Walk Through Survey_PTP

In an era where health is a crucial factor directly affecting work performance, organizations must prioritize systematic health and safety management at work. The concept and practice of “Occupational Health” play an important role in reducing the risks of work-related diseases and accidents, as well as effectively promoting employee health in a targeted manner.
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<h2>What is Occupational Health?</h2>
Occupational Health is the care of employees&#8217; health and safety in all dimensions, including the prevention of work-related diseases and accidents, promoting hygiene and appropriate working environments, and supporting employees to have good physical and mental health. This enables them to work safely, efficiently, and sustainably in the long term. It covers risk assessment, management of workplace hazards, safety education and training, creating a suitable environment, and promoting healthy behaviors among employees.
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<h2>Why Should Organizations Prioritize Occupational Health?</h2>
Besides being a legal obligation that organizations must comply with, promoting occupational health is a key component of workplace safety and health management systems. It brings benefits in many aspects to both employees and organizations, as follows:
<ul>
<li>Economic aspect: Healthy employees help reduce sick leave, absenteeism, and medical expenses related to work-related diseases or accidents, resulting in continuous improvement in productivity and work efficiency.</li>
<li>Image aspect: Organizations that prioritize the health and safety of their personnel gain trust from external agencies and customers, and attract talented new generations to join.</li>
<li>Morale and motivation aspect: It helps reduce work-related stress and anxiety, promotes mental health and employee engagement with the organization, leading to higher morale and more efficient work.</li>
</ul>
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<h2>How Does Employee Health Affect Work Efficiency and Productivity?</h2>
Employee health directly impacts work efficiency. When employees are physically and mentally healthy, they have energy, focus, and readiness to perform tasks, leading to high-quality productivity. Conversely, frequent or chronic health problems affect work, such as:
<ul>
<li>Frequent absenteeism or sick leave disrupts work continuity and affects team processes.</li>
<li>Reduced work capacity leads to decreased efficiency, errors, or lower quality of output.</li>
<li>Increased medical costs or expenses for hiring temporary staff to replace absent employees.</li>
<li>Overall organizational productivity declines, missing set targets.</li>
</ul>
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<h2>Health Risks from Work Often Overlooked</h2>
Although office or factory work may seem safe to many, in reality, many employees face chronic health problems caused by work without realizing it. Neglecting to check or address these issues can impact long-term quality of life. Awareness and understanding of these risks are the first steps toward employee health care and creating a safe and sustainable work environment. Common risks include:
<ul>
<li>Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders: Pain in the neck, shoulders, back, hands, or wrists from poor posture, prolonged inappropriate working positions, and repetitive movements such as continuous typing or mouse use. Risks include office syndrome, tendon diseases, and herniated discs compressing nerves.</li>
<li>Work-related Stress and Mental Health: Pressure from work and job insecurity affect mental health, potentially causing accumulated stress, anxiety, insomnia, and possibly depression if not properly managed.</li>
<li>Visual Health Issues: Prolonged screen time on computers or digital devices, inappropriate lighting conditions such as too dim, too bright, or glare, can cause eye pain, dryness, or long-term eye fatigue.</li>
<li>Respiratory and Allergic Disorders: Working in environments with dust, smoke, or chemicals such as paint, glue, ink, or cleaning agents can irritate nasal passages or airways, increasing risks of respiratory diseases, allergies, lung diseases, and some cancers in the long term.</li>
<li>Noise-induced Hearing Loss: Continuous exposure to loud noise, such as factory machinery, can cause gradual hearing loss or tinnitus.</li>
</ul>
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<h2>Specific Risks in Different Occupational Groups</h2>
While the health risks mentioned are common among general workers, different occupational groups have unique risks and health impacts. Organizations and employees should be aware of these risks for targeted prevention and care, such as:
<ul>
<li>Office workers: Often work sitting for long hours with little movement or stretching, increasing the risk of office syndrome, eye problems from prolonged screen time, and metabolic syndrome (e.g., high blood pressure, high blood sugar or lipids, obesity), which increase long-term risks of heart disease and diabetes.</li>
<li>Factory workers: Often work near loud machinery, risking long-term hearing loss, exposure to chemicals, dust, or irritants, injuries from machinery, fatigue from repetitive tasks in the same posture, and accidents from slips and falls.</li>
<li>Healthcare personnel: At risk of infections from patient care, exposure to radiation, hazardous drugs or chemicals, shift work disrupting sleep and biological clocks, increasing stress levels.</li>
<li>Drivers: At risk of chronic back and muscle pain, road accidents, stress from traffic congestion, dust, pollution, sleep deprivation, insufficient rest, and irregular working hours, increasing risks of gastrointestinal diseases such as acid reflux and bowel problems.</li>
<li>Warehouse and logistics workers: Face risks from the environment and job nature involving moving, lifting, carrying, dragging, pushing, or arranging heavy goods, working in improper postures, and repetitive tasks, leading to back pain, herniated discs compressing nerves, joint injuries, and accidents such as being crushed, hit by forklifts, or struck by falling goods.</li>
<li>Laboratory workers: Work with hazardous substances and specialized equipment, risking accidental exposure or inhalation of chemicals and biological agents, injuries from equipment such as cuts from glass, needle sticks, burns from hot equipment, and eye fatigue from microscope use.</li>
</ul>
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<h2>What is a Walk Through Survey and Why Should Organizations Conduct It?</h2>
A Walk Through Survey is a proactive workplace assessment process that comprehensively evaluates health and safety risks in the workplace by systematically walking through the actual work area to observe the environment, work processes, equipment, and employee behaviors in detail. This is conducted by occupational health experts or safety officers.
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Conducting a Walk Through Survey is part of Proactive Risk Assessment, helping organizations prevent undesirable incidents before they occur, such as:
<ul>
<li>Identifying overlooked risks, such as areas with poor ventilation, excessive noise, or unsafe work behaviors.</li>
<li>Providing data for planning preventive measures and health promotion programs tailored to specific job characteristics and risks.</li>
<li>Ensuring compliance with legal requirements, giving organizations confidence that they meet occupational health and safety laws and regulations.</li>
<li>Promoting employee participation, increasing awareness and cooperation in problem prevention.</li>
<li>Reducing work-related accidents and diseases, and enhancing employee efficiency and job satisfaction.</li>
</ul>
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<h2>The Role of Hospitals in Supporting Organizations Toward Good Health</h2>
To help organizations create safe working environments and sustainably promote employee health, Phyathai Phaholyothin Hospital has developed employee health care models tailored to the specific needs of each organization, including the following main services:
<ul>
<li>On-site workplace survey by medical and expert teams (Walk Through Survey) to assess risks and provide appropriate and targeted recommendations.</li>
<li>Designing organization-specific health check-up programs based on risks (Risk-Based Health Check-up), not limited to standard health checks but focusing on risk factors according to job characteristics.</li>
<li>Providing advice on improving workplace environments to increase safety, reduce risk factors, and prevent work-related diseases in the long term, thereby continuously enhancing employee work efficiency.</li>
</ul>
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Healthy employees can work at full capacity. Phyathai Phaholyothin Hospital is ready to be your trusted health partner with comprehensive services, from consultation, on-site risk surveys, to designing health care approaches tailored to each organization&#8217;s specific needs. Caring for employee health today is like laying a solid and valuable foundation both in the short and long term.

Discover the meaning and importance of occupational health, the concept of creating a safe working environment, reducing the risk of disease and accidents, and systematically promoting the physical and mental health of employees so they can work efficiently and safely in the long term.

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Walk Through Survey: The Importance of Occupational Health to Creating a Healthy Organization

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