Occupational Health Management Plan and Side Effects of Smoking

Question: Discuss about the Development of an Occupational Health Management Plan and Side Effects of Smoking. Answer: Introduction The smoking of the cigarette or rather any other tobacco product by the youths and the young adults can result in severe and potentially harmful health issues on the instant or in the long-term usage. The side effects may consequentially cause lung cancer and other related respiratory complications or even result in death. The cigarette smoke comprises of the complex mixture of different chemicals. Some of the smoke components are in gaseous form; include the carbon monoxide, the hydrogen cyanide, and the oxides of Nitrogen. Other elements in the volatile state which include the formaldehyde, the acrolein, the benzene and the N-nitrosamines. The volatile substances are contained as chemicals in the in the fluid section of the cigarette smoke aerosol(Ng, et al., 2014). Finally, the other substances include nicotine, the phenol, the polyaromatic hydrocarbons and the particular tobacco-specific nitrosamines that got found in the solid particles which get suspended in the smoke produced from smoking cigarette. In this essay assignment, I shall give the description of the tobacco industry, discuss the occupational health hazard and the associated risk factors for working in the tobacco firm and the occupational of the health program with the desired outcomes and the aims of the program. The Tobacco Industry In the world, the British American Tobacco and the Imperial Tobacco are amongst the largest tobacco processing companies. In the tobacco industry that I would be focusing on covers quite a large space for its premises. The tobacco firm like any other manufacturing plant covers the vast tracts of land so that there is adequate space for the allocation of the departmental offices which include the administration offices, the equipment and tools offices, the store, marketing premises, machine cooling points and many others(Hirayama, 2010). Tobacco industry observes the gender equity by offering equal opportunities for both the males and females to access and serve as the workers of this deadly company. Usually, the gender equity involves the fairness and do highlight the different needs of both the men and the women in the struggle of attaining the equality during the workers' recruitment process. Though, in most circumstances, since the production involves the emission of harmful subst ances, females tend to avoid applying for the works advertised by the tobacco firms(Agaku, King, Dube, CDC, 2014). As a result of this, more men are found to be serving at this firms than the number of females working herein. Furthermore, most women view the process of tobacco processing as the role for men, and it involves much energy utilization. In the tobacco industry, most of the workers consist of the young, energetic people aged between eighteen years and thirty-five years. Though there are also a reasonable number of adult people, who are still working in the firm waiting to retire as they share their experience of long-term serving in the production of cigarettes and other tobacco products(Doll Hill, 2016). Usually, the tobacco companies do set age limits for the workers they put on the payroll. Such that too old workers are requested to retire and create room for the young energetic and innovative workers to serve in the plant. Furthermore, the tobacco firm takes the child labor regulation serious such that it prohibits the employment of underage workers or simply young children. The tobacco company has moved an extra step ahead and set up foundations that get laid down for the fight against the child labor in various countries such as Kenya and Burundi. In the focus of the socio-economic background the tobacco industrys workers, most of them are middle-class earners. The middle-class earners are in a sound financial position to support their families in meeting their daily basic needs and promoting education of their children. The workers earn a considerable amount of income which sustains them from one period of earning to the next period of receiving payment once again(Yach Bettcher, 2010). The workers that have served for long and had higher qualifications do receive considerably higher incomes, thus get classified as first class economically. The tobacco firm absorbs workers who might be immediate graduates from universities without much experience and knowledge about the enterprise. The firm through its training department offers the new workers intensive and adequate training on the operations of the plant. As time goes by the fresh graduates gets well equipped technologically and technically on the activities of the company in either the production process, packaging or the marketing work(Ling Glantz, 2012). Although the company never relies on the new employees only, it has many employees who have got more experience in the daily running of the company activities. In most, these are the workers onto whom the newly absorbed employees operate under and learn from them on how to operate company equipment and perform certain tasks efficiently. Most of the employees serving the tobacco industry are under the contract terms before getting signed into permanent terms. For instance, the fresh graduates get absorbed to provide services for the one-year internship before being given an opportunity to apply for the entry jobs(Wayne Connolly, 2014). As usual practice, the human resource and the recruitment department seeks to employ new workers on the contractual terms which may get renewed on the basis of the employers performance. In most cases, the contracts signed lasts for a duration of three years after which it gets renewed. The workers who are serving at the cigarette production firm have a greater exposure to the hazardous substances in the process. For instance, the workers may get exposed to the harmful cigarette components that quite harmful and detrimental to the health of the workers(Jha Peto, 2014). For example, the exposure to the carbon monoxide and the hydrogen cyanide gaseous substances, the formaldehyde, the acrolein, and the benzene which are volatile chemicals. Moreover, the workers may get exposure to the submicron-sized particles which are in the solid state and get suspended in the cigarette smoke. Focusing on how the chemicals from the cigarette are quite complex, it sets a clear sign of how highly adverse the cigarette smoking is to the health of the worker or any other smoker. The Hydrogen Cyanide gas may affect the workers or smokers respiratory system through its very toxic impacts on the respiratory cilia aligned in the respiratory tract. Also, the hydrogen cyanide may get to cro ss over into the mothers placenta and have detrimental toxic effects on the developing fetus. Besides, the hydrogen cyanide gas may further result in the nerve destruction in the cigarette smokers who have a diagnosis of the optic neuropathy. The Occupational Health Hazard and Associated Risks The occupational health hazard that associated with working at the tobacco industry involves the cigarette smoke products and the dangers as a result of smoking. The health risk is a result of the exposure to the materials used in the processing of the tobacco, production and smoking of the cigarettes, the exposure to the radiations from the machines used and the excessive heat. Mostly, not only the smokers are affected but also the secondary smokers are largely affected by the smoking activity(connolly Alpert, 2014). Several main health effects arise out of tobacco. Such effects on the primary smoker or the secondary smoker include cancer, the non-cancerous lung diseases, the atherosclerotic diseases that affect both the heart and the blood vessels. Additionally, the toxic substances from the cigarette smoke affect the reproductive system of the workers and the smokers. On the risk assessment, cancer caused by cigarette smoking affects several organs such as the lung, the esophagus, the larynx, the oral cavity, the kidney bladder, and the pancreas on the users. Based on the statistical studies, it unfolds as fact the indeed the cigarette smoking is the primary cause of lung cancer in the American states which gets approximately ninety percent of the cancer cases in men and roughly seventy-nine percent in women(Goetzel, et al., 2014). The United States statistics are in accordance as reported by the U.S. Department of the Health and the Human Services in the year 1989. Furthermore, the smoking habit got attributed to the contributing factor in the increasing risk factor for the kidney, the liver, the anus, the penis, and the uterine cervix including the different forms of acute leukemia. Similarly, the several epidemiological studies that have got conducted with a wider coverage of the most experienced ladies and gentlemen over numerous years do reveal that the smokers have got a very high risk of contracting cancer disease. It happens that the contracted cancer usually develops proportionately with the increase in the number of the cigarettes smoked on a daily basis, the smokers habit of cigarette usage in his/her lifetime, and also the early age of beginning to smoke(Moodie, et al., 2013). Scientific research has shown that the cessation of the cigarette smoking significantly reduces the chances for cancer development, although the persistent extra risk has got observed even after the two decades have passed since the cessation of smoking. Human cancers do develop from the interaction between the smoke of the cigarette with the cancer causative agents which include the alcohol consumption, the asbestos, and the radon daughters. The condensates that get collected fr om the cigarette smoke lead to the mutations and the damage to the DNA(Barrington-Trimis, Samet, McConnell, 2014). The laboratory assay tests conducted have confirmed the mutagenesis process and the malignant transformation of the chemicals ability to bring about the malignant changes in the mammalian cells. Some of the legal requirements that need to get implemented should include the doing with some appealing advertisements which lure young people into the smoking behavior. Strict regulation should get put in place so that the minor children do not get access to the cigarette and rather stay away from clubs where smoking is common(Anttila, Boffetta, Straif, 2014). The concerned bodies should create public smoking areas so that smokers do not smoke anywhere affecting the non-smokers. Through the creation of the smoking zones, the effects of the cigarette smoke would not ever be felt by the non-smokers unlike when they are the victims as a result of the primary smokers(Cooklin, Joss, Husser, Oldenburg, 2015). Indeed, change is needed quite urgently since millions of the smokers are losing their lives every second by succumbing death out of cancer pandemic. The government and other authorities should take urgent steps and tax the tobacco industry heavily with the aim of ensuring the ind ustry get losses and as a result, it gets to collapse. Although the management of the firm may try to fight back for the continuity of their business with an ignorant stand that it is not smoking which causes cancer diseases, they should get pushed until their business collapses to save lives. Occupational Health Program The occupational health program in the tobacco shall include several components. The first step should be identifying and recognizing the hazard material or substances, which in this case is the cigarette smoke components. For any health and the safety program, these should get taken into consideration. The program goals and outcomes include the struggle to reduce the number of cigarette smokers, setting regulations to deter underage children from starting early smoking and the ban on certain tobacco products(Mazurek England, 2016). For an occupational safety and the healthy program to be effective and success, the following elements should get implemented; the management commitment and the employee involvement in decision making, the analysis of the work site. Furthermore, there should be the prevention and control of the hazard chemicals, and the offering of safety and the health training. The program should get closely monitored by the human rights organizations, the world health agencies, the government agencies and the other associations interested in humanity. Evaluation tools should include the paperwork in which the workers get provided with the written questions concerning the health program implementation in the area(Rodgman Green, 2014). Further, observation, conducting interviews, preparation of the monkey surveys for the online evaluation. Conclusion It is evident that the cigarette is quite a very unfortunate habitual practice which results in the adverse health effects. The cigarette smoke consists of the very complex components such as the carbon monoxide and the hydrogen cyanide gasses, the volatile substances such as the acrolein, the formaldehyde, the benzene and the N-nitrosamines. Other solid particles such as the polyaromatic hydrocarbons and the tobacco-specific nitrosamines get suspended in the cigarette smoke. The cigarette components may lead to the cancer pandemic, the non-cancerous lung diseases and have the effect on both the male and the female reproductive organs. The tobacco industry has got a vast space for its fundamental premises. The industry tries as much as possible to employ both the young people through the graduate trainee program and the middle-aged people. The recruitment of the new employees gets based on the contract terms before the permanent intake. The common health hazard in the tobacco industr y is the hazardous smoke components which have got adverse and toxic health effects. Regulations should get set so that children get protected from early smoking. Further, public smoking zones should get set up with the aim of reducing the number of the secondary smokers. Finally, appropriate occupational health program should get implemented for example the identification and the recognition of the health hazard and take the necessary measures. References Agaku, I. T., King, B. A., Dube, S. R., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2014). Current cigarette smoking among adultsUnited States, 20052012.MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep,63(2), 29-34. Anttila, S., Boffetta, P., Straif, K. (Eds.). (2014).Occupational cancers. Springer. Barrington-Trimis, J. L., Samet, J. M., McConnell, R. (2014). 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