety and health act, the federal mine safety and health act, the toxic substance control act and asbestos hazard emergency response act among many other laws meant to reduce the chances of workers contaminating their beloved ones unknowingly. Discussion From this research, it is clear that workers home contamination is an issue of major concern given the number of states and counties in which such instances have been reported. There are very many types of chemicals and toxic substances which cause , and there is the need to be well aware of them so that they are not carried back home from work. These toxic substances are carried and get exposed to homes through the work clothes of the workers, work tools and equipment being carried back home from the job, the chemicals may be on the body of WORKERS HOME CONTAMINATION STUDY the workers or even family visits to workplaces may also lead to the exposure to the contaminants. There are various preventive measures that these workers can take to avoid the contamination which is more appropriate than the decontamination methods which hardly succeed in a few instances. The various federal laws put forward concerning workers home contamination also help reduce the chances of causing ill health among the family members. 6 WORKERS HOME CONTAMINATION STUDY 7 References United Nations. (2017). Health without borders: Improving health and reducing HIV/AIDS vulnerability among long-distance road transport workers through a multisectoral approach. New York: United Nations, ESCAP. Wegman, D. H., McGee, J., National Research Council (U.S.)., & Institute of Medicine (U.S.). (2015). Health and safety needs of older workers. Washington, D.C: National Academies Press. Hutt, C. W. (2015). Hygiene for health visitors, school nurses and social workers. London: Methuen. Rothstein, M. A. (2016). Medical screening of workers. Washington, D.C: Bureau of National Affairs. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/95-123/default.html https://www.who.int/occupational_health/publications/airdust/en/
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