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Developing tools for the assessment of occupational exposures is needed to improve knowledge and surveillance of occupational risks. The Department of Occupational Health of the National Institute for Public Health Surveillance has implemented and coordinates a programme for the construction of job-exposure matrices adapted to the French general population (the Matgéné programme).
A job-exposure matrix may be defined as a cross-tabulation of job titles and exposure agents, with in each cell one or several indices for exposure. Linking these matrices with individual job histories allows exposures to be automatically attributed to the subjects according to their job titles. These matrices have various potential applications in occupational health surveillance or etiological research. For example, they may be used to provide estimates of the prevalence of occupational exposures in the general population, to assess occupational exposures in epidemiological studies, to help identify hazards occurring in specific industrial sectors or jobs, for purposes of prevention or compensation.
Job-exposure matrices developed for Matgéné are agent-specific and include all the occupations and industries involving exposure, with the corresponding codes in several national and international classifications. In addition, a documentation including exposure definition, agent characteristics, health effects, regulation and exposure circumstances is attached to each matrix. This report presents the methods used for the construction of the matrices, and the current progress of the programme. As an illustration, two job-exposure matrices (flour dust and leather dust) are presented in detail, with some examples of application.
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