EVOLUTION OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH PROGRAMS IN STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

Our plain-English summary of EVOLUTION OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH PROGRAMS IN STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, by H. Heimann, V.M. Trasko (Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1896), 1964).

The study

• Authors: H. Heimann, V.M. Trasko
• Journal: Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1896)
• Published: 1964;79(11):942-7
• Read it: PubMed · Free full text

In plain English

This 1964 article was a historical review, not a research study. The authors, from the U.S. Public Health Service Division of Occupational Health, described how state and local government occupational health programs in the United States developed from the turn of the century to 1964. The article does not mention asbestos. It discussed other hazards, such as silicosis, lead poisoning, radiation and air pollution. The authors reported that by 1945 there were 47 such units in 38 States, and that professional staff reached 425 during 1947 to 1950, an all-time high at that time. At the time of writing, 81 units operated in 41 States and Puerto Rico and in 36 local health departments, and nine States had no identifiable program. Staff totaled 681 professionals, almost 200 more than in 1959. Environmental staff made up 80 percent of the total professional staff, and medical and nursing personnel made up 12 percent. On average there were 108,200 nonagricultural workers for each occupational health staff member. The authors concluded that current staffs were totally inadequate and that the need to strengthen these units was as strong as ever.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Historical review (narrative account) of the development of government occupational health programs; not an original research study
• Who was studied: State and local government occupational (industrial) health units in the United States, from about 1905 to 1964; at the time of writing, 81 units in 41 States and Puerto Rico and in 36 local health departments
• Exposure: No specific exposure was studied, and asbestos is not mentioned. The article discusses occupational hazards that the programs dealt with, including silicosis, lead poisoning, radiation, air pollution and agricultural chemicals.
• Main results:
  • By 1945, 47 jurisdictional units were engaged in industrial hygiene in 38 States
  • During the period of earmarked federal grants (1947 to 1950), professional personnel in these units reached 425, an all-time high at that time
  • At the time of writing, nine States had no identifiable occupational health program
  • The units employed 681 professional personnel, an increase of almost 200 since 1959. The authors attributed this increase almost entirely to hiring for radiological health work.
  • The composition of professional staff was mainly environmental, accounting for 80 percent of the total professional staffs
  • Medical and nursing personnel made up 12 percent of staff at the time of writing, down from as much as one-third at one time
  • The average number of nonagricultural employees per occupational health staff member was 108,200 across all units, ranging from 23,400 in Vermont to 724,000 in Illinois
  • Coverage of the labor force was substantially less than the roughly 10 percent reached in the 1940s, because at least 20 units carried on only minimal activity
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the need to strengthen state occupational health units was as strong as ever, and that current staffs were totally inadequate for a fast-growing industrial labor force

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