Science with Purpose: 50 years of the Institute of Occupational Medicine

J Aitken Robert

Description

In 2019, the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) celebrates 50 years of endeavour to understand and prevent occupational and environmental ill health.The Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) is an organisation with a great history and unlimited potential for the future. This history of IOM provides a set of personal perspectives about the people, science and the major events that have shaped the organisation over the last 50 years.This is a story of adaptation and imaginative evolution in the face of changing times for research and services in occupational health. It tells of a change in emphasis from coal dust to nanoparticles, from predominantly preventive medical research to mainly provision of consultative, training and measurement services, from doing it all alone to international and national collaborations, and from a UK emphasis to an international presence, especially across Europe and in Singapore.In writing this book, the authors, all of whom have served in senior positions in IOM, have drawn heavily on their recollections as well as those of some current and former colleagues.This book has been written in celebration of IOM's 50th anniversary; it is intended to preserve and highlight the exceptional work of those that have passed through the Institute's doors.

Sujets

• Employabilité, métiers et formations
• Industrial relations

Informations

• Publié par: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 15 janvier 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781800468788
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

Copyright © 2019
Anthony Seaton (Editor), Robert J Aitken, John W Cherrie
Richard A Graveling, Fintan Hurley, Alastair Robertson, Colin A Soutar, Philip J Woodhead

Institute of Occupational Medicine
49 Research Avenue North, Riccarton, Edinburgh, EH14 4AP,
Scotland, United Kingdom
www.iom-world.org

The moral rights of the authors have been asserted.


Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.


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ISBN 978 1800468 788

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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.


Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd
Anthony Seaton (Editor), IOM 1978-1990;
Director, 1978-1990

Robert J Aitken, IOM 1974-date;
Chief Executive, 2016-date

John W Cherrie, IOM 1975-date;
Research Director, 2007-14

Richard A Graveling, IOM 1978-date;
Head of Ergonomics and Human Factors, 1990-2014

Fintan Hurley, IOM 1975-2017;
Scientific Director, 2005-17

Alastair Robertson, IOM 1974-2013;
Managing Director Consultancy, 1997-2008

Colin A Soutar, IOM 1979-2005;
Chief Executive, 1990-2005

Philip J Woodhead, IOM 2005-16;
Chief Executive, 2005-16
To celebrate our 50th anniversary, IOM commissioned Innovation Digital, a Glasgow based design agency to create 50 pieces of unique, digital artwork. Each design focuses on one of the 50 most significant scientific impacts IOM has made over the last half-century. The images were exhibited at IOM’s 50th Anniversary reception at the Scottish Parliament on 8th October 2019. Images on the cover of this book are a selection of the artwork appearing in the exhibition. The full collection can be viewed on the IOM Website.
Contents
Introduction Fifty years of the Institute of Occupational Medicine

Part 1 The History of IOM
1
Foundation and the Coal Board years: 1969 to 1990
2
The independent Institute: 1990 to 2005
3
Commercial development: 1970 to 2005
4
Changing with the times: 2005 to 2019


Part 2 The Scientific Contributions

5
Population studies: contributions to occupational and environmental epidemiology
6
How much and what kinds of exposure cause disease?
7
From coal and asbestos to nanoparticles: contributions to pathology and toxicology
8
Ergonomics at IOM
9
Nanotechnology risk: a new approach


Part 3 Looking to the Future

10
Lessons from the past: drawing together the threads
11
Future directions

Index of acronyms
Acknowledgements
This history of IOM provides a set of personal perspectives about the people and the major events that have shaped the organisation over the last fifty years. In writing this book, the authors, all of whom have served in senior positions in IOM, have drawn heavily on their personal recollections as well as those of some current and former colleagues. In particular, the authors would like to thank Professor Ken Donaldson and Drs Alan Jones, Joanne Crawford, Lang Tran, Rob Bolton, Geoff Simpson, Brian Miller, Hilary Cowie and Matt Boyles for their contributions and reflections. Thanks are also due to Ken Dixon, IOM’s Information Scientist, for help with editing, information sourcing and referencing, Aimee Taaffe, IOM’s Marketing Manager, for design elements and book production, and to Melanie Gee, Words and Indexes, for indexing.
The authors would like to thank the Mining Institute of Scotland Trust for their generous grant which supported book production and publication.
Finally and most importantly, thanks are due to all of IOM’s staff who have contributed with their insight, knowledge, dedication and effort to the work of IOM throughout its history and to the current staff who are shaping its future. Over the last fifty years almost 1,000 people, too many to mention in this volume, have devoted a significant part of their working lives to creating a unique and special organisation which has made major contributions to improving health in the workplace and wider environment. This book is a tribute to them. Without their work, nothing would have been achieved.
Thanks to you all.
This book has been written in celebration of IOM’s fifty-year anniversary. It is intended to preserve and highlight the exceptional work of those that have passed through the Institute’s doors.
Introduction
Fifty years of the Institute of Occupational Medicine
In 2019, the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) celebrates fifty years of endeavour to understand and prevent occupational and environmental ill health. In this book, the authors, all of whom have been intimately associated with the Institute, trace its history from foundation by the then National Coal Board in 1969, through achieving independence in 1990 to its present role as a unique, independent, self-funding occupational and environmental health charity. Over those fifty years there have been many achievements of international significance, and the authors describe these in individual chapters according to the different scientific specialties of the Institute’s scientists. However, this should not obscure the overriding ethos of the Institute’s research and consultative work, which is determinedly multidisciplinary and which is driven by a desire to prevent occupational and general environmental ill health. IOM has not been engaged in science simply to find and refine ever-more detailed answers to academic questions. Rather, its purpose has always been for its science to be applied to make a difference in both policy and practice.
The Institute’s path has not always been smooth over the fifty years, and the story of the difficulties it has faced and overcome is told in the initial four chapters. This is a story of adaptation and imaginative evolution in face of changing times for research and services in occupational health. It tells of a change in emphasis from coal dust to nanoparticles, from predominantly preventive medical research to mainly provision of consultative, training and measurement services, from doing it all itself to international and national collaborations, and from a UK emphasis to an international presence, especially across Europe and in Singapore. Inevitably, difficulties lie ahead, but the desire to contribute to the wellbeing of society is and will remain the motivation of those who work in the Institute. Its reputation rests on its independence, the loyalty of its staff, the quality of its scientific output and of the services it provides, and the value of that output to those who seek its help or advice. These strengths we carry into our future to deliver our purpose.

Part 1
The History of IOM
1
Foundation and the Coal Board years: 1969 to 1990
Summary
The Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) was founded as a research charity in 1969 by the National Coal Board, primarily to complete its groundbreaking research on lung disease in coal workers. This was intended to advise on dust standards in coal mines that would significantly reduce risks to these workers, sitting alongside engineering and other measures being taken by the nationalised industry. But it had a wider remit related to ergonomic factors in mining and ultimately to helping reduce health and safety risks in industry generally. The Institute was led initially by the Coal Board’s chief medical officer, Dr John Rogan, then by Dr David Muir until 1978. Dr Anthony Seaton then took over as Director, leading it towards independence in 1990.
The first twenty years of IOM, with considerable support from the European Communities, saw successful completion of the major objectives in lung disease, with quantification of the risks to miners of lung disease providing a scientific foundation for workplace standard-setting. The research led to an understanding that coal mining not only caused the specific disease known as coal workers’ pneumoconiosis but also to an increased risk of chronic obstructive lung disease, a condition commonly caused by tobacco smoking. It put IOM at the forefront of international research into occupational lung disease. Over that period, also, important advances were made in the ergonomics of mining, especially in machine design and protection against the physical hazards of mining.
Alongside the coal research ran a stream of research into understanding how asbestos causes dis