A software for the description of workplaces in the PRS system.

Workplace description is an operation indispensable for the identification of professional risks and, in fulfillment of that objective, can best be accomplished by listing the constituent tasks associated with each job. This article presents a software in Visual-Basic to be run on a portable micro-computer, which facilitates this process according to these aims. The occupational physician and safety engineer can make good use of the exposure database resulting from the application of this program. Job histories are built automatically, while workers with similar exposures are grouped together and job-exposure matrices are elaborated. This information, computerized, sorted and re-assembled, can then be used effectively for studies in the field of occupational epidemiology.

A software for the description of workplaces.

Three softwares have been designed, the first for job histories, the second for job-exposure matrices, and this, the third and latest, for workplace descriptions. The first two softwares were presented in earlier articles while the current article presents the software for workplace descriptions. Workplace description has been based on the idea that a job is best described by listing its constituent tasks so as to determine associated risks better. The three softwares, the job history software (JHS), the job-exposure software (JES) and the workplace description software (WDS) are interfaced and constitute an integrated professional risk surveillance (PRS) system.

Using the job-exposure matrix for elaborating job histories.

A first software (JHS) for the elaboration of job histories oriented toward risks was designed and results published In an article "A software for the elaboration of Job Histories". This article presents a second software (JES), based on the use of a job-exposure matrix designed for one company. The matrix is essentially a database, an organized gathering of information concerning the company. The two softwares are inter-faced and both run on a PC. When properly exploited, the two softwares can serve as an asset for epidemiological studies dealing with occupational health.

A software for the elaboration of job histories.

This article presents a software designed to help the occupational physician elaborate, print and automatically interrogate the job histories of workers. The need for the surveillance of professional risks throughout careers is the basic assumption on which this software is based and it runs on a PC.

Surveillance of occupational risks using job-exposure matrices.

This article deals with the problem of surveillance of occupational risks of workers. Computer-assisted elaboration of the job history (JH) for each worker was achieved by means of a job-exposure matrix (JEM) for each company. The final aim of the project is to find correlations between the exposure data of JHs and the health data of corresponding medical records. As a first experiment, some JEMs were computed using rectangular arrays even though it was realized that this simple structure was not really adequate. Later on, the structure of the computerized JEM included the following questions: (1) what types of information are involved; (2) how can the job-exposure correspondence be represented in the computer; (3) what characteristics of a company should be used for the elaboration of a JEM; (4) who is to construct each JEM, and how? This article shows the inadequacy of some occupational names for evoking the appropriate risks, a drawback which can be surmounted if the company organization is included in the JEM. Based on our analysis, several specifications useful for JEM computerization have been suggested.

[Basic research on the use of mosquito spiroplasmas in the control of the major tropical diseases transmitted by mosquitoes]. / Bases expérimentales pour l'utilisation de spiroplasmes de moustiques dans la lutte contre les grandes endémies tropicales transmises par des moustiques.

An increasing number of experimental findings suggest that Spiroplasma taiwanense (Class Mollicutes) has considerable potential for inclusion in integrated mosquito vector control programmes. These experimental findings are outlined in conjunction with preferred strategies for its eventual use as a biological control agent.

Computer-assisted elaboration of job histories.

Three ways are proposed to help the occupational physician in constructing a worker's job history or Curriculum Laboris (CL) with a PC. The quality and, therefore, the usefulness of any job history is greatly conditioned by the method and quality of data collection. The Curriculum Laboris method explained in a previous article has been briefly summarized as a basis of departure. Then, the workers who were submitted to special medical surveillance were considered. After this, the scrolling menu technique was applied in the elaboration of a job history. Finally, the authors show how the representation of company organization by means of a job exposure matrix (JEM) can help to efficiently elaborate job histories.

Occupational risks: a follow-up method based on individual work history records including the environmental aspects of the workplace.

This article analyzes the Curriculum Laboris or career reconstruction as a means of studying the occupational risks of employees. A type of Curriculum Laboris which makes the established record easier to use has been suggested. The authors point out some advantages to be expected from the proposed computerized method. The usefulness of the proposed Curriculum Laboris is largely conditioned by lack of standards for guiding data collection by physicians. Finally, the Curriculum Laboris has been considered as an element of a larger information system.