Open AccessApplications of a job classification system in occupational epidemiology.
Author(s) -
John F. Gamble,
Robert Spirtas,
P Easter
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.66.8.768
Subject(s) - occupational medicine , epidemiology , environmental health , product (mathematics) , occupational safety and health , occupational exposure , process (computing) , homogeneous , occupational hygiene , work (physics) , medicine , psychology , gerontology , computer science , engineering , pathology , mathematics , mechanical engineering , geometry , combinatorics , operating system
An occupational preventive medicine program attempts to control exposure so workers experience no detrimental effect on health. In a chemically complex industry, the definition of exposure is difficult because of the many different chemicals used and produced, the many different jobs and processes with qualitatively different exposures, and the movement of workers from job to job. Jobs have therefore been grouped on the basis of process or product into functionally homogeneous categories called occupational titles (OT's). Work experience can now be quantified independent of exposure (or by the dominant toxicants in each OT) and compared to health outcomes. Examples are discussed of the application of OT's to studies of the mortality and morbidity experience in the rubber industry, and the development of dose-response relations.