In light of economic and workplace trends, the National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs approached the Institute of Medicine for a needs assessment that would characterize the current US workforce and work environment and forecast the demand, need, and supply of qualified occupational health and safety professionals. The goal was to identify gaps in safety and health training programs in the US that can be filled by either public or private programs and to identify the critical curriculum and skills needed for meeting these evolving concerns. The author reviewed changing economic and employment trends and correlated them to workplace injury and illness trends. Many of the occupations that are projected for the largest growth are also experiencing the largest number of injuries and illnesses with days away from work such as truckdrivers, nursing aides and orderlies, and cashiers. The paper concludes that in addition to adjusting academic programs to address economic and employment changes, there is a related need to motivate hazardous industries to establish safety and health programs and employ qualified professionals to lead them.
Learning Objectives: 1. Learn about economic and employment trends and their relationship to work-related injury and illness experience. 2. Review topics not currently addressed by academic occupational health and safety programs. 3. Discuss the need to motivate hazardous industries to establish health and safety programs and employ qualified professionals to lead them.
Keywords: Economic Analysis, Hazards
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Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
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