Occupational health and safety: Role of academic institutions

The occupational disease burden is growing at an unprecedented rate. The profile of occupational diseases has also changed over the period of time as a result of modernization, market liberalization and globalization which now encompasses minor allergy and injuries, systemic infections and diseases as well as the life-threatening leukemia and cancers. Trained human resources in the field of occupational health and safety are far below the requirement. Training in the area of occupational health and industrial medicine is not keeping pace with the changing industrial growth and technologies. There is an urgent need for strengthening skills, developing newer competencies and broadening our knowledge in occupational health and safety and disaster management. Traditional training in occupational health, needs to be supplemented with techniques of environmental epidemiology, environmental impact assessment and environmental risk assessment. The academic community should take the first step in demonstrating its leadership to address the long neglected concerns of occupational health and safety.

Keywords
Academic institutions and India, industrial medicine, occupational health, training