Zirve OHS

What Is Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)?

Often referred to by its abbreviation OHS, Occupational Health and Safety can be defined as:

"A set of systematic and scientific practices aimed at protecting employees from health-threatening conditions that may arise during the execution of work at the workplace."

The concept of OHS began to gain significant attention in the European Union starting in the 1980s. Particularly, the Council Directive 89/391/EEC, introduced in 1989, became a foundational framework directive in the field of occupational health and safety. Following this, many individual directives were developed based on it. In Turkey, the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331, which came into effect in 2012, was introduced as part of the EU harmonization process.

Objectives of Occupational Health and Safety

Ensuring the Safety of Employees
This is the primary goal of OHS. The aim is to protect employees from work-related accidents and occupational diseases, ensuring their physical and mental well-being.
Ensuring Production Safety
Ensuring safety in production leads to increased productivity, making it an economically important goal.
Ensuring Workplace Safety
By implementing precautionary measures, potential machine failures, malfunctions, explosions, fires, or other hazards that may arise from unsafe and unhealthy work environments can be prevented, thereby ensuring overall workplace safety.

A Multidisciplinary Approach

As seen from its goals, occupational health and safety requires a multidisciplinary approach. The field draws from various sciences such as medicine, physics, chemistry, mathematics, statistics, economics, sociology, psychology, and ergonomics. It spans across all industries, with variations depending on the specific work environment.

Despite all efforts in the field of OHS, workplace accidents and occupational diseases have not been reduced to desired levels. Occupational diseases, in particular, remain underdiagnosed, while work accidents are more frequently reported. These incidents often result in cuts, injuries, electric shocks, poisoning, skin conditions, fractures, loss of limbs, and fatalities, sometimes even involving multiple casualties.

In Summary

If we were to sum up occupational health and safety in a single sentence, it would be:

"OHS is the embodiment of a human-centered approach in the workplace."