Comparing injury and illness risk assessments for occupational hazards

One common framework for describing the evaluation and assessment of hazard s in the workplace includes the four steps of hazard identification, exposu re assessment, exposure-response modeling, and risk characterization (NAS, 1983). We discuss hazards for occupational injury and illness in light of t his framework, and we contrast the evaluation of injury hazards with the ev aluation of illness hazards. In particular, the nature of the hazards, typi cal exposure patterns, quantification of exposure, and the attribution of o utcome to exposure are discussed. Finally, we discuss the management of occ upational illness and injury hazards and issues encountered when evaluating efforts designed to mitigate the effects of occupational hazards.