Faculty of Public Health Kanchanaburi
Industrial and agricultural development has been a vital component of the country’s economic and development in producing revenues from industrial and agricultural services and products. This leads to the importance of being healthy and safe for the workers in the said sectors.
Currently, there are 300,000 companies and establishments who employ 8,000,000 workers that are protected by the Ministry of Labor’s compensation fund. The main health and safety issues that these workers are facing are occupational diseases such as lead poisoning and occupational hazard such as accidents in production processes.
According to the statistic in 2006, 200,000 cases of industrial casualty was registered, 600 occupational fatalities and an amount of 1,600 million baht was compensated. The main cause of casualties and fatalities was 28% of unsafe machineries and electricity related.
It is essential that all workers shall be protected by the 2007 constitution which stated as “A person shall have rights to the guarantee of personal safety and security at work, including the guarantee of due living during and post-employment, as provided by law”
Business establishments must ensure the proper management of Occupational health and safety environment. This requires the help of health professionals, science and technology and the owners and workers’ commitment and this is where the university recognizes the opportunity to fulfill the need by both private and government sectors. The priority goes to industrial factories that require occupational health professionals to maintain a comprehensive program in health, safety and environment.
As mentioned, Western university fully recognizes the importance of providing the education needed to produce health and safety professionals which lead to the establishment of the 2nd faculty of public health in Buriram. The university opened its first admission in academic year 2016 with 139 academic units to accommodate 60 students per academic year.
