Occupational Health and Safety for the 21st Century

This text provides a broad and concise overview of the topics that make up the field of occupational health and safety. These areas include important occupational policies, legislative acts, and laws for protection of workers. A crucial issue for occupational health research is defining exposures to potentially dangerous agents found in the work environment and delineating the effects of such exposures. Epidemiology and toxicology are examples of two fields that make contributions to exposure assessments and illuminate the adverse health effects associated with work-related exposures. Broad categories of agents of occupational disease include physical hazards, biological and microbial agents, and hazardous chemicals. Among the adverse health outcomes that have been linked with the work environment are cancer, respiratory illness, and reproductive abnormalities. Unintentional injuries are one of the leading causes of work-related morbidity and mortality, but the psychological and social environment can also affect the health of workers by influencing levels of stress and morale. Methods have been developed to reduce exposures to hazards and increase occupational safety through redesign of the work environment, introduction of engineering controls, and limiting exposures to physical, microbial, and chemical agents.

About the Author

Robert H. Friis, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Health Science and Chair Emeritus of the Department of Health Science at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), and former Director of the CSULB-VA Long Beach Healthcare System Joint Studies Institute. He is also a former Clinical Professor of Community and Environmental Medicine at the University of California at Irvine. Previously, he was an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine, Department of Neurology, and School of Social Ecology, University of California at Irvine. Dr. Friis was also on the faculty at the Columbia University School of Public Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Brooklyn College. He was employed as an epidemiologist in a local health department, where he obtained applied public health experience. Dr. Friis is past president and a member of the Governing Council of the Southern California Public Health Association. Currently, he serves on the advisory boards of several health-related organizations, including the California Health Interview Survey. He is an epidemiologist by training and profession.