Occupational Safety and Health Surveillance in New York

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DESCRIPTION (provided by the applicant): This grant will enable the New York State (NYS) Department of Health (DOH) to establish an integrated program that will monitor the occupational health status of New Yorkers. Since NYS is large and has a diverse population, there is a wide spectrum of occupational fatalities, injuries and diseases that occur among the population. An integrated surveillance system will allow NYSDOH to gain insight into the populations being affected by these health issues which should then assist us in preventing future occupational diseases and injuries. We will continue to review existing data sources on occupational diseases and injuries to identify high-risk industries and occupations, as well as populations at an increased risk. Maintaining a core staff dedicated to occupational health surveillance and intervention will also enable NYSDOH to conduct rapid response to new or emerging occupational health issues, including terrorism events. NYSDOH currently oversees three occupational health registries mandated by law - the Heavy Metals Registry, the Occupational Lung Disease Registry and the Pesticide Poisoning Registry. Information from each of these registries is shared with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as part of national surveillance activities. NYSDOH has actively worked to enhance each registry's case ascertainment. This has involved an integrated approach addressing barriers among health care providers towards occupational disease reporting. Therefore, NYSDOH has conducted extensive outreach to increase awareness of the diseases and reporting regulations, knowledge of how to diagnose occupational diseases, and understanding of the purpose and functioning of public health surveillance systems. In addition, we have offered consultation and patient referral support through the NYS Occupational Health Clinic Network. We plan to translate these advances in case ascertainment into the development and implementation of measurable hazard prevention activities. Furthermore, by evaluating our activities and sharing this information with key stakeholders, we will be in a position to assist in improving occupational surveillance nationally.