Occupational health in the 1990s

Our plain-English summary of Occupational health in the 1990s, by D.H. Wegman, L.J. Fine (Annual Review of Public Health, 1990).

The study

• Authors: D.H. Wegman, L.J. Fine
• Journal: Annual Review of Public Health
• Published: 1990;11:89-103
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 17 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Where have we come since the Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed in 1970? Have we made progress in this country toward "safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women?" Many hazardous exposures that were prevalent before the creation of NIOSH, OSHA, and MSHA have been reduced. Exposure to asbestos, coal dust, silica, lead, and cotton dust are common examples. Through OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard and state Right to Know laws as well as an increase in the dissemination of information, the average employer and worker today is better informed of specific hazards on the job, and more attentive to safety measures. However, the high toll of work related disease and injuries continues today.

In plain English

This article was a review, not an original study. Writing in 1990, the authors looked at occupational health in the United States since the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. They set out six areas they considered of primary importance for the 1990s. They wrote that exposures such as asbestos, coal dust, silica, lead and cotton dust had been reduced, but that the toll of work-related disease and injury continued. A table drew on OSHA sampling results from 1979-1988 and on the National Occupational Exposure Survey, which ran from 1981 to 1983. For asbestos, 4.0% of 12146 OSHA samples were above the Permissible Exposure Limit. Separately, the survey estimated 25,210 workers with full-time potential exposure to asbestos in the businesses it covered, which excluded health care. Most of the article dealt with other hazards. About 2 million workers were estimated to be exposed to continuous noise above 85 decibels. Reported repeated-trauma disorders rose from 22,600 in 1982 to 72,930 in 1987. The authors noted reporting problems in such data. They concluded there was reason for optimism.

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: Review and commentary on occupational health priorities for the 1990s; not an original study
• Who was studied: No study population. The article discusses the US workforce, drawing on federal and state OSHA sampling results (1979-1988) and the NIOSH National Occupational Exposure Survey (1981-1983), which excluded the health care industry
• Exposure: A broad range of workplace hazards: chemicals including asbestos, silica, lead and cotton dust, as well as noise, musculoskeletal strain and work organization. Asbestos is mentioned only briefly, as an exposure that had been reduced and as one entry in a table of exposure-limit exceedances.
• Main results:
  • For asbestos, 4.0% of 12146 federal and state OSHA samples were above the Permissible Exposure Limit and 7% were above half of it. Separately, the National Occupational Exposure Survey II estimated 25,210 workers with full-time potential exposure to asbestos, in the businesses sampled outside the health care industry. This survey estimate is not a count of workers above the limit.
  • The National Occupational Exposure Survey estimated that 2 million workers were exposed to continuous noise above 85 decibels
  • In the Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, reported disorders associated with repeated trauma more than tripled, from 22,600 in 1982 to 72,930 in 1987
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the 1990s held the promise of substantial gains in preventing occupational and work-related health problems, and that there was reason for optimism
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that the wide range of repeated-trauma incidence rates in manufacturing is due in part to reporting problems
  • The authors stated that the rise in cumulative trauma disorders might reflect changes in the work environment, or only increasing awareness and acceptance of such injuries

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: NIOSH, OSHA, MSHA.

Related studies

• Late industrial development and occupational health in southern Italy — G. Assennato, L. Bisceglia, et al. (2005)
• Protest and survive, the U.K. Construction Safety Campaign: a case study of workers' and victims' family action and legal and regulatory inaction on construction health and safety — M. Holder, T. O'Brien (2007)
• Occupational illnesses within two national data sets — J.P. Leigh, T.R. Miller (1998)
• Assessment of mortality in the construction industry in the United States, 1984-1986 — C. Robinson, F. Stern, et al. (1995)
• All-cause and cause specific mortality in a cohort of 20 000 construction workers; results from a 10 year follow up — V. Arndt, D. Rothenbacher, et al. (2004)
• Proportionate mortality among construction laborers — F. Stern, P. Schulte, et al. (1995)

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