CE Showcase: Occupational Health Hazards in the Dental Practice
Dr. Melanie Gorman Ng is a postdoctoral fellow in the UBC School of Population and Public Health with a PhD in Medicine and Therapeutics from the University of Aberdeen. She spoke with Dr. Suham Alexander about her upcoming session at the Pacific Dental Conference in Vancouver in March.
Dr. Gorman Ng’s presentation aims to inform dental professionals about the typical occupational health hazards in a dental practice and how they can be avoided. The presentation will discuss a wide range of potential hazards including radiation exposure, chemical exposures (including respirable crystalline silica and mercury), latex, needle-stick injuries, infectious diseases, and stress. The presentation will identify how these hazards can occur, what the potential health effects are, and how they can be prevented. Hazards will be discussed within the context of WorkSafeBC and US OSHA regulations.
Attendees will:
- Identify hazards present in your dental practice.
- Differentiate between different types of hazards.
- Learn strategies for protecting yourself from the hazards you identify.
- Identify online resources that explain best practices and regulatory requirements.
- Define “occupational hygiene” – the field that deals with the “health” in “health and safety”.
Dr. Gorman Ng’s session will occur on March 10, 2018 between 1 and 2 pm at the VCC West – Room 214.
Full Interview (7.08″)
Dr. Melanie Gorman Ng’s Bio
Dr. Melanie Gorman Ng studies health hazards in the workplace. She is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia School of Population and Public Health. Her research projects have spanned a wide range of industries and hazards. They include an investigation of the long-term health effects of clean-up work during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, estimation of the health and economic burden of occupational carcinogens in the European Union, and development of an online silica dust risk assessment tool for the B.C. construction industry.