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Occupational cancer in Britain: Preventing occupational cancer

Although only a relatively small proportion of cancer is attributable to occupational exposure to carcinogenic agents, the estimated number of deaths due to occupational cancer is high when compared to other deaths due to work-related ill health and injury. However, risk from occupational exposure t...

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Autores principales: Chen, Yiqun, Osman, John
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3400528/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22710673
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2012.125
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author Chen, Yiqun
Osman, John
author_facet Chen, Yiqun
Osman, John
author_sort Chen, Yiqun
collection PubMed
description Although only a relatively small proportion of cancer is attributable to occupational exposure to carcinogenic agents, the estimated number of deaths due to occupational cancer is high when compared to other deaths due to work-related ill health and injury. However, risk from occupational exposure to carcinogens can be minimised through proportionate but effective risk management. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the regulator of workplace health and safety in Great Britain. As part of its aim to reduce ill health arising from failures to control properly exposure to hazards at work, HSE commissioned the research presented elsewhere in this supplement to enable it to identify priorities for preventing occupational cancer. The research has shown that occupational cancer remains a key health issue and that low-level exposure of a large number of workers to carcinogens is important. The finding that a small number of carcinogens have been responsible for the majority of the burden of occupational cancer provides key evidence in the development of priorities for significant reduction of occupational cancer. Although the research presented in this supplement reflects the consequences of past exposures to carcinogens, occupational cancer remains a problem. The potential for exposure to the agents considered in this research is still present in the workplace and the findings are relevant to prevention of future disease. In this article, the principle approaches for risk reduction are described. It provides supporting information on some of the initiatives already being undertaken, or those being put in place, to reduce occupational cancer in Great Britain. The need also for systematic collection of exposure information and the importance of raising awareness and changing behaviours are discussed.
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spelling pubmed-34005282012-07-20 Occupational cancer in Britain: Preventing occupational cancer Chen, Yiqun Osman, John Br J Cancer Full Paper Although only a relatively small proportion of cancer is attributable to occupational exposure to carcinogenic agents, the estimated number of deaths due to occupational cancer is high when compared to other deaths due to work-related ill health and injury. However, risk from occupational exposure to carcinogens can be minimised through proportionate but effective risk management. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the regulator of workplace health and safety in Great Britain. As part of its aim to reduce ill health arising from failures to control properly exposure to hazards at work, HSE commissioned the research presented elsewhere in this supplement to enable it to identify priorities for preventing occupational cancer. The research has shown that occupational cancer remains a key health issue and that low-level exposure of a large number of workers to carcinogens is important. The finding that a small number of carcinogens have been responsible for the majority of the burden of occupational cancer provides key evidence in the development of priorities for significant reduction of occupational cancer. Although the research presented in this supplement reflects the consequences of past exposures to carcinogens, occupational cancer remains a problem. The potential for exposure to the agents considered in this research is still present in the workplace and the findings are relevant to prevention of future disease. In this article, the principle approaches for risk reduction are described. It provides supporting information on some of the initiatives already being undertaken, or those being put in place, to reduce occupational cancer in Great Britain. The need also for systematic collection of exposure information and the importance of raising awareness and changing behaviours are discussed. Nature Publishing Group 2012-06-19 2012-06-19 /pmc/articles/PMC3400528/ /pubmed/22710673 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2012.125 Text en Copyright © 2012 Cancer Research UK https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
spellingShingle Full Paper
Chen, Yiqun
Osman, John
Occupational cancer in Britain: Preventing occupational cancer
title Occupational cancer in Britain: Preventing occupational cancer
title_full Occupational cancer in Britain: Preventing occupational cancer
title_fullStr Occupational cancer in Britain: Preventing occupational cancer
title_full_unstemmed Occupational cancer in Britain: Preventing occupational cancer
title_short Occupational cancer in Britain: Preventing occupational cancer
title_sort occupational cancer in britain: preventing occupational cancer
topic Full Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3400528/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22710673
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2012.125
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