Millions of Americans are fighting the battle against cancer -  a disease that can result in adverse or fatal health outcomes, high health care costs, and reduced workplace productivity. It is important to remember that many cancers are preventable by addressing workplace exposures and individual lifestyle choices. With early detection and quality care, patient outcomes are improving.

Because of the impact this disease has throughout so much of the workforce and the general public, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) has chosen cancer prevention as the focus of its annual Labor Day CheckList, a compilation of “quick tips” developed to assist both employers, employees, and the general public in improving the health and safety of workers, and the workplace. Controlling Cancer in the Workplace is posted on ACOEM’s web site at http://www.acoem.org/news/laborday.asp. This year’s CheckList was developed in conjunction with the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, which has developed the CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ (http://www.cancergoldstandard.org), a series of cancer related recommendations for employers to fight cancer.

“The identification of occupational cancers and the reduction of occupational cancer rates in the United States due to uncontrolled exposures has been a major public health success and how to do it is well known, but more remains to be done,” said ACOEM President Tee L. Guidotti, MD, MPH, FACOEM. “Cancer remains a leading cause of lost productive and otherwise vital years, including among younger workers. We know that many cancers are not recognized as arising out of work because they occur years after exposure, often after retirement. We need to recommit ourselves to prevent cancer and to make work as safe as it can be, and this year’s Checklist is a first step” he continued.

ACOEM is an international medical society of more than 5,000 occupational and environmental health pro-fessionals. Founded in 1916, ACOEM provides leadership to promote optimal health and safety of workers, workplaces, and environments. The College is headquartered in Elk Grove Village, Ill.

American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM)