Work related health issues

There is a lack of recognition of occupational diseases, especially occupational asthma. The population attributable risk (PAR) is the proportion of all cases of a condition due to a particular exposure. Research suggests that the PAR due to occupational exposure is 15% of new cases of adult onset asthma and 15% of cases of chronic obstructive airways disease. There is suggestive evidence for noise, shiftwork and psychosocial factors, such as low job control, impacting on heart disease with a PAR of 10-15% for cardiovascular disease. Cancer attributable to occupation is estimated at 11% of cancer cases in males and 2% of cancer cases in females (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer).

Zoonoses (diseases transmitted to humans from animals and birds) form the majority of emerging human infectious diseases (eg H5N1, SARS, Hendra virus and Australian bat lyssavirus) and the continued emergence of new zoonoses is likely.

The role of ototoxins (substances toxic to the ear and hearing apparatus) needs further research as it is contributes to hearing loss in the workplace.

National Priority Occupational Diseases and Population Attributable Risk (PAR) due to occupational exposure

Respiratory disease including asthma	15% of adult onset asthma and 15% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Cancer	11% in males, 2% in females (excludes non-melanoma skin cancer)
Contact dermatitis	14%
Infectious and parasitic diseases	4% Hepatitis B 3% Hepatitis C 5% Tuberculosis 14% Pneumococcal disease
Cardiovascular diseases	10-15% heart disease
Musculoskeletal disorders	37% of lower back pain
Mental disorders	4% of all deaths due to mental disorders
Noise induced hearing loss	Estimated to be 16% of adult onset hearing loss

The PAR is the proportion (often expressed as percentage) of all cases of a particular condition that is due to a particular exposure (or group of exposures). In this instance, the PAR of interest is the proportion (or percentage) of all disease in the community that is due to occupational exposures.