Focus of research is threefold:

1) Signaling and assessment of occupational diseases

2) Epidemiology of occupational diseases

3) Implementation of preventive measures to reduce work related diseases

Systematic reviews for guidelines assessment occupational diseases

In total, 56 guidelines for the assessment of occupational diseases (ODs) are available (www.beroepsziekten.nl). To increase the evidence base of these guidelines, systematic reviews - preferably with meta analyses - are performed to identify exposure criteria for ODs for assessing work related risk factors and prioritizing preventive measures. Recent examples of such systematics reviews are: 1) subacromial pain syndrome, 2) lumbosacral radiculopathy syndrome, 3) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 4) stress related disorder.

Occupational epidemiology of occupational diseases

Several projects aimed to enhance insight into the impact of ODs at (inter)national level. Research activities focuses on: 1) estimations of population attributable fractions for the Netherlands and the World Health Organization (WHO) and 2) trend analyses by using multilevel negative binomial regression models with random effects in collaboration with the European Modernet work. Sensitivity analysis compared different approaches for handling missing cases.

Prevention of risk factors of occupational diseases

Latency and frequency of occurrence of ODs are taken into account in study designs when performing the evaluation of ODs interventions. Also, utility and feasibility of participatory approaches are studied to increase the implementation of health and safety measures at worksites. Recent examples of my implementation studies are: 1) evaluation of participatory strategies on the use of ergonomic measures and costs in construction companies and 2) identify facilitators and barriers for employers and workers for interventions to reduce work-related risk factors associated with upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders in the agricultural sector.