© 2005 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
COMMENTARY
Work related disorders
Occupational medicine at a turning point
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Prof. D Coggon
MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK; dnc@mrc.soton.ac.uk
The author replies
Keywords: occupational medicine; hypothesis; work related disorder; stress
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
I agree with Aaron Blair that it would be premature to assume that toxic chemical and physical hazards in the workplace are all under control. The continuing high incidence of disorders such as occupational asthma, contact dermatitis, and noise induced deafness, even in countries with well developed occupational health services, provides clear evidence that this is not the case. Thus, I am not suggesting that we should reduce the resource that we allocate to investigating and managing hazards of this type. However, I do believe that the classical approach to risk management may be quite inappropriate for much of the occupational illness that now challenges us in developed countries.
Both Aaron Blair and Vilma Santana highlight my suggestion that such disorders might usefully be addressed by attempting to modify cultural beliefs and expectations. This is certainly a possibility, but more important, I think, is the need for
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