Emergency Services: A Literature Review on Occupational Safety and Health Risks

Emergency Services:
A Literature Review on Occupational Safety and Health Risks download/descargar

Table of Contents
1. Introduction.................................................................................................................................7
2. Emergency forces........................................................................................................................9
2.1. Population of emergency workers.............................................................................................9
2.1.1. Fire-fighters.......................................................................................................................9
2.1.2. Emergency medical service............................................................................................10
2.1.3. Police.............................................................................................................................13
2.1.4. Body handlers.................................................................................................................14
2.1.5. Providers of psychological first aid.................................................................................14
2.1.6. Special Forces for disaster control.................................................................................14
2.1.7. Gender aspects...............................................................................................................14
2.2. Emergencies and disasters.....................................................................................................15
2.2.1. Natural disasters.............................................................................................................15
2.2.2. Industrial accidents.........................................................................................................16
2.2.3. Transport accidents........................................................................................................17
2.2.4. Terrorist and criminal attacks..........................................................................................20
2.2.5. Massive public events.....................................................................................................20
3. Occupational health and safety risks for emergency workers...................................................23
3.1. Physical overstrain..................................................................................................................23
3.2. Emotional overstrain................................................................................................................24
3.3. OSH risks specific to natural disasters....................................................................................25
3.4. OSH risks specific to man-made disasters..............................................................................26
3.5. Poor management of resources..............................................................................................29
4. Health and safety outcomes......................................................................................................31
4.1. Fatalities.................................................................................................................................31
4.2. Violence at work......................................................................................................................32
4.3. Accidents and injuries..............................................................................................................33
4.4. Musculoskeletal disorders.......................................................................................................36
4.5. Negative health outcomes for mental health...........................................................................36
4.6. Negative health outcomes of radioactive exposure.................................................................39
4.7. Negative health outcomes related to chemical risks...............................................................40
4.8. Negative health outcomes related to biological risks..............................................................43
4.9. Early retirement......................................................................................................................43
5. Preventive measures.................................................................................................................45
5.1. International communication and coordination........................................................................45
5.2. Emergency policies.................................................................................................................45
5.3. Organisational measures: Safety and health management....................................................46
5.3.1. Risk assessment.............................................................................................................48
5.3.2. Training..........................................................................................................................49
5.3.3. Vaccination.....................................................................................................................49
5.3.4. Personal Protective Equipment.......................................................................................49
5.3.5. Ergonomic equipment.....................................................................................................51
5.3.6. Primary and secondary prevention of mental health problems.......................................52
5.3.7. Long-term-care and health surveillance..........................................................................54
6. Conclusions...............................................................................................................................55
7. References................................................................................................................................57
List of figures and tables
Table 1: Emergency workers – main groups and areas of activities..................................................21
Table 2: Injury statistics for fire and emergency workers.....................................................................35
Tabel 3: Example of possible protective measures against radioactive exposure (source: IAEA, 2006)..............................................................................................................48


Edited by:
Malgorzata Milczarek, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA)
Writen by the following members of the TC OSH:
Angelika Hauke, Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), Task Leader.
Paraskevi Georgiadou, Dimitra Pinotsi, Hellenic Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (ELINYAE)
Hannu Kallio, Sirpa Lusa, Johanna Malmelin, Anne Punakallio, Rauno Pääkkönen, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH)
Sylvie de Meyer, Prevent (Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Belgium)
Georgiana Ioana Nicolescu, National Institute for Research and Development on Occupational Safety Alexandru Darabont (INCDPM)
A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet.
It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu).
Cover photo by Ivan Castelli - (EU-OSHA Photo Competition)
Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication.
Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2011
ISBN 978-92-9191-668-9
doi 10.2802/54768
© European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), 2011
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.