State health agencies play a critical role in public health surveillance. This role has expanded well beyond the traditional areas of infectious disease and now includes a broad range of health conditions and hazards. Surveillance systems for occupational injuries, illnesses, and hazards have not been as widely or systematically implemented despite the enormous toll of work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths. A strategic surveillance goal of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is to strengthen the capacity of state health departments to conduct occupational surveillance and related prevention activities. The purpose of this project is to enhance the capacity of the Minnesota Department of Health to promote occupational health and safety through surveillance of a core set of occupational health indicators and dissemination of the findings to appropriate state holders for use in setting priorities for education and prevention activities. The major aims of this program include: (1) Develop a broad profile of occupational health in Minnesota through the assessment of 21 Occupational Health Indicators; (2) Collaborate with agencies, organizations, and individuals who can provide and/or utilize occupational surveillance data; (3) Develop and implement strategies to disseminate and publish surveillance data; (4) Collaborate with the Minnesota Asthma Program to implement strategies for education and prevention of work-related asthma; (5) Establish and maintain an advisory group; (6) Collect, analyze, and evaluate indicators of the rates and costs of serious agricultural injuries in Minnesota; (7) Analyze and evaluate data from the MN BRFSS program to identify relationships between employment in specific industries and occupations and various health behaviors and conditions; and (8) Collaborate with occupational health programs in Iowa and Wisconsin to identify issues, priorities, and potential prevention activities common to the Upper Midwest.
Public health surveillance is one of the critical components of public health and is defined as the ongoing, systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of data essential to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice. This program will greatly expand the range of occupational health surveillance in Minnesota and facilitate the dissemination of these data for use in prevention and evaluation.
| Norlien, Kathleen G; Landsteiner, Adrienne; Carlson, Angeline (2017) Occupational Health Survey of Cosmetologists in Minnesota. J Environ Health 79:8-14 |
| Landsteiner, Adrienne M K; McGovern, Patricia M; Alexander, Bruce H et al. (2015) Incidence Rates and Trend of Serious Farm-Related Injury in Minnesota, 2000-2011. J Agromedicine 20:419-26 |
