New and increasing occupational and industrial hazards

Abstract

In the recent decade a number of new and increasing hazards arose in the industry world-wide. Some of them can be attributed to the occupational field and some must be considered as hazards capable to initiate serious industrial accidents. In this paper, a review of occupational and industrial hazards is provided. The attention is focused on biological, chemical, physical hazards as well as psychosocial issues. Equipment aging, creation of networks and nanotechnologies are considered to be new and increasing industrial hazards. A separate consideration is devoted to the presence new and increasing hazards in Lithuanian industry. It is found that these hazards exist but are not very topical because Lithuania does not run highly dangerous technologies, plants and industrial branches which are hazardous to environment. A number of new and increasing hazards specific to Lithuanian industry are identified and analyzed. The consideration can provide recommendations for the companies which may face new and increasing hazards.