What we don't know about occupational Injuries
and illnesses -December 2003
Although many people die from work-related
diseases or accidents each year, we need better information on the number
of deaths, what the causes are, and what can be done about preventing
them. Getting that information will be the first priority for the National
Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Committee (NOHSAC), an independent
Committee established by the Minister of Labour earlier this year. It
will first develop a report on the burden of occupational disease and
injury in New Zealand . It then plans to research occupational disease
monitoring systems, emerging occupational health and safety hazards, and
the effects of recent changes in the work environment.
”While there is some information
about the number of deaths due to workplace injuries each year, we know
much less about the number of deaths from occupationally-related diseases,
and even less about cancer registrations or hospital admissions caused
by occupational exposures”, says NOHSAC Chair, Professor Neil Pearce.
Also the problem with occupationally-related
disease is that it can and frequently does take considerable periods of
time for the adverse health effects associated with continuing exposure
to hazards to become apparent. For occupational cancer, it can take 25
to 30 years for the cancer to develop and for the symptoms of cancer to
show, says Dr Pearce.
Without this research agenda,
New Zealand has little or no chance of effectively monitoring the burden
of occupational disease and injury in New Zealand , or of developing and
evaluating effective interventions to reduce this burden, Professor Pearce
says. To identify the huge gaps in our knowledge of occupational disease
and injury, NOHSAC is preparing a report on the major occupational health
and injury problems and their causes. The research will clarify the size
of the problem of fatal and non-fatal disease and injury arising from
work-related exposures in New Zealand . The Committee will also produce
recommendations for reducing the future burden of occupational disease
and injury. The work will be completed by mid 2004.
This work programme will serve
as a solid platform upon which NOHSAC can advise the government on policy
initiatives, prevention programmes, and further research into occupational
health and safety in New Zealand .
“At the moment, we don’t even know
how much we don’t know,” says Professor Pearce. “this research will tell
us where the information gaps are, and then we can work out what to do
about them.”
For further information:
Professor Neil Pearce, NOHSAC Chair
and Director, Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University
- Wellington . Ph: (04) 380-0606.
n.e.pearce@massey.ac.nz
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