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Introduction
Occupational
hazards cause or contribute to the premature death of millions of people
worldwide and result in the ill health or disablement of hundreds of millions
more each year. The burden of disease from selected occupational risk factors
amounts to 1.5% risks of the global burden in terms of DALY. The World Health
Report 2002 places occupational risks as the 10th leading cause of
morbidity and mortality. Almost 22.5 million DALY and 699,000 deaths are
attributable to these risk factors. According to the Report, work related injuries
cause nearly 310,000 deaths each year, and nearly
146,000 deaths are attributable from the region remains largely uncharacterised. Member countries of South East Asia
Region have witnessed major occupational health problems highlighted by the Bhopal disaster in india and the Kader
Toy Factory fire in Thailand.
However, workers of the region are exposed to a wider range of occupational
hazards and risks including chemical, physical and bilogical
hazards as well as inadequate ergonomics practice and high psychsocial stress. Most of the countries in the Region
are in the process of rapid economical development, a process that
potentially amplifies the pre-existing traditional risks and introduces new
occupational risks in the region. Thus, occupational health is of major
concern in the South East Asia Region of WHO with a work force of about 500
million persons.
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