Priority diseases and goals
Noise induced hearing loss
Cancer
Contact dermatitis
Respiratory diseases including asthma
Infectious and parasitic diseases
Mental disorders
Cardiovascular disease
All occupational disease
Priority disease: Noise induced hearing loss
Goal
Improved noise hazard management.
Performance indicators
- Compliance with noise regulations;
- Reduction in the rates and incidence of noise induced hearing loss (NIHL).
Strategies
- Increase awareness of NIHL and noise control measures;
- Provide compliance support and guidance for workplaces on the management of noise hazards;
- Enforce noise regulations in target industries.
Priority disease: Cancer
Goal
Improved management of carcinogens (substances causing cancer) in the workplace.
Performance indicators
- Compliance with exposure standards.
Strategies
- Increase awareness of carcinogens in the workplace;
- Increase awareness of control measures to reduce exposures to carcinogens in the workplace;
- Enforce exposure standards.
Priority disease: Contact dermatitis
Goal
Improved management of skin irritants and allergens in the workplace.
Performance indicators
- Reduction in the rates and incidence of occupational dermatitis.
Strategies
- Research into the commonest causes of contact dermatitis;
- Increase awareness and knowledge of skin irritants and allergens in the workplace;
- Provide compliance support and guidance on reducing exposures to irritants and allergens in the workplace.
Priority disease: Respiratory diseases including asthma
Goal
Improved management of workplace asthmagens, silica, and other dusts and respiratory hazards in the workplace.
Performance indicators
- Reduction in the rates and incidence of occupational asthma and work-related respiratory diseases;
- Compliance with exposure standards.
Strategies
- Increase awareness of asthmagens and occupational asthma;
- Increase awareness of exposures to dust and other respiratory hazards in the workplace;
- Provide compliance support in relation to control measures for respiratory hazards;
- Enforce the hazardous substances and dangerous goods regulations.
Priority disease: Infectious and parasitic diseases
Goal
Improved management of biological hazards in the workplace.
Performance indicators
- Reduction in the rates and incidence of work-related infectious and parasitic diseases;
- Compliance with the Biological Hazards Code of Practice.
Strategies
- Increase awareness of vaccine-preventable diseases;
- Regulatory change to develop a Biological Hazards Code of Practice;
- Provide compliance support and guidance on managing biological hazards;
- Enforce risk management practices in the Biological Hazards Code of Practice.
Priority disease: Mental disorders 1
Goal
Improved management of psychosocial stressors in the workplace.
Performance indicators
- Reduction in the rates and incidence of work-related mental health disorders.
Strategies
- Increase awareness of psychosocial risk factors;
- Increase knowledge of controls to reduce psychosocial stressors in the workplace;
- Enforce the Code of Practice for the Prevention of Workplace Harassment.
Priority disease: Cardiovascular disease
Goal
Occupational risk factors for cardiovascular disease are incorporated into chronic disease and health
promotion initiatives.
Performance indicators
- Chronic disease and health promotion strategies in other agencies include workplace factors which impact on cardiovascular disease.
Strategies
- Increase awareness of cardiovascular risk factors in the workplace.
Priority disease: All occupational disease
Goal
Improved recognition and diagnosis of occupational disease.
Performance indicators
- Doctors are competent in recognising work related risk factors and diagnosing occupational
disease.
Strategies
- Increase awareness, knowledge and skills among doctors;
- Provide occupational disease information and content for other providers of medical education.
1 There is a separate Psychosocial Initiative which addresses the identification of stressors in the workplace through the use of risk assessment tools.
Other languages