Occupational disease concerns will grow as the workforce ages
"Show me the money." That's what more and more employers are saying to industrial hygienists today. "Where are the savings? Prove your value to the company." This is easier said than done. And as a result, industrial hygienists intent on advancing their careers are adding safety, environmental protection, workers' compensation, and other activities to their job duties. But I don't rest easy with experienced industrial hygienists accepting major new responsibilities. Why? With every new duty taken on, an equal amount of attention to industrial hygiene is lost. That's because there is often no one else picking up the slack.
This is short-sighted, considering that more than 60,000 people die annually from occupational diseases. This figure comes from the study, "Occupational Injury and Illness in the United States: Estimates of Costs, Morbidity and Mortality," which appeared in the July, 1997, issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.