AFIH Course

Lesson 1 • Workplace Hazard Classification

Categorises physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, and psychosocial hazards. Builds vocabulary for hazard identification used throughout the course.

Lesson 2 • Legal and Ethical Framework

Covers employer and employee obligations, medical confidentiality, and dual-loyalty conflicts. Grounds clinical decisions in ethical and regulatory context.

Lesson 3 • Occupational Health Documentation

Introduces medical records, exposure registers, and statutory reporting forms. Accurate documentation underpins all subsequent clinical and legal tasks.

Lesson 1 • Hierarchy of Controls

Applies elimination, substitution, engineering, administrative, and PPE controls to assessed risks. Links risk level to appropriate control selection.

Lesson 2 • Risk Communication to Stakeholders

Translates technical risk data into actionable reports for management and workers. Effective communication drives implementation of control measures.

Lesson 3 • Risk Assessment Methodology

Introduces hazard identification, likelihood-severity matrices, and risk ranking. Provides the analytical framework applied in all subsequent assessment tasks.

Lesson 4 • Exposure Measurement Techniques

Covers personal and area monitoring, sampling strategies, and measurement units. Quantitative data collection enables evidence-based exposure control decisions.

Lesson 1 • Respiratory Occupational Diseases

Examines pneumoconioses, occupational asthma, and toxic inhalation syndromes. Respiratory conditions represent the highest-burden occupational disease category.

Lesson 2 • Principles of Occupational Toxicology

Covers dose-response relationships, routes of entry, and target organ toxicity. Provides mechanistic basis for understanding all occupational disease presentations.

Lesson 3 • Dermatological and Sensory Disorders

Addresses contact dermatitis, occupational skin cancers, noise-induced hearing loss, and vibration disorders. Covers second most prevalent occupational disease group.

Lesson 4 • Musculoskeletal and Neurological Disorders

Covers work-related upper limb disorders, back injury, and neurotoxic syndromes. Links biomechanical and chemical exposures to clinical presentations.

Lesson 1 • Medical Fitness for Work Concepts

Defines fitness-for-work standards, functional capacity, and reasonable accommodation. Establishes the conceptual basis for all examination decisions.

Lesson 2 • Special Population Considerations

Addresses examination adaptations for night workers, young workers, pregnant employees, and ageing workers. Ensures equitable and legally compliant assessment.

Lesson 3 • Return-to-Work Medical Assessment

Guides evaluation after illness, injury, or long absence to determine safe reintegration. Connects clinical findings to workplace modification recommendations.

Lesson 4 • Periodic Surveillance Examinations

Designs frequency, content, and triggers for ongoing health surveillance. Periodic exams detect early disease and evaluate control effectiveness.

Lesson 1 • Root Cause Analysis Techniques

Applies five-whys, fishbone diagrams, and fault tree analysis to incident data. Multiple techniques increase causal completeness.

Lesson 2 • Near-Miss and Incident Trend Analysis

Establishes near-miss reporting culture and statistical trend monitoring. Proactive analysis prevents escalation to serious incidents.

Lesson 3 • Investigation Reporting and Corrective Action

Structures formal investigation reports with findings, causes, and SMART corrective actions. Reports drive organisational learning and regulatory compliance.

Lesson 4 • Incident Causation Models

Compares domino, Swiss cheese, and systemic causation models. Theoretical grounding shapes the investigator's analytical approach.

Lesson 1 • Ventilation System Design Principles

Explains general dilution and local exhaust ventilation design parameters. Ventilation is the primary engineering control for airborne chemical hazards.

Lesson 2 • Thermal and Radiation Hazard Management

Addresses heat stress indices, cold exposure limits, and ionising/non-ionising radiation controls. Thermal and radiation hazards require specialised monitoring protocols.

Lesson 3 • Physical Hazard Control: Noise and Vibration

Covers noise mapping, vibration measurement, and engineering attenuation methods. Physical hazard control reduces the highest-prevalence sensory disease burden.

Lesson 4 • Industrial Hygiene Fundamentals

Defines anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control as the hygiene cycle. Establishes the systematic process underlying all hygiene practice.

Lesson 1 • Manual Handling Risk Reduction

Analyses lifting, carrying, pushing, and pulling tasks using quantitative tools. Intervention design reduces the leading cause of occupational injury.

Lesson 2 • Workstation Design and Adjustment

Covers anthropometric data application, display screen equipment setup, and seated/standing workstation criteria. Correct design prevents musculoskeletal disorders.

Lesson 3 • Participatory Ergonomics Programmes

Designs worker-involved ergonomic improvement programmes with management support structures. Participation increases intervention uptake and sustainability.

Lesson 4 • Shift Work and Fatigue Management

Examines circadian disruption, fatigue risk models, and shift schedule optimisation. Work organisation interventions complement physical ergonomic controls.

Lesson 1 • Occupational Health Service Structure

Defines service models, staffing ratios, and infrastructure requirements for workplace health units. Structural decisions determine service capacity and quality.

Lesson 2 • Occupational Health Indicators and Audit

Establishes KPIs, audit frameworks, and benchmarking methods for health programme performance. Data-driven management enables continuous improvement.

Lesson 3 • Health Promotion at the Workplace

Designs evidence-based workplace health promotion programmes targeting lifestyle and occupational risk factors. Promotion extends impact beyond statutory compliance.

Lesson 4 • Strategic Planning and Budget Management

Applies business case development, budget planning, and stakeholder alignment to occupational health strategy. Strategic skills secure resources and organisational support.