Aim of special session Continuous changes in work are followed by the rise of new occupational health risks and possibly new work-related diseases, which remain difficult to detect and prevent. Hence, new agents are constantly being introduced at the workplace, with no clear assessment of long-term health risks. Consequently, the detection of new occupational risks requires specific additional instruments to those already in use for monitoring known work-related diseases. The method of choice might be influenced by the type of disease and its prevalence in the (risk) population. In the case of a rare disease with a high etiological fraction, spontaneous reporting by a large group of physicians or workers in a sentinel or alert system would be a good monitoring instrument. These alert systems can forecast and signal adverse effects on health, providing time for response in order to minimalize their impact.

Presenters: Jelena Bakusic1, Annet Lenderink2, Stefania Curti3

¹KU Leuven, Centre for Environment and Health, Leuven, Belgium

²Netherlands Centre for Occupational Diseases, Amsterdam, Netherlands

³Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologny, Italy