Institute of Occupational Safety and Environmental Heal

Summary of scientific activities on the RSU Research Portal

The Institute of Occupational Safety and Environmental Health conducts research in the area of improvement of occupational environment conditions, early diagnosis of occupational diseases, improvement of health condition, working abilities, and life quality of the employees.

The Institute of Occupational Safety and Environmental Health (IOSEH) is a scientific institution and was established with decision No. 1-2/17.04.07 of 17 April 2007 by the Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) Senate.

Functions

The institute has the following functions:

to provide public services in the field of occupational safety and environmental health to state and municipal institutions, to RSU and its structural units, as well as to natural persons;
to perform research and activities in the field of occupational safety and environmental health related to acquisition and improvement of scientific qualification;
to prepare, enter and participate in implementing theoretical and practical research projects and programmes at an RSU, national, and international level.

In order to fulfil its functions, the institute performs the following tasks:

guarantees qualitative training of students in the field of occupational safety and environmental health;
performs post-graduate training for physicians, doctoral students, and qualification raising for physicians and nurses in occupational medicine;
performs researches in the field of occupational safety and environmental health;
creates and maintains database on the health condition of victims of occupational diseases and victims of radiation exposure due to the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant;
performs regular supervision of occupational environment at the premises of RSU, informs employees on issues related to occupational safety and health and impact of hazardous factors on the health and prophylaxis of occupational diseases;
provides information to state and municipal institutions, employees and other persons on issues related to occupational safety and health.

Dissertations

Informative materials

Within the framework of preventive measures plan in the field of occupational safety, Rīga Stradiņš University’s agency Institute of Occupational Safety and Environmental Health in cooperation with the State Social Insurance Agency have drafted informative materials — brochures, information leaflets, posters, electronic materials, etc. The materials are designed for senior specialists and coordinators in the field of occupational safety, company managers, employees, physicians of occupational health and diseases, and other interested persons.

History

The Institute for Occupational Safety and Environmental Health is the result of a long-standing collaboration between several institutions working in the field of occupational health and safety. These institutions are the Laboratory of Hygiene and Occupational Diseases, the Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the Medicine Academy of Latvia and the National Centre for Occupational and Radiation Medicine at the Pauls Stradiņš University Hospital.

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In 1949, the Department of Hygiene (later renamed the Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine) was established at the then Medical Institute of Riga (later renamed the Medical Academy of Latvia).

In 1966, the Laboratory of Hygiene and Occupational Diseases is founded at the Medical Institute of Riga. Over the years, these two departments have undergone major changes, but they have not lost their original aims and objectives: to provide training for students and to carry out scientific research. In 1992, the two departments were merged into the Institute of Occupational Medicine.

In 1964, the Department of Occupational Diseases was established at Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital. This was followed by the establishment of the National Register of Occupational Diseases in 1974. In 1975, the Occupational Diseases Unit of the Polyclinic and the Laboratory for the Determination of Heavy Metals in Biofluids were established. Together, these units provided diagnostics and treatment for occupational disease patients in Latvia. In 1976, all of these structures were merged into the National Centre for Occupational Diseases and Radiation Medicine.

The changing demands of the time regarding methods of diagnosing and treating occupational diseases, scientific research, and training gave rise to the idea of establishing a modern institute that would integrate all these aspects. A decision was made to unite all the relevant bodies with the aim of creating a strong and modern institution capable of implementing the new requirements. The reorganisation took place between 1995 and 1997, resulting in the establishment of the Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health.

On June 19, 2007, in accordance with the recommendations of experts from the EU Transition Project No. 2004/006-245-03-01 "Occupational Health and Safety System (Further Development)" regarding the improvement of the institutional system of occupational safety and health in Latvia, the Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health was reorganized into the RSU Agency "Institute of Occupational Safety and Environmental Health" (see the Institute’s Statute).

More about the history of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Environmental Health can be found in Professor M. Eglīte’s book Occupational Medicine, published in Riga in 2000 (pp. 9–13).