TRANSLATING EVIDENCE ABOUT OCCUPATIONAL CONDITIONS INTO STRATEGIES FOR PREVENTION

Exposure to chemical, physical, and biological agents in theworkplace can result in adverse effectson workers ranging from simple discomfort and irritation to debilitating occupational diseasessuch as lung fibrosis, neuropathy, deafness, organ damage, and cancers of various sites. Such conditions result from excessive exposure and can only be avoided through adequate control meas-ures which will prevent or minimise exposure to harmful agents. The process by which evidence of hazardous occupational conditions and information on control methods is translated into actual implementation of control and prevention strategies to eliminate or dramatically reduce the hazard-ous exposure and associated health risk, is often the result of a subtle compromise between scientific evidence of varying degree of certainty, interest group lobbying, and feasibility considerations. c CONTROL STRATEGIES FOR OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS The development of control strategies for occupational hazards takes place at two levels: the societal level and workplace level. The information needs for these two levels can be quite different although there is some overlap.At the societal level, the control measures are usually through regulatory action. Regulatory action first requires strong scientific evidence that a harmful effect is caused by a particu-lar workplace agent. Information is then needed on possible exposure–effect relationships as well as a number of workplace demographics. At the workplace level information is needed on the nature of the hazard, where it is likely to be encountered, and the available options for risk reduction. Scientifi