Chapter60-SafetyProgrammesOCCUPATIONALSAFETYRESEARCH:ANOVERVIEWHerbertI.LinnandAlfredA.AmendolaOccupationalsafetyresearchisthestudyoftheincidence,characteristics,causesandpreventionofworkplaceinjury.BeginningwiththepioneeringworkofJohnGordon(1949)andWilliamHaddon,Jr.(Haddon,SuchmanandKlein1964),andincreasinglyinthe1980sand1990s,injuryhasbeenviewedasapublichealthproblemtowhichthepublichealthapproach,historicallysuccessfulagainstdisease,couldbeapplied.Epidemiology,thescienceofpublichealth,hasbeenappliedtoinjury,includingoccupationalinjury.Theepidemiologicalmodeldescribestherelationshipbetweentheagent(theenvironmentalentityorphenomenonthatisthenecessarycauseofthediseaseorinjury),thehost(theaffectedperson)andtheenvironment.Itsadaptationtothestudyofworkplaceinjurycamelargelythroughtheinsightsoftwoseminalfiguresininjuryresearch,JamesJ.Gibson(1961)andlaterHaddon(Haddon,SuchmanandKlein1964).Haddonrecognizedthatthevariousformsofenergy—me-chanical,thermal,radiant,chemicalorelectrical—werethe“agents”ofinjury,analogoustothemicro-organismsthatcauseinfectiousillnesses.Researchersandpractitionersfrommultipledisciplines—primarilyepidemiology,engineering,ergonomics,biomechanics,behaviouralpsychology,safetymanagementandindustrialhygiene—areengagedinthestudyofthefactorsassociatedwiththeworker(thehost);theenvironment;thetypeandsourceofenergyinvolved(theagent);andthetools,machinesandtasks(thevehicles)thatcombinetocauseorcontributetoworkplaceinjury.TwoComplementaryApproaches:PublicHealthandSafetyAnalysisThepublichealthapproachisonemodelwhichprovidesaframeworkforoccupationalsafetyresearch.Thepublichealthapproachinvolves:·theidentification,characterizationanddescriptionofinjurycases,hazardsandexposuresthroughsurveillance·thein-depthanalysisofspecifiedinjuryproblemsinspecifiedworkerpopulationsinordertoidentify,quantifyandcompareriskandcausalfactors·theidentificationanddevelopmentofpreventionstrategiesandinterventions·theevaluationofpreventivestrategiesinlaboratoryandfieldexperiments·thecommunicationofinformationonriskandthedevelopmentofstrategiesandprogrammesforreducingriskandpreventinginjuries.Ideally,workplacesafetyproblemsmaybeidentifiedandsolvedsystematicallybymeansofthisprocess.Safetyanalysisisanotherrelevantmodelforaddressingworkplaceinjury.Safetyanalysishasbeendefinedas“asystematicexaminationofthestructureandfunctionsofasystemaimingatidentifyingaccidentcontributors,modellingpotentialaccidents,andfindingrisk-reducingmeasures”(Suokas1988).Itisanengineering-orientedapproachwhichinvolvestheconsiderationofpotentialsystemfailures(oneoutcomeofwhichcouldbeworkerinjury)duringthedesignorevaluationofprocesses,equipment,tools,tasksandworkenvironments.Thismodelpresupposesanabilitytoanalyseandunderstandtheinteractionsamongcomponentsofworkplacesystemsinordertopredictpossiblemodesoffailurebeforethesystemsareimplemented.Ideally,systemscanbemadesafeatthedesignstage,ratherthanmodifiedafterinjuryordamagehasalreadyoccurred.ThePublicHealthApproachtoOccupationalSafetyResearchThefieldofoccupationalsafetyresearchisevolvingasdifferentapproachesandperspectives,suchasepidemiologyandengineering,mergetocreatenewmethodsforevaluatinganddocumentingworkplacehazards,andtherebyidentifyingpossiblestrategiesforpreventionThisarticlediscussesthepublichealthapproachtooccupationalsafetyresearch,andtheareaswheresafet...
