Industrial hygiene programs for workers' health protection in Italy

The recent Health and Safety Act devolves the management of workers' health protection to new local authorities named "Local Sanitary Units." The specific program is framed in the existing state regulations and is in agreement with European community politics regarding health risks arising from the industrial use of particular substances like lead, asbestos, benzene, PCBs and others. The rapid industrial growth during recent years put into evidence completely new and numerous risks with the result of both qualitative and quantitative modifications of occupational diseases which existed in the years preceding the second world war. This rapid and remarkable change required a general adjustment in the country, which involved universities, government and industry. At the same time, the need of new relationships between occupational risks and insurance management rose. Beginning in the seventies, the Italian Industrial Hygiene Association [Associazione Italiana Degli Igienisti Industriali (A.I.D.I.I.)] promoted the progress of industrial hygiene in Italy through national and international conferences, continuous educational activities and participation with government standard-setting committees. The trend in A.I.D.I.I. future activities embraces the development of standard evaluation and control procedures and the improvement of research following European guidelines in strict cooperation with correlated European and American organizations.