The feasibility of conducting occupational epidemiology in the UK

A postal survey was carried out of 1,000 UK companies to collect information about employee biographical and work history records. The overall response rate was 46%. All companies collected surname, forenames, address, date of birth and National Insurance number--information needed for cross-sectional studies. Other biographical details such as maiden name and National Health Service number were collected less often, which could increase the cost and difficulty of tracing ex-employees. Seventy per cent reported destroying their records within 10 years of an employee leaving, rising to 82% for companies with fewer than 100 employees. The destruction of employee records creates problems for historical cohort studies and case-control studies, and may hamper ex-employees trying to claim benefit for occupational-related illness. If the scope of future occupational epidemiology is to be improved, guidelines for the collection and retention of the data required must be developed and industry encouraged to participate.