Database Needs for a Task-Based Exposure Assessment Model for Construction

Abstract Construction workers suffer elevated disease and death rates. However, with the exception of lead and asbestos, little exposure data among this population have been documented in the literature. The dynamic nature of construction challenges the occupational hygienist attempting to characterize exposures among respective trades. The site, the sector (commercial, residential, industrial, etc.), the work force (both individual workers and craft combinations), and the materials are ever-changing variables in the construction industry. Construction workers, who are trained in specialized skills, routinely work on different sites with different employers. For the construction worker, skills (or specialized tasks) that are carried from job to job represent the most constant aspect of their work. The feasibility of using a task-based approach to exposure assessment in construction is currently being evaluated by the Center to Protect Workers' Rights. This article presents the preliminary data needs ident...