Role of government in occupational and environmental health

The author argues that the special knowledge of individual professionals confers upon them personal responsibility to monitor governmental standards and regulations in their field and to intervene in their formulation and, where necessary, remediation. An occupational and environmental health professional in such a role needs first to identify the persons in charge of the entity in question. Influencing their actions then calls for conviction, courage, ethical principles and moral behavior, and willingness to get involved.