OSHwiki article in the spotlight – Popular OSHwiki entry examines safety and health of emergency workers

This month we’d like to bring your attention to an OSHwiki  article that focuses on a special section of the workforce, that of emergency workers. These are people working in emergency response situations such as firefighters, police, paramedics, soldiers, and relief aid workers. What do their professions have in common? As the article explains, in their daily working lives they all experience similar physical, mental and environmental work demands which on occasions may involve major incidents.

This entry on OSHwiki provides information on the occupational safety and health (OSH) issues that emergency workers face by giving concrete examples and statistics that can act as a reference for readers. For example, did you know that 20 % of their work related accidents and injuries require sick leave lasting over 15 days? The article goes on to discuss ways in which OSH can be managed in the sector to benefit emergency workers. The first basic step is adequate planning and preparedness, as this can reduce the stress faced in disaster situations. Putting into place appropriate risk management processes and carrying out joint drills are other measures the article recommends.

Emergency Workers  is currently the fifth most read article on OSHwiki with almost 11 000 views and was drafted by bringing together a number of studies on the subject. Don’t forget, you too can gather some of the OSH studies that you rely on and draft an article on OSHwiki. Start gathering background material for your contribution today!