MODULE 7: PSYCHOSOCIAL ISSUES AND OTHER MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS IN OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
SECTION 10: STANDARD SETTING IN OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH:
Introduction and Objectives
 

OBJECTIVES
By the end of this Section you should:
  1. understand the role of standards in occupational health;
  2. know the process of establishing standards in various international agencies and countries including South Africa;
  3. understand the differences between health based and feasibility based standards;
  4. know the debates involved in the process of standard setting.

INTRODUCTION:

The use of standards in occupational health dates back many decades. Standards are important in providing a guide to roleplayers on controls for protecting the health of exposed workers. However, as with most standards, the process involved in their developed determines the extent to which it is protective of the health of workers. In establishing standards, certain criteria need to be considered, processes need to be transparent and open for debate and embrace scientific rigour to the extent that the scientific knowledge exists. Standards can take various forms, and are not exclusively quantitative values.

REFERENCES:

  1. Occupational Health Southern Africa. Vol 5 No 3 May/Jun 1999: Tripartism and the development of guidelines for medical surveillance and standards of fitness - DF Barnes
  2. OSHA Standard setting process: http://www.osha.gov/OCIS/stand_dev.html
  3. ILO standards process: The ILO's standards.
  4. Principles and Methods for Evaluating the Toxicity of Chemicals. Part 1. Environmental Health Criteria 6. WHO, 1978.
  5. Zeilhuis RL and Wibowo AE. Standard setting in occupational health: "philosophical" issues. Am J Ind Med. 1989;16:569-598.
  6. Castleman BI, Ziem GE. Corporate influence on Theshold Limit Values. Am J Ind Med 1988; 13:531-559.
  7. Rappaport SM. Threshold limit values, Permissable Exposure Limits, and Feasibility: the basis for exposure limits in the United States. Am J Ind Med 1993; 23(683-694).