Maryland is reestablishing a foundation for occupational disease surveillance within the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH). This proposal would create the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Surveillance Project (OHSSP). The project would strengthen current occupational disease reporting requirements, and promote occupational disease surveillance as an integral component of a comprehensive occupational and environmental health surveillance program within DHMH.
The specific aims of this proposal are to: (1) Create a permanent occupational disease surveillance structure within DHMH, that will actively promote occupational health and safety surveillance generally and within targeted occupational sectors of the State;(2) Strengthen the pre-existing relationships of the occupational disease surveillance system with the State's asthma control program, cancer control program, and environmental public health tracking (EPHT) program;(3) Integrate activities within DHMH, the Maryland Department of Environment, the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health program, and local health departments that address indoor air quality programs in workplaces;and (4) Link occupational disease surveillance activities with ongoing occupational disease prevention efforts of MOSH and the State. The project makes innovative use of a new environmental public health tracking infrastructure to integrate environmental and occupational disease surveillance within the DHMH Center for Environmental Health Coordination, creating opportunities for close collaboration and the use of new geographic information systems resources in occupational health.
