OSH vigilance
Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) vigilance, being alert to new risks by work is a continuation of the Heijermans Lecture on December 14, 2007 on the same topic. Continuous changes in work and working conditions can induce new occupational health risks and possible new occupational diseases.
Research shows that social partners and government need early, specific knowledge on new risks. Where knowledge about new risks is lacking, opportunities for intervention and prevention might be missed. Although much effort is put into risk assessment of the risks of new technologies, it seems wise to complement this by looking at emerging of new and unwanted side effects of work on health.
This theme report defines new OSH risk according to the definition of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work:
• the risk was previously unknown and is caused by new processes, new technologies, new types of workplace, or social or organisational change; or,
• a long-standing issue is newly considered as a risk due to a change in social or public perceptions (e.g. stress, bullying); or,
• new scientific knowledge allows a long-standing issue to be identified as a risk
In society the interest in faster and better detection of new occupational health risks has grown in the last ten years. The identification of new risks is a process with many uncertainties, always balanced between a proactive and prudent approach. The challenge is to prevent health damage from work early without creating unnecessary turmoil. The report sets out the various possibilities for new possibilities to identify new occupational health risks.
