Occupational health or industrial hygiene has been defined as that science and art devoted to the anticipation, recognition, evaluation and control of those environmental factors or stresses arising in or from the work place, which may cause sickness, impaired health and well-being, or significant discomfort among workers or among the citizens of the community.
It encompasses the study of chronic as well as acute conditions emanating from hazards posed by physical agents, chemical agents, biological agents and stress in the occupational environment and the outdoors environment.
The various hazards which gives rise to occupational diseases or adversely affect health through work may be classified as:
Physical Hazards
Mechanical Hazards
Chemical Hazards
Biological Hazards
Ergonomic Hazards and
Psychosocial Hazards