Workplace Health Surveillance

This is the first textbook that makes workplace healthsurveillance accessible to a broad audience. Step-by-stepit shows how to establish or improve a surveillance system. The reader learns about defining objectives seekingorganizational support forming a surveillance workgroupcollecting data calculating basic injury and illnessstatistics designing databases analyzing and interpretingsurveillance data setting priorities making protocols forfollow-up and case management marketing results and givingfeedback and evaluating surveillance systems. Links areemphasized between surveillance and workplace follow-upcommunity-based intervention programs cost-benefitanalysis and other prevention activities. Readers get asolid foundation of epidemiologic concepts reinforced byexamples that use simple arithmetic. Leading practitionersfrom government business and unions illustrate thesurveillance of injuries lead poisoning pesticide illnesscumulative trauma disorders asthma noise-induced hearing loss silicosis cancer and chemical and physical hazards. Non-traditional data sources are examined including health and disability insurance hospital discharge and poison control centers. Disability surveillance return-to-work and the quality/effectiveness of health services also are explored. Surveillance is shown to be an action-oriented tool for decision-making that is the key to a successful health and safety program.