Concept:
The workplace should not expose workers to environments with preventable hazards. The work site should foster a healthy life style.
Key Words:
Work site, occupation, environment, hygiene, hygienists, engineers, Material Safety Data Sheets, Threshold Limiting Values, Personal Protective Equipment, toxicology, safety, carcinogens.
Objectives
of this presentation is to provide you with an overview of the function, and scope of work of the Occupational Medicine physician and the Industrial Hygienist. The two professions complement each other in ensuring a safe workplace for employees.
Issues
Review the historical data provided in the first session of this course to examine how long worker's health has been a concern of health professionals.
First review Slide presentations
from Dr Compton.
The Occupational Health Program (pdf
Version)
Disability
Cost/Benefits (.pdf)
Employer as Health Coach (NEJM Oct07)
Also investigate the following Web Sites to look at information that would be useful in counseling workers about options if disabled as well as general Occupational Med reference information.
Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
Americans
with Disabilities.
Traveler's
Warnings. (Look at the fact sheets
on this page)
Association of Occupational and Environmental
Clinics
The following web sites also provide important information related to occupational health & industrial hygiene
NIOSH (there
are excellent fellowship opportunities at this site)
Pocket
Guide to Chemical Hazards
Health Hazard Evaluations
OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health
Administration)
ACGIH (American Conference
of Governmental and Industrial Hygienists)
NIOSH OH/IH
Web sites
Then review the Slides provided By Dr Vance (.pdf of slides) Examine the Links to web sites provided by Dr. Vance and be prepared to discuss current occupational health issues.
Then look at the Primer on Carcinogenesis (.pdf) as an introduction to the issue of chemical effects in the workplace.
American Cancer Society web page on known & probable carcinogens
The following short pieces should stimulate
some thoughts about Asbestos as a carcinogen.
What types of cancer does it cause?
How much exposure is needed to obtain an effect?
1) This first article was one of the first
cohort studies in the US.
This set of articles started to concerns following WW!! and became an issue
in the 1950s
Although a number of epidemiologists cautioned that more data was need following the media 'feeding frenzy' it was not until a further review 20_years later when some of the news media harassment died down.
2) The look at the table from Selikoff's original study and consider what this tells you about the comparative dangers of asbestos exposure and smoking.
3) Then review the short summary and the indicators for Health Effects Monitoring using the preceding as an example of an issues needing such monitoring.
4) Finally try and get a feel for what parts per million, billion and trillion mean when this kind of data is quoted by the EPA and activists.
Bookmarks for Lecture