NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for this report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

Support for this project was provided by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, and the American Academy of Industrial Hygiene. This support does not constitute endorsement of the views expressed in the report.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Safe work in the 21st century : education and training needs for the next decade’s occupational safety and health personnel / Committee to Assess Training Needs for Occupational Safety and Health Personnel in the United States, Health Sciences Policy Division, Institute of Medicine.

p. cm

Includes bibliographical references.

1. Industrial hygiene. 2. Industrial safety. I. Institute of Medicine (U.S.). Committee to Access Training Needs for Occupational Safety and Health Personnel in the United States.

RC967.S215 2000

616.9′803—dc21 00-055005

The full text of the report is available on-line at www.nap.edu.

For more information about the Institute of Medicine, visit the IOM home page at www.iom.edu.

Cover photograph: Window Washer on the Empire State Building. Photographer: Earl Dotter.

The serpent has been a symbol of long life, healing, and knowledge among almost all cultures and religions since the beginning of recorded history. The serpent adopted as a logotype by the Institute of Medicine is a relief carving from ancient Greece, now held by the Staatliche Museen in Berlin.