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Notice to Readers: Occupational Health Indicators for Tracking
Work-Related Health Effects and Their Determinants
Experts in various fields of public health have developed proposed indicators to enhance public health surveillance. These indicators have been published in Indicators for Chronic Disease Surveillance, June
2000; State Injury Indicator Report January
2002;and Draft Environmental Public Health Indicators, August
2002. The indicators are measures of health or
factors associated with health in specified populations.
The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) Occupational Health Surveillance Work Group, a subcommittee of the Environmental/Occupational/Injury Committee, completed a set of proposed occupational
health indicators that can be used by states to track work-related adverse health effects and their determinants. Occupational health indicators provide information about a population's health status with respect to workplace factors that can influence health. These proposed indicators include measures of health endpoints (e.g., work-related disease or injury) and measures
of workplace factors associated with health (e.g., workplace exposures, hazards, and interventions). These indicators serve as a guide for states about the minimal level of occupational health surveillance activity. The indicators are intended to
bring
consistency to time-trend analyses and comparisons of occupational health status among states and to inform program
and policy development at the national, state, and local levels to protect worker safety and health.
The occupational health indicators were developed, with support from the National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health (NIOSH), by the workgroup, which included representatives of state labor and health agencies, CSTE, and
NIOSH. These indicators represent the consensus view of state and NIOSH representatives and are intended as an advisory to the states. The implementation of these indicators will depend on the availability of fiscal resources and epidemiologic capacity. During the next year, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, and Washington will pilot the
occupational health indicators to assess the data availability and the resources involved in implementing the indicators and to refine recommendations for standard data collection and presentation.
Additional information about the proposed occupational health indicators and publications from the CSTE
Occupational Health Surveillance Workgroup are available at
http://www.cste.org/occupationalhealth.htm.
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