Occupational epidemiology involves the application of epidemiologic methods to populations of workers. Occupational epidemiologic studies may involve looking at workers exposed to a variety of chemical, biological or physical (e.g., noise, heat, radiation) agents to determine if the exposures result in the risk of adverse health outcomes. Alternatively, epidemiologic studies may involve the evaluation of workers with a common adverse health outcome to determine if an agent or set of agents may explain their disease.

There are currently no specific OSHA standards for occupational epidemiology. However, a variety of hazards are addressed in specific standards for OSHA access to employee medical records, recordkeeping, general industry, shipyard employment, and the construction industry.

OSHA Standards

This section highlights OSHA standards, Federal Registers (rules, proposed rules, and notices) and directives (instructions for compliance officers) related to occupational epidemiology.

Note: Twenty-five states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have OSHA-approved State Plans and have adopted their own standards and enforcement policies. For the most part, these States adopt standards that are identical to Federal OSHA. However, some States have adopted different standards applicable to this topic or may have different enforcement policies.

Recording and reporting occupational injuries and illness (29 CFR 1904). Prescribes that employers covered under this act maintain records of job-related injuries and illnesses to allow for developing information regarding the causes and prevention of occupational accidents and illnesses, and for maintaining a program of collection, compilation, and analysis of occupational safety and health statistics. [related topic page]

Rules Concerning OSHA Access to Employee Medical Records (29 CFR 1913)

• 1913.10, Rules of agency practice and procedure concerning OSHA access to employee medical records. Allows OSHA access to employee medical records that may be needed for epidemiological studies.

General Industry (29 CFR 1910)

• 1910 Subpart Z, Toxic and hazardous substances [related topic page]
  • 1910.1001, Asbestos [related topic page]
    • 1910.1001(m)(1)(iii)
  • 1910.1017, Vinyl chloride
    • 1910.1017(m)(2)(i)(C)
  • 1910.1018, Inorganic arsenic [related topic page]
    • 1910.1018(q)(1)(iii) 
  • 1910.1020, Access to employee exposure and medical records. Applies to general industry, maritime, and construction employers. The employer is responsible to maintain records for each employee for at least the duration of employment plus thirty (30) years.
    
    
  • 1910.1025, Lead [related topic page]
    • 1910.1025(n)(1)(iii)
  • 1910.1026, Chromium (VI) [related topic page]
    
    
  • 1910.1027, Cadmium [related topic page]
    • 1910.1027(n)(3)(iii)
  • 1910.1028, Benzene [related topic page]
    • 1910.1028(k)(1)(iii)
  • 1910.1029, Coke oven emissions
    • 1910.1029(m)(1)(ii)
  • 1910.1030, Bloodborne pathogens [related topic page]
    • 1910.1030(h)(1)(iv)
  • 1910.1044, 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane
    • 1910.1044(p)(1)(iii)
  • 1910.1045, Acrylonitrile
    • 1910.1045(q)(2)(iii)
  • 1910.1047, Ethylene oxide [related topic page]
    • 1910.1047(k)(2)(iii)
  • 1910.1048, Formaldehyde [related topic page]
    • 1910.1048(o)(5)(ii)
  • 1910.1050, Methylenedianiline
    • 1910.1050(n)(3)(iii)
  • 1910.1051, 1,3-Butadiene [related topic page]
    • 1910.1051(m)(2)(iii) 
  • 1910.1052, Methylene chloride [related topic page]
    • 1910.1052(m)(2)(iv) 
  • 1910.1450, Occupational exposure to hazardous chemicals in laboratories. Monitoring and recordkeeping was mandated because of epidemiologic concerns.

Shipyard Employment (29 CFR 1915)

• 1915 Subpart Z, Hazardous and toxic substances
  • 1915.1001, Asbestos
    • 1915.1001(n)(2)(iii)
  • 1915.1026, Chromium (VI)

Construction Industry (29 CFR 1926)

• 1926 Subpart D, Occupational health and environmental controls
  • 1926.60, Methylenedianiline
    • 1926.60(o)(4)(iii)
  • 1926.62, Lead
    • 1926.62(n)(4)(ii)
      
• 1926 Subpart Z, Toxic and hazardous substances
  • 1926.1101, Asbestos
    • 1926.1101(n)(2)(iii)
  • 1926.1126, Chromium (VI)
  • 1926.1127, Cadmium
    • 1926.1127(n)(l)(iii)

Federal Registers

• Occupational Exposure to Hexavalent Chromium. Final Rules 71:10099-10385, (2006, February 28).
  
  
• Occupational Exposure to Tuberculosis; Proposed Rule; Termination of Rulemaking Respiratory Protection for M. Tuberculosis; Final Rule; Revocation. Proposed Rules 68:75767-75775, (2003, December 31).
  
  
• Search all available Federal Registers.

Directives

• OSHA Support of NIOSH "FACE" Program. CPL 02-00-134 [CPL 2.96], (2004, January 26). Describes NIOSH FACE research study, which focuses on case identification and epidemiologic investigation of fatal occupational injuries as a result of falls, electrocutions, and confined spaces. Provides guidelines for the cooperation of OSHA with the NIOSH FACE Program.
  
  
• Search all available directives.

Hazard Recognition

Epidemiology has been defined as the study of the distribution and determinants of health related states or events in specified populations, and the application of this study, to the prevention and control of health problems (Last, 1988). Thus, epidemiologists are concerned not only with studying health, disease and death but also with devising means to prevent illness and improve health.

• Beaglehole, R., R. Bonita, and T. Kjellstrom. Basic Epidemiology. Geneva: World Health Organization, 1993.
  
  
• Last, J.M. A Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
  
  
• Levy, Barry S., et al. Occupational Health: Recognizing and Preventing Work-Related Disease, 5th ed. Beverly Farms, MA: Occupational & Environmental Medicine, 2006.
  
  
• Monson, R. R. Occupational Epidemiology. Boca Raton: CRC Press,  1990.
  
  
• Hernberg, S. Introduction to Occupational Epidemiology. Chelsea, MI: Lewis Publishing, 1992.
  
  
• Case Studies in Occupational Epidemiology. Steenland, K., ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.

Environmental epidemiology involves the use of epidemiologic tools to study communities that may be exposed to pollution, hazardous waste, radiation through air, water or food contamination.

• Steenland, K., and D. Savitz. Topics in Environmental Epidemiology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
  
  
• Kopfler, F.C., and G.F. Craun. Environmental Epidemiology. Chelsea, MI: Lewis Publishers, 1986.
  
  
• Goldsmith, J.R. Environmental Epidemiology. Boca Raton, LA: CRC Press, 1986.
  
  
• Leaverton, P.E. Environmental Epidemiology. New York: Praeger, 1982.

Related Disciplines

• Biostatistics
  
  
• Vital Statistics
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    • CDC Wonder. A general-purpose public health information and communications system developed by CDC.
    • National Center for Health Statistics. CDC's National Center for vital statistics.
      
• Toxicology
  • How NTP Studies are Used to Protect Human Health. US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institute of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Toxicology Program (NTP).
  • Toxicological Profiles. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Provides toxicological information in an A-Z index including a Public Health Statement and ToxFAQs, a short information sheet on each hazardous substance.
  • NLM Toxicology Tutorials. National Library of Medicine, Environmental Health and Toxicology. Presents a set of 3 tutorials, covering basic principles of toxicology.
    • TOXNET. Includes databases on toxicology, hazardous chemicals, and related areas.
      
• Survey Design

Surveillance

Disease surveillance is the systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health data in order to detect, control, and prevent health problems. Epidemiologic surveillance is the macroscopic surveillance perspective, carried out primarily by public health agencies on a statewide or nationwide basis. These efforts seek to identify and quantify illness, injury or excessive exposure, and monitor trends in their occurrence across different industry types, over time, and between geographic areas. Medical surveillance, by contradistinction, focuses its surveillance components on the hazards and potential hazards of a particular workplace, company or group of workers.

• Halperin, W., E.L. Baker, and R. Monson. Public Health Surveillance. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1992.
  
  
• Ordin, DL. "Surveillance, Monitoring, and Screening in Occupational Health." Public Health and Preventive Medicine, 13th ed. Last, J.M. and R.B. Wallace, eds. Stanford, CT: Appleton and Lange, 1992.

Federal-based data

• 10 CFR 851: Worker Safety and Health Program. US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Health, Safety and Security.
  • Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource. Provides access to the public-use repository of data from occupational and environmental health studies of workers at DOE facilities and nearby community residents.

State-based data

• Utah Hospital Discharge Query System – Descriptive Statistics. Utah Department of Health, Office of Health Care Statistics. Query the database for results based on number of discharges, average length of stay, average total charges and types of injuries as well as other data collected.

Data Sets

Mortality

• Occupational Mortality in Washington State 1950 - 1989. US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Publication No. 96-133, (1997, March). Also available as 1 MB PDF, 181 pages. Provides occupational and cause-of-death information on 588,090 Washington State male deaths for 1950-1989 and 88,071 female deaths for 1974-1989 and was analyzed using an age and year-of-death standardized proportionate mortality ratio program. A detailed cause-of-death analysis (161 causes) is published for each of 219 occupational categories for males and for each of 68 occupational categories for females.

Morbidity

• Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities. US Department of Labor (DOL), Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Provides data on illnesses and injuries on the job and data on worker fatalities.
  
  
• National Health Interview Survey. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Health Statistics.
  • National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
  • FASTSTATS from A - Z on Occupational Health
    
• Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Gives access to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the world’s largest, on-going telephone health survey system, tracking health conditions and risk behaviors in the United States yearly since 1984.

Methods

For information on general, occupational, and environmental epidemiology methods, please see Occupational Epidemiology References.

Additional Information

Related Safety and Health Topics Pages

• Hazard Communication
  
  
• Healthcare
  
  
• Injury and Illness Recordkeeping
  
  
• Multiple Chemical Sensitivities
  
  
• NIOSH/OSHA/DOE Health Guidelines
  
  
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
  
  
• Respiratory Protection
  
  
• Ventilation

Biological Exposure

• Anthrax
  
  
• Asbestos
  
  
• Asphalt Fumes
  
  
• Biological Agents
  
  
• Bloodborne Pathogens and Needlestick Prevention
  
  
• Botulism
  
  
• Carcinogens
  
  
• Hantavirus
  
  
• Mold
  
  
• Occupational Asthma
  
  
• Plague
  
  
• Ricin
  
  
• Smallpox
  
  
• Tuberculosis
  
  
• Tularemia
  
  
• Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (VHFs)

Chemical Exposure

• Arsenic
  
  
• Benzene
  
  
• Beryllium
  
  
• 1,3-Butadiene
  
  
• Cadmium
  
  
• Diesel Exhaust
  
  
• Ethylene Oxide
  
  
• Formaldehyde
  
  
• Hazardous and Toxic Substances
  
  
• Hazardous Waste
  
  
• Hexavalent Chromium
  
  
• Indoor Air Quality
  
  
• Isocyanates
  
  
• Latex Allergy
  
  
• Lead
  
  
• Legionnaires' Disease
  
  
• Mercury
  
  
• Methylene Chloride
  
  
• Nitrous Oxide
  
  
• Silica, Crystalline
  
  
• Styrene
  
  
• Toxic Metals
  
  
• Waste Anesthetic Gases

Physical Exposure

• Extremely Low Frequency Radiation (ELF) Radiation
  
  
• Ionizing Radiation
  
  
• Non-Ionizing Radiation
  
  
• Occupational Heat Exposure
  
  
• Occupational Noise Exposure
  
  
• Radiation
  
  
• Radiofrequency and Microwave Radiation
  

Training

Programs in Occupational Epidemiology

• Association of Schools of Public Health

Conferences/Short Courses

• NIOSH Teaching Epidemiology in Occupational Health. Cincinnati, (1997).

Other Resources

Federal Government Programs

• A to Z List of Cancers. National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health.
  • Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER). Provides cancer statistics, other statistical resources and stat fact sheets.
    
• Studies. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Epidemiology Branch. Provides an A to Z index of current studies including Agricultural Health Study, Farming and Movement Evaluation Study, and Farmworkers Health Study.
  
  
• Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource (CEDR). US Department of Energy (DOE). Provides occupational epidemiologic studies conducted at many nuclear weapons plants, such as Hanford, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Rocky Flats, and Savannah River. They include data from cohort and case-control design studies, many of which have individual-level radiation exposure measurements.

State Government Programs

• Division of Disease Control and Environmental Epidemiology. Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Provides information to track, control and prevent communicable diseases and other conditions in Colorado to reduce illness and premature deaths.
  
  
• Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheets. State of New Jersey, Department of Health and Senior Services (NJDHSS). Provides a collection of documents on individual hazardous chemicals. Each sheet contains acute and chronic health hazards, identification, workplace exposure limits, medical tests, workplace controls and practices, personal protective equipment, handling and storage, questions and answers, definitions, and emergency response information for fires, spills and first aid.
  • Surveillance Unit Publications. Occupational Health and Surveillance Program.

International and Private Organizations

• Health Topics. World Health Organization (WHO). Provides extensive A to Z index of health topics with links to related publications.
  • Publications. Includes link to the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS).
    
• Topics List. Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Includes links to Topics pages, announcements, books, other resources, periodical publications and technical documents.

Journals

• Epi-Monitor
  
  
• American Journal of Epidemiology
  
  
• American Journal of Industrial Medicine
  
  
• International Journal of Epidemiology

Software

• Epi Info™ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Software Download. Offers free software for download that is available on the internet to assist in epidemiological studies.

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