Occupational Disease as the Bane of Workers’ Lives: A Chronological Review of the Literature and Study of Its Development in Slovakia. Part 1

Miriama Piňosová,Marek Moravec,Miroslav Badida,Miriam Andrejiova

doi:10.3390/ijerph18115910

Abstract

This article not only offers a chronological overview of the development of occupational medicine, but also offers a summary of occupational diseases recommended by the ILO and legislative decisions that have influenced how we approach assessment today. We consider that these areas form a whole in which they cannot function without each other and they would lose their relevance if the system was collapsed. By excluding even one part of it, we would find ourselves at the beginning of the era of occupational medicine, and a large number of employees would once again be exposed to conditions that previously led to considerable illness and mortality of employees. The article also examines legislation and the development of occupational diseases in Slovakia in the period 1997–2019. Using basic statistical methods and time series, a trend model for the time series of the development of the number of occupational diseases over the last 20 years is created. The modeling also includes a forecast for the development of the number of occupational diseases for the next 5 years. The model created shows a favorable, decreasing trend in the number of occupational diseases in Slovakia.

Highlights

Occupational medicine is unique among medical fields because it focuses on the interface of the workplace and health
Under the Protocol of 2002 to the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No 155), the term occupational disease covers “any disease contracted as a result of exposure to risk factors arising from work activity” [33]
Already at the earliest historical stages of the development and life of society, many important representatives of medicine were interested in the social aspects of health care; for example, Hippocrates (460–370 BCE), who provides the first recorded mention of occupational diseases, describing dust in the lungs of stoneworkers and metalworkers; Aristotle (384–322 BCE); and Avicenna (CE 980–1037)

Summary

Introduction

Occupational medicine is unique among medical fields because it focuses on the interface of the workplace and health. A healthy working environment is very important for economic and social development at the global and national levels. The occurrence of occupational diseases is a very important indicator of the quality of working conditions and the working environment. The aim of occupational hygiene is to ensure safety, health and well-being in the workplace and to evaluate, prevent and control the risks related to the performance of work. Important occupational health problems that need to be addressed at the global level include inherent chemical, biological, physical, ergonomic and psychosocial risks. Health protection at work is a multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral area that needs to be seen in the context of a country’s history and development. Lead Poisoning and Lead Absorption: The Symptoms, Pathology and Prevention, with Special Reference to their Industrial Origin and an Account of the Principle Processes Involving Risk (1912)

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