Occupational Health

The workplace is a very important environment for many people. Certain jobs are characterized by very specific and sometimes high and well-documented exposures. Therefore, workplace studies are very instructive for environmental medicine.

Our department supports some enterprises in job evaluation and has supervised and evaluated various occupational cohort studies, so of workers with high dust levels and in asbestos cement plants and in the hard metal industry. Cross-sectional studies were carried out inter alia in the cotton industry in Pakistan and on farm workers in the Dominican Republic. We have also evaluated the results of occupational health routine investigations on possible damage to hearing and respiratory tract.

One approach to reduce psychosocial stress at work is the recovery in the form of work breaks and longer recovery periods such as week-ends and holidays. In addition to researching the effect of these recovery measures a focus of our institute is to research and promote the motivation to indulge in recreational activities and the conditions for optimal recovery.

Publications:

Khan, A.W., Moshammer, H.M., Kundi, M. Industrial hygiene, occupational safety and respiratory symptoms in the Pakistani cotton industry. BMJ Open 2015; 5 (4), e007266

Moshammer, H., Kundi, M., Wallner, P., Herbst, A., Feuerstein, A., Hutter, H.-P. Early prognosis of noise-induced hearing loss. Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2015; 72 (2), 85-89

Blasche G. Recovery, recovery promotion and burnout prevention. Internistische Praxis 2014;54:453-459

Blasche, G.W., Arlinghaus, A., Dorner, T.E. Leisure Opportunities and Fatigue in Employees: A Large Cross-Sectional Study. Leisure Sciences 2014; 36 (3), 235-250

Haluza, D., Moshammer, H., Hochgatterer, K. Dust is in the air. Part II: Effects of occupational exposure to welding fumes on lung function in a 9-year study. Lung 2014; 192 (1), 111-117

Wultsch, G., Nersesyan, A., Kundi, M., Jakse, R., Beham, A., Wagner, K.-H., Knasmueller, S. The sensitivity of biomarkers for genotoxicity and acute cytotoxicity in nasal and buccal cells of welders. Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health 2014; 217 (4-5), 492-498

Blasche, G. Recovery from Work as a Means to Compensate for Increasing Work Demands. Occup Med Health Aff 2013; 1: 124

Blasche, G., Pfeffer, M., Thaler, H., Gollner, E. Work-site health promotion of frequent computer users: Comparing selected interventions. Work 2013; 46(3):233-241

Blasche, G., Marktl, W., Eisenwort, B., Skolka, A., & Pichlhofer, O. The Treatment Experience Questionnaire: Development and Validation of a Questionnaire Assessing the Individual's Emotional, Perceptual, and Cognitive Reactions to Alternative, Physical, and Dental Treatments. Forsch Komplementmed 2013; 20: 205-212.

Hochgatterer, K., Moshammer, H., Haluza, D. Dust is in the air: Effects of occupational exposure to mineral dust on lung function in a 9-year study. Lung 2013; 191(3):257-263

Wultsch, G., Nersesyan, A., Mišík, M., Kundi, M., Wagner, K.-H., Szekeres, T., Zakerska, O., Atefie, K., Knasmueller, S. Formation of micronuclei and other nuclear anomalies in exfoliated nasal and oral cells: Results of a human study with workers in a power plant processing poultry litter. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health 2013; 216 (1): 82-87

Blasche, G. W., K. Weissensteiner, et al. (2012). "Travel-related change of residence leads to a transitory stress reaction in humans." J Travel Med 19(4): 243-249.

Blasche, G., Marktl, W. Recovery intention: Its association with fatigue in the working population. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 2011; 84(8):859-865

Hochgatterer, K., Hutter, H.-P., Moshammer, H., Angerschmid, C. Lung function of dust-exposed workers [Lungenfunktion staubexponierter Arbeitnehmer]. Pneumologie 2011; 65(8):459-464

Blasche, G., V. Leibetseder, et al. (2010). "Association of spa therapy with improvement of psychological symptoms of occupational burnout: a pilot study." Forsch Komplementmed 17(3): 132-136.

Moshammer, H., Neuberger, M. Lung function predicts survival in a cohort of asbestos cement workers. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 2009; 82(2):199-207

Moshammer, H., Neuberger, M. Lung function and life expectancy of asbestos workers [Lungenfunktion und lebenserwartung von asbestarbeitern] Atemwegs- und Lungenkrankheiten; 2008 34(10):400-403

Hutter HP, Moshammer H, Neuberger M. Smoking cessation at the workplace: 1 year success of short seminars. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2006 Jan;79(1):42-8.

Moshammer H, Neuberger M. Long term success of short smoking cessation seminars supported by occupational health care. Addict Behav. 2006 Nov 9.

Moshammer H, Neuberger M. Lung cancer and dust exposure: Results of a prospective cohort study following 3260 workers for 50 years. Brit J Occup Environ Med. 2004; 61:157-162

Neuberger M, Schiller-Frühwirth I, Vutuc C. Asbest und Mesotheliom. Sichere Arbeit 2004;1:22-25

Neuberger M, Vutuc Ch. Three decades of Pleural Cancer and Mesothelioma registry in Austria where asbestos cement was invented. Int.Arch.Occ.Envir.Health 2003;76:161-166

Neuberger M. Chemikalienmanagement am Arbeitsplatz. Sichere Arbeit 2003;1:19-24

Kundi M.. Occupational exposure to magnetic fields. Occup Environ Med 2002;59(7):496

Moshammer H, Neuberger M. Lungenkrebs und Quarzstaub – Ergebnisse einer prospektiven Kohortenstudie über 50 Jahre an 3260 Arbeitern. Atemwes- u. Lungenkrankheiten 2002;28(4):200-204