{"id":330,"date":"2023-09-02T06:21:27","date_gmt":"2023-09-02T06:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rdhs.oliviahospital.lk\/?page_id=330"},"modified":"2024-02-27T14:19:37","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T08:49:37","slug":"environmental-health-occupational-health-and-food-safety","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/healthdept.ep.gov.lk\/rdhs-kl\/environmental-health-occupational-health-and-food-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH, OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND FOOD SAFETY"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"330\" class=\"elementor elementor-330\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5c37e21 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"5c37e21\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_ha_eqh_enable&quot;:false}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"aux-parallax-section elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-b4f4751\" data-id=\"b4f4751\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ccf95b7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"ccf95b7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-large\">Environmental Health, Occupational Health and Food Safety<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c7b99a6 elementor-tabs-alignment-center elementor-tabs-view-horizontal elementor-widget elementor-widget-tabs\" data-id=\"c7b99a6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"tabs.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-tabs\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-tabs-wrapper\" role=\"tablist\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-tab-title-2091\" class=\"elementor-tab-title elementor-tab-desktop-title\" aria-selected=\"true\" data-tab=\"1\" role=\"tab\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-tab-content-2091\" aria-expanded=\"false\"> Environmental Health<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-tab-title-2092\" class=\"elementor-tab-title elementor-tab-desktop-title\" aria-selected=\"false\" data-tab=\"2\" role=\"tab\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-controls=\"elementor-tab-content-2092\" aria-expanded=\"false\">Occupational Health<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-tab-title-2093\" class=\"elementor-tab-title elementor-tab-desktop-title\" aria-selected=\"false\" data-tab=\"3\" role=\"tab\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-controls=\"elementor-tab-content-2093\" aria-expanded=\"false\"> Food control  <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-tabs-content-wrapper\" role=\"tablist\" aria-orientation=\"vertical\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-tab-title elementor-tab-mobile-title\" aria-selected=\"true\" data-tab=\"1\" role=\"tab\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-tab-content-2091\" aria-expanded=\"false\"> Environmental Health<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-tab-content-2091\" class=\"elementor-tab-content elementor-clearfix\" data-tab=\"1\" role=\"tabpanel\" aria-labelledby=\"elementor-tab-title-2091\" tabindex=\"0\" hidden=\"false\"><div class=\"paragraph\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">What is Environmental Health ? It is the branch of public health that focuses on the interrelationships between people and their environment, promotes human health and well-being, and to develop healthy and safe communities. As a key component of a comprehensive public health system, environmental health works to advance policies and programs to minimize exposures in air, water, soil, food and other environmental media. It aims at to protect inhabitants and provide safe communities with healthier environments.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Our Role The Environmental health unit of the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine is responsible for two major programmes under Environmental Health.<\/span><ul><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">National Healthcare waste management programme of the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">National Water Quality programme of the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine.<\/span><br \/><br \/><\/li><\/ul><span style=\"font-size: large;\">The unit handles health related issues in the following areas.<\/span><ul><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Solid waste management.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Bio diversity.<\/span><br \/><br \/><\/li><\/ul><span style=\"font-size: large;\">The unit handles health related issues in the following areas together with the occupational health unit due to significant overlap between environmental and occupational health fields.<\/span><ul><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Climate change.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Air pollution.<br \/>\u200b<\/span><\/li><\/ul><span style=\"color: #24678d; font-size: x-large;\">Functions of the Unit.<\/span><ul><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Develop strategic plans to achieve the strategic objectives of the programmes under environmental health.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Advocate the policy makers and stakeholders at central &amp; provincial level on the importance of improving environmental health.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Intra and inter sectoral coordination on multidisciplinary issues related to environmental health.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Conduct operational research\u00a0 on environmental health issues.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Capacity building of health and non health officers on environmental health.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Provide technical expertise on environmental health in matters related to intra and inter sectoral planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluating of various programs\/ activities at different levels.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Monitoring and evaluation of programmes and activities under environmental health carried out by the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Develop communication material pertaining to environmental health.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-tab-title elementor-tab-mobile-title\" aria-selected=\"false\" data-tab=\"2\" role=\"tab\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-controls=\"elementor-tab-content-2092\" aria-expanded=\"false\">Occupational Health<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-tab-content-2092\" class=\"elementor-tab-content elementor-clearfix\" data-tab=\"2\" role=\"tabpanel\" aria-labelledby=\"elementor-tab-title-2092\" tabindex=\"0\" hidden=\"hidden\"><div class=\"paragraph\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Occupational Health is about workers\u2019 health. A healthy workforce is the biggest asset a country can have and Sri Lanka is no exception. The National Occupational Health Programme targets all workers in all occupations. Occupational Health services are provided at the grass root level by Public Health Inspectors (PHII) together with the Medical Officers of Health (MOOH) through the District and Provincial Health systems.<br \/><\/span><br \/><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Provision of occupational safety and health to workers in Sri Lanka needs a concerted effort of multiple stakeholders. The Ministry of Health is considered a very important stakeholder in the provision of occupational health services. Curative, rehabilitative, preventive and promotive occupational health services are provided by the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"font-size: large;\">The Occupational Health Unit of the Environmental and Occupational Health Directorate is the focal point for Occupational Health in the Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka. The unit is responsible for planning, co-ordination, monitoring and evaluation of occupational health services in the National Occupational Health Programme. Additionally, the unit liaises with other important stakeholders such as the Ministry of Labour and Trade Union Relations, Ministry of Environment and Central Environmental Authority in implementing the National Occupational Health Programme of the Ministry of Health.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"font-size: large;\">All workers in Sri Lanka have access to free health services at the curative, rehabilitative as well as preventive health sectors. Treatment of occupational diseases and injuries and rehabilitation of occupational injuries are integrated into the existing curative health system. Occupational medical problems are taken care of by the medical units, occupational surgical problems by the surgical units and rehabilitation by the physiotherapy and rehabilitation units. Occupational accidents affecting significant number of workers and surrounding communities are considered as disasters and curative sector response is carried out immediately.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"font-size: large;\">The implementation of occupational health activities in the preventive health sector are done mainly through the Provincial and District level Health Services which comprise of a wide range of MOH offices. The Medical Officers of Health (MOOH) and the Public Health Inspectors (PHII) carry out occupational health activities at the grass root level. Environmental and occupational health units have been set up at district level to better facilitate the implementation of the National Occupational Health Programme and to strengthen the coordination between the Directorate of the Environmental and Occupational Health and the grass root level.<br \/><\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #24678d;\">Functions of the Unit<\/span><ul><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Advocacy on issues related to occupational health and related environmental health issues.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Provision of guidance and technical expertise to the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Environment, Central Environmental Authority and other relevant ministries for formulation\/revision of policies, on occupational health and related environmental health aspects.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Develop policies and strategies on occupational health.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Designing \/ Planning of National Occupational Health Programme of the Ministry of Health.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Liaise with intra sectoral and inter sectoral stakeholders in designing the occupational health programme.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Provision of necessary direction, guidance, coordination and support to peripheral staff for implementation of the National Occupational Health Programme of the Ministry of Health.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Develop guidelines, standards and protocols on occupational health.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Capacity building of staff on occupational health, basic training, in service, graduate and post graduate.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Networking and partnership building with stake holders and programme implementers.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Developing programme specific education and training material\/IEC.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Provision of technical expertise to develop and revise curricula of basic and in service training of relevant health staff on occupational health.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Implementing donor funded projects on occupational health.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Monitoring and Evaluation of Occupational Health Services at all levels.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Conducting and coordinating operational research related to occupational health.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Identification of best practices, pilot testing and integration into the occupational health programme.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Procurement and distribution of equipments necessary for the occupational health programme.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Convene national steering committee on occupational health (chaired by Secretary \/ DDG).<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-tab-title elementor-tab-mobile-title\" aria-selected=\"false\" data-tab=\"3\" role=\"tab\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-controls=\"elementor-tab-content-2093\" aria-expanded=\"false\"> Food control  <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-tab-content-2093\" class=\"elementor-tab-content elementor-clearfix\" data-tab=\"3\" role=\"tabpanel\" aria-labelledby=\"elementor-tab-title-2093\" tabindex=\"0\" hidden=\"hidden\"><p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-444\" src=\"https:\/\/healthdept.ep.gov.lk\/rdhs-kl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/organization-chart_orig-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"643\" \/><\/p><div class=\"paragraph\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Food control in the country is a subject under the Ministry of Health. Food Act No.26 of 1980 is the legal basis for action.<br \/><br \/>Director General of Health services is the chief food authority. Deputy Director General (Environmental health, occupational Health and food safety) functions under the DGHS as the head of food control. Director (EOH) functions under the DDG and handles all routine activities in the Food control Administration Unit (FCAU).<br \/><br \/>FCAU is responsible for import control, domestic control of food and issuing export certificates for exporting food items.<br \/><br \/>Domestic food control system in Sri Lanka is based on the Food Act No.26 of 1980 which was amended in 1991 and 2001. According to the food Act, Chief food authority is the Director General of Health Services.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #24678d; font-size: x-large;\">Other food authorities are,<\/span><ul><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Municipal councils.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Appointed local authorities by the Minister.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Medical Officer of Health (If local authority is not appointed by the Minister in that area).<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Excise commissioner.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">DG of customs.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><span style=\"color: #24678d; font-size: x-large;\"> Authorized officers under the Food Act. are,<\/span><ul><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Medical officer of health.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Food and drug inspector.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Public health inspector.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Veterinary surgeon with regards to meat.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><span style=\"font-size: large;\"> There are\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/eohfs.health.gov.lk\/food\/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=18&amp;Itemid=159&amp;lang=en\"><span style=\"color: #5040ae;\">over 30 regulations<\/span><\/a>\u00a0gazetted under the food Act for effective control of Foods in domestic market.<br \/><br \/>\u200bWhat the Food Labs Do ?Food-borne diseases remain a challenging problem globally, causing many diseases and significant economic losses. Contaminants in food can cause acute or chronic diseases. Those contaminants can be,<\/span><ul><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Physical (Adulterants, Additives etc.)<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Chemical (Heavy metals, Toxins etc.)<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Microbiological (Bacteria, Virus etc.)<br \/>\u200b<\/span><\/li><\/ul><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Food testing laboratories are designed to test all these contaminants.<br \/>Foods that are imported, exported and those available in the market are tested for various parameters. Therefore these laboratories help the Food control administration unit of the Ministry of Health to ensure that the food available in the country are safe to consume. Laboratories can be divided into 2 groups.<\/span><ul><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Authorized laboratories under the food Act. (These laboratories test formal samples)<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Non-authorized laboratories (These laboratories test informal samples Eg. Imported foods)<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Environmental Health, Occupational Health and Food Safety Environmental Health Occupational Health Food control Environmental Health What is Environmental Health ? It is the branch of public health that focuses on the interrelationships between people and their environment, promotes human health and well-being, and to develop healthy and safe communities. As a key component of a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-330","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthdept.ep.gov.lk\/rdhs-kl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthdept.ep.gov.lk\/rdhs-kl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthdept.ep.gov.lk\/rdhs-kl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthdept.ep.gov.lk\/rdhs-kl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthdept.ep.gov.lk\/rdhs-kl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/healthdept.ep.gov.lk\/rdhs-kl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2118,"href":"https:\/\/healthdept.ep.gov.lk\/rdhs-kl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/330\/revisions\/2118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthdept.ep.gov.lk\/rdhs-kl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}