Observations on Work Force and Training Needs for Assessing Environmental Health Risks

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Public Health Rep
• Journal Article:
  Public Health Reports
• Personal Author:
  DeRoos, Roger L. ; Anderson, Priscilla N. ; Berberich, Norbert J. ; Maugans, Betty ; Omenn, Gilbert S. ; Rentos, P. G.
• Description:
  The knowledge and skills needed by persons working on environmental risk assessment for state and local agencies were described, and information was provided on the occupational specialties required by state environmental health agencies. The three elements which have been considered to make up risk assessment are hazard identification, exposure assessment, and dose/response assessment. The relationship of risk assessment to risk management was illustrated. Risk management was defined as the process of integrating risk assessment result with engineering data and social, economic, and political concerns, and weighing alternatives to reduce or eliminate the risk. Manpower for risk assessment at the state and local levels were discussed. A hypothetical example of the handling of a groundwater contamination occurrence resulting from organic chemical contamination from a hazardous waste was provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of risk assessment as related to risk management decisions. Information was collected from six states on the organizational structures of public agencies dealing with hazardous waste site safety. The survey indicated that agencies lacked personnel with competency in risk assessment methodologies, that there was a need for more interdisciplinary training, and that lack of sufficient funds made it difficult to acquire qualified personnel. Catalogs from schools of public health were surveyed to determine the availability of courses on risk assessment methodology and environmental epidemiology. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Education Environmental Exposure Environmental Health Environmental Pollution Epidemiology Hazardous Waste Occupational Health Public Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Staff Development State Government Workforce

  More +
• Keywords:
  NIOSH-Publication; NIOSH-Contract; NIOSH-Author; Education; Training; Safety-research; Risk-analysis; Epidemiology; Environmental-contamination
• Source:
  Public Health Rep 1988 Jul; 103(4):348-354
• ISSN:
  0033-3549
• Pubmed ID:
  3136493
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMCnull
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  HRSA 84-244(P)/HR/NHLBI NIH HHS/U.S.
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  7 pdf pages
• Volume:
  103
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00181939
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1988
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Public Health Reports
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8c3b6c1a045610806a3ef4a3a42634c29ce2af38dcb2830f6c2d8fb94b5c0f9feb3a214b9c77d6087d91c897758e13878ec88d6162bfaad771424bd9e0955027
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/63184/cdc_63184_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.38 MB ]