REVIEW PAPER
Good practice in occupational health services – The influence of hazardous conditions and nuisance coexisting in the work environment and at home on the course and outcome of pregnancy
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1
Instytut Medycyny Pracy im. prof. J. Nofera / Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland
(Zakład Epidemiologii Środowiskowej / Department of Environmental Epidemiology)
2
Instytut Medycyny Pracy im. prof. J. Nofera / Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland
(Zakład Psychologii Pracy / Department of Health and Work Psychology)
3
Instytut Medycyny Pracy im. prof. J. Nofera / Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland (Zakład Fizjologii Pracy i Ergonomii / Department of Work Physiology and Ergonomics)
4
Instytut Medycyny Pracy im. prof. J. Nofera / Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland (Klinika Chorób Zawodowych i Toksykologii / Departament of Occupational Diseases and Toxicology)
Corresponding author
Andrzej Marcinkiewicz
Instytut Medycyny Pracy im. prof. J. Nofera,
Zakład Epidemiologii Środowiskowej, ul. św. Teresy 8, 91-348 Łódź
Med Pr Work Health Saf. 2015;66(5):713-24
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ABSTRACT
The key activity in good practice of occupational medicine is to control, on a regular basis, the workers’ health and how it is
affected by the work environment and – consequently – to provide the employers and employees with advice regarding the organization,
ergonomics, physiology and psychology of work. Occupational medicine practitioners should remember that certain
duties are performed both at work and at home. This issue is particularly important in preventive healthcare of pregnant working
women. Taking the above into consideration, we reviewed the literature with respect to nuisance and occupational risk factors, which
might be associated with professional and household duties. The research indicates the need to reduce activities that require
frequent bending or lifting, put a women at risk of falling or cause excess occupational stress for pregnant women. We would like
to draw the doctors’ attention to the possibility of exceeding a 4-hour limit of work at video display terminals and negative effects
of low physical exercise and sitting for a long time both at work and at home. Since long working hours (over 40 h/week) affect
the course of pregnancy negatively, total working time at work (including any additional jobs) and at home must be taken into
account in the occupational risk assessment. To sum up, we emphasize that preventive healthcare of pregnant working women
should mainly include education programmes. Women need to know how to perform their work safely and pay attention to the
scope and frequency of household tasks (duties). Med Pr 2015;66(5):713–724