NIOSH study IDs prevention strategies for work-related infectious disease
The same hierarchy of controls framework used to prevent workplace injuries can help reduce the incidence or spread of infectious diseases that result from exposures at work. That is one of the key findings of a study just published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), whose researchers reviewed nearly a decade’s worth of infectious disease investigations in workplaces across the U.S. to better understand the range of cases, the risk factors for workers, and the ways to prevent infectious disease transmission on the job.
“The cases we reviewed allowed us to identify a range of diseases, specific settings and activities that are at an increased risk for certain infectious diseases, and employee and workplace factors that often facilitate transmission of the disease,” said Marie A. de Perio, MD, one of the lead authors of the study. “We then used this information to highlight effective prevention and control measures that should be taken into account at worksites in order to prevent the spread of disease.”