ABSTRACT
Occupation illnesses are not as easily identified as injuries. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 5.7 million injuries and illnesses reported in 1999. Of this number only 372,000 cases of occupational illnesses were reported. The 372,000 occupational illnesses included repeat trauma such as carpal tunnel syndrome, noiseinduced hearing loss, and poisonings. It certainly appears that many occupational illnesses go unreported when the employer or worker is not able to link exposure with the symptoms the employees are exhibiting. Also, physicians fail to ask the right questions regarding the patients employment history, which can lead to the commonest of diagnoses of a cold or flu. This has become very apparent with the recent occupational exposure to anthrax where a physician sent a worker home with anthrax without addressing his=her potential occupational exposure hazards. Unless
physicians are trained in occupational medicine, they seldom address work as the potential exposure source.
