M4E #47: Napo in... the hidden killers
Today I introduce you to Napo. Napo is a fictional character who serves as the protagonist in a series of animated films called "Napo in the Workplace." These films are created by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work as a means to promote workplace safety and raise awareness about occupational hazards.
In this video Napo introduces us to some nasty hidden killers quite present in industrial work and some safety measures that can be taken to decrease the risks of our workers.
Time for Insights
As shown in the video description, “This Napo film is designed to raise awareness about work-related cancer and how to prevent it. The focus is on ‘process-generated carcinogens’ which occur as a by-product of a work process and need extra attention because they don’t have labels and there may not be any references in Safety Data Sheets”.
Process-generated carcinogens are also known as PGCs. Two main activities have been found to generate them: combustion and abrasion. Combustion is the process of releasing fumes and smoke that can contain PGCs. Similarly, abrasive techniques, such as sanding or grinding, can produce abrasive dusts that may also contain PGCs.
Silica dust is a clear example of a PGC. It’s composed of fine particles of crystalline silica that are released into the air during certain industrial processes, such as cutting, grinding, drilling, or crushing materials like stone, rock, concrete, or masonry. Breathing in dust from silica-containing materials can lead to silicosis. Taking the European Union as an example, it’s estimated that around 5 million workers are exposed there to crystalline silica, mostly in the construction sector but also in production processes involved with making bricks, glass or cement.
It’s very important to raise awareness on this topic and foster safety measures for our workers in order to improve our lifespan and healthy conditions so if you know anybody that works in these environments inform them so they take care and protective measures!