Working: the role of occupational epidemiology.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Eisen EA ; Elser H ; Picciotto S
• Description:
  The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has redemonstrated the importance of work as a determinant of health. During the pandemic, extant disparities were accentuated as the workforce was divided into the roughly 50% who could safely work from home and those who could not. With the spotlight on work, one might wonder where all the occupational epidemiologists have gone. To answer, we point to diminished research support and more limited workplace access that have led many epidemiologists to shift away from a focus on workers toward other vulnerable populations. Here we build on the renewed interest in work as a driver of health and inequality during the pandemic to highlight contributions of occupational epidemiology to public health. We consider: 1) etiological studies of chronic disease based on employment records to define cohorts and reconstruct long-term exposure; 2) studies of hypothetical interventions that are particularly appropriate for evaluating potential regulations to reduce workplace exposures; and 3) studies of disparities that take advantage of work as a potential source of social stratification and economic opportunity. As we have learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, workplaces can become venues for public health messaging and delivering interventions to enumerated populations of adults. By starting with COVID-19 prevention policies for the workplace, we have a chance to better protect public health. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communicable Diseases Epidemiology Healthcare Disparities Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Public Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Environmental Health; Health Disparities; Occupational Health; Racial Disparities; Social Determinants Of Health; Vulnerable Populations; Work; Workplace COVID-19; Coronavirus; Epidemiology; Health Disparities; Occupational Exposure; Public Health; Disease Prevention; Worker Health; Work Organization; Social Determinants Of Health; SDOH;
• ISSN:
  0002-9262
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  237-240
• Volume:
  191
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20064726
• Citation:
  Am J Epidemiol 2022 Feb; 191(2):237-240
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr. Ellen A. Eisen, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 2121 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94720
• Email:
  eeisen@berkeley.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Performing Organization:
  University of California, Berkeley
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20180915
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Epidemiology
• End Date:
  20210914
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e221de0f6dafdbb6736ef86809677109d996a97ab4d6fd66e9953d3faaeada392f6c6693c6b690f8fbd7427756d605e6b5c9fafdae850a76397b9da764258022
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/248745/cdc_248745_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 168.39 KB ]