BulletAVMX724 – Health and Industry

30 points - Semester Two

Offered even numbered years, ie 2010, 2012...

AVMX724 Health and Industry examines occupational safety and health and safety hazards specific to a range of different industries. One of the unique characteristics of occupational health practice is its diversity. The provision of occupational health services is delivered in a range of different models each of which is responsive to the nature of the injury and the occupational health and safety hazards associated with them and the clinical and operational environment in which they are delivered. For example occupational health in a mining industry or off shore oil industry has to provide not only preventive health care occupational health and safety management, but has also to provide primary and emergency care in the absence of any locally available services. On the other hand in some cases the provision of services are very highly specialised because of the nature of particular hazards associated with that particular type of work; an excellent example of this is in the nuclear power industry where working with radioactive substances and the need for long term health surveillance to assess potential cancer risks in the presence of potentially confounding factors such as magnetic fields etc requires a very specialised skill.

This paper attempts to provide insight into the nature of each industry, a review of its occupational health and safety hazards, and the ways in which occupational health services are provided to address these. While each topic is specific to a type of industry the discussion of the attended occupational health hazards and service responses will extend the competencies provided in the Foundation papers. For example, while radiation is covered in AVMX716 the nuclear power generation module will cover the assessment of these hazards and their management in far greater detail. The manufacturing industries will deal considerably with musculoskeletal injuries, their management and rehabilitation in manual handling issues. The chemical industries module will enable the practical applications of the general principles of occupational toxicology leaving AVMX715 to be extended in a much more practical way.

The ten modules which comprise the paper are as follows:

  1. Mining
  2. Nuclear power and other radiation work
  3. Agriculture and silviculture
  4. Chemical industries
  5. International business
  6. Petrochemical industries including oil/gas exploration
  7. Office work
  8. General manufacturing and technical trades
  9. Hazardous employment.
  10. Environmental Health

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