[A system for collecting historical professional exposures in the workplace in Piedmont (ESP ALP).]

Abstract

Summary: Background. ARPA Piemonte carries out occupational exposure measurements of chemical agents in workplace environment to support the Occupatonal Health and Safety Units of Local Health Boards for the assessment of the exposure level of dangerous chemical. Data are reported in internal documents, but are not available for other purposes. Objectives. Organize the occupational exposure measures collected by ARPA Piemonte, in order to facilitate their availability, in accordance with the indications of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Methods. An application in a relational database environment was defined and developed to collect and structure information relating to companies, interventions, tasks and / or monitored sampling points, samples and measurements performed. Results. Data on chemical exposure related to interventions carried out by ARPA Piemonte in the period from 2005 to part of 2020 have been collected in the ESP ALP application. ESP ALP contains information about 161 companies, 193 interventions, 815 sampling points, 3.490 samples and 18.576 measurements and information on companies obtained from the 2011 Census of Economic Activities and the archives of the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL). Discussion. We verified the feasibility of retrieving and organizing the information collected in past years in an integrated environment that facilitates its processing and use. Finally, we confirm the usefulness of collaboration between multidisciplinary professionals.