The Norwegian Labour Inspectorate's Registry for Work-Related Diseases: Data from 2006

The Norwegian Labour Inspectorates (NLI's) Registry for Work-Related Diseases was established in 1920. Based on the principle of sentinel health events (SHE), its central purpose is to provide information to the NLI to enable workplace interventions and the prevention of hazardous exposures. Although physicians are required to report work-related diseases to the NLI, only 3% did so in 2006. There were 3392 cases of work-related diseases reported to the NLI by 561 physicians in 2006. Diseases of the ear (noise-induced hearing loss) comprised 59% (n=1987) of the cases, while 12% (n=398) of the cases were attributed to the diseases of the respiratory system and 7% (n =239) were diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue. Despite limitations, the registry continues to inform NLI's prevention strategies, supplements data concerning work-environment surveillance, and provides impetus for epidemiological studies.