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Standard setting in occupational health: “Philosophical” issues
Author(s) -
Zielhuis Reinier L.,
Wibowo Anton A.E.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.4700160509
Subject(s) - medicine , agency (philosophy) , confidentiality , government (linguistics) , occupational medicine , occupational safety and health , occupational exposure , public health , public relations , environmental health , nursing , law , pathology , social science , sociology , political science , linguistics , philosophy
This paper discusses various “philosophical” issues in standard setting in occupational and environmental health, i.e., general principles, actual procedures for standard setting, inter‐ and intra‐agency discrepancies in procedures and criteria, and choices and decisions in the preparation of criteria documents and in the evaluation of the toxicology databases. Unpublished, possibly confidential information should be made available to expert committees, workers, and the general public. There is an urgent need to improve the validity of the toxicology databases that have to underpin occupational and environmental exposure limits. Standard setting requires various ethically loaded choices and decisions by experts, employees, managers, government officials, and politicians.