This application proposes establishment of a Fundamental-Plus Surveillance Program for occupational health and safety.
The aims of this application are to provide ongoing collection and analysis of the 20 occupational health indicators and to explore existing data sources to identify research and prevention priorities for informing partners, stakeholders, policy makers, and the public about leading causes of morbidity and mortality related to occupational injuries and illnesses in Georgia. The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) proposes to maintain surveillance of occupational injuries, illnesses, and hazards in Georgia and to conduct outreach activities on work-related blood lead exposures; establish a comprehensive work-related pesticide poisoning surveillance program in Southwest Georgia; and conduct a statewide Worksite Wellness Survey. The Occupational Health Surveillance project will collect the 20 indicators recommended by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologist (CSTE). DPH Occupational Health Surveillance (OH) program will leverage the use of existing and non-traditional data sources, such the Georgia Violent Death Reporting System and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. These data sources will contribute to state and local prevention efforts and add to national data regarding the magnitude and trends of occupational health morbidity and mortality. Additionally, Georgia will conduct surveillance for two state-specific indicators, secondhand smoke exposure and arthritis among employees. The surveillance program will meet regularly with the established OH Advisory Committee, representatives from key partner and stakeholder organizations and agencies. The Georgia OH program will operate based on the successful collaboration with internal and external partners, such as Environmental Health, Georgia Poison Center, and the Worksite Health Initiative. An epidemiologist will systematically collect, analyze, and interpret the relevat data and summarize the information in reports and data summaries to be shared with stakeholders and published on DPH website. A Healthcare Worker will be hired to assist with the collection of data and blood-lead exposure outreach activities.
The purpose of the surveillance program is to provide data that will quantify and characterize leading causes of work-related injury and illness in Georgia as well as conduct in-depth investigations and intervention activities on a state-identified priority research project. Data from this surveillance inform programs, policies, and prevention efforts on issues that focus on the health and safety of Georgia's workers.
