Online reporting and assessing new occupational health risks in SIGNAAL

Abstract

Background Changes in work and working conditions continuously give rise to new work-related health risks. Without sufficient knowledge of these, opportunities for prevention and intervention may be missed. Aims To develop, implement and evaluate an online tool called SIGNAAL for reporting and assessment of new work-related health risks by occupational health physicians and experts in the Netherlands and Belgium. Methods Development and implementation of SIGNAAL to allow both easy and sufficient detailed reporting by occupational health physicians and structured and transparent assessment by occupational health experts. A new work-related health risk is defined as a work-related disease due to specific exposure in a specific work setting not described in the literature before. Results The online reporting and assessment tool proved to be a feasible means of reporting possible new combinations of health problems and exposures in the work situation. Eleven of the 15 cases reported until October 2014 were fully assessed: one was an entirely new work-related disease, four were known but uncommon work-related diseases, five were known but new in the reported work situation and one was a well-known work-related disease. Conclusions An online reporting system used in an occupational health setting can provide insight into new workrelated health risks by creating a structured way to gather, report and assess new combinations of health problems and exposure in the workplace.