Occupational Health Plan 3. Action 1.11: Improving and addressing multiple exposures. “Homogeneous profiles of workers with multiple exposures”

Throughout their professional careers, workers are likely to be simultaneously exposed to multiple health risk factors. As part of the 2016–2020 Occupational Health Plan, a specific initiative aimed to improve the consideration of multiple exposures, a major challenge for all stakeholders in occupational safety, public health, and prevention. Following an initial assessment of multiple exposure in France and abroad, a study to identify homogeneous groups of employees with multiple exposures was conducted by ANSES, Santé publique France, and DARES and is the subject of this report. It is based on data from the 2016–2017 SUMER survey (Medical Surveillance of Workers’ Exposure to Occupational Risks), analyzed using multiple factor analysis followed by ascending hierarchical clustering. This work identified 12 homogeneous profiles of employees exposed to similar multiple stressors (chemical, physical, biological, organizational, and/or relational). These profiles objectively characterize situations of multiple exposures that affect nearly all French employees and enable the identification of the sectors and/or occupational groups affected by these situations. In particular, these profiles make it possible to go beyond considering only well-known and easily identifiable stressors based on the nature of the occupational activity (chemical, physical, biological), and to include other concomitant stressors—notably organizational or relational ones—that can exacerbate the aforementioned stressors. This comprehensive and integrative approach to occupational exposures provides a useful framework for guiding prevention and research efforts.

Author(s): Fourneau Clémence, Pernelet Joly Valérie, Sanchez Margaux, Bastos Henri, Boulanger Guillaume, Perouel Guillaume, Coutrot Thomas, Frery Nadine, Galey Catherine

Publishing year: 2021

Pages: 95 p.

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