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Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine

The Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine (NIOM), Lodz, Poland, was founded in 1954. Over almost fifty years of its history, it has evolved from a small unit at the Medical University of Lodz into an independent complex research and development centre with activities covering various areas of occupational and environmental health.

Presently, NIOM provides background research and expertise to the Ministry of Health and serves as an advisory body to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and numerous governmental agencies, including State Sanitary Inspectorate and State Labour Inspectorate, and also to local administration, trade unions and industry.

It promotes healthy lifestyles among Polish workers with the main goal of improving the quality of life and having a positive impact on workers' health, work environment and work capability. It has been involved in post-graduate training, editorial activities, and regulatory activities with respect to occupational safety and health and environmental health hazards. It is thanks to the impressive scope and extent of its activities as well as the professional qualifications of the staff and the technical capacity that NIOM is a unique of its kind institution for occupational health research in Poland and within the Central and Eastern European region.

The primary task of the Institute is to conduct research and development activities and provide expertise on health hazards arising from occupational and environmental exposure to noxious agents. The multidisciplinary nature of the research performed at NIOM makes it possible to solve complex problems of the work environment and workers health

The major research areas comprise:

• occupational medicine, environmental health, public health, occupational hygiene, radiation protection (ionising and non-ionising radiation)
• occupational pathology, prevention of occupational and work-related diseases with special regard to occupational allergy, diagnostics and treatment of acute poisonings
• toxicology, including toxicometry, toxicity assessment of chemicals and methodology of exposure assessment of chemical hazards in work environment
• epidemiology of occupational diseases and other health effects of exposure to physical, chemical and psychosocial hazards
• assessment of health risk from environmental exposure to hazardous agents
• physiology, psychology, sociology of work and ergonomics
• health promotion in workplace
• management and economics of occupational health services
• health-based criteria of vocational selection and capability for work

The expertise and consultancy concern mostly the following issues:

• organisation of workers health care
• diagnostics and medical certification of occupational diseases
• in - patient and out-patient care and counselling for allergic patients
• assessment of occupational exposure to physical and chemical hazards, including determination of total and respirable dust concentration in workplace atmosphere, air concentration of MMMF, asbestos and free crystalline silica as well as assessment of microclimatic and lighting conditions
• determination of air concentration of chemical hazards in work environment (also in ambient air and drinking water)
• determination of toxic chemicals or their metabolites in biological material
• measurements of noise, vibration and electromagnetic radiation in workplace
• measurements of ionising radiation
• toxicity and carcinogenicity assessment of chemical substances and preparations (chemical data sheets)

The departments of Environmental Epidemiology, Toxicology and Carcinogenesis, Immunotoxicology, Chemical and Dust Hazards and Health Promotion joined their activities to form a Centre for Molecular Biology and Epidemiology of Environmental and Occupational Cancer (EPIMOL) for better integration of research and problem-oriented activities to ensure a comprehensive, multidimensional approach to the assessment of health risk from occupational and environmental exposure to carcinogenic agents. This enterprise was undertaken in view of the increasing significance of research on cancer and the new opportunities arising from the application of the latest advances in molecular biology. Recently, EPIMOL has acquired the status of the Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology and Epidemiology of Occupational Cancer.

In view of the rapidly growing incidence of noise-induced hearing loss, the departments involved in assessment of occupational and environmental exposure to noise and the related health effects: Department of Physical Hazards, the ENT and Occupational Audiology Unit, the Tinnnitus Centre and the Phoniatrics Centre combined their activities and established the Centre for Occupational Hearing Loss (HEARLOSS) in order to expand their research and diagnostic potential. It has recently been nominated by the European Commission the Centre of Competence in Occupational Hearing Loss.

Most of the senior research workers of the Institute were trained in recognised European and US institutions and have considerable experience in performing international projects. Their involvement in international activities have over the years resulted in an increasing ability to communicate in foreign languages, mostly English and Russian. Moreover, they develop their language skills through participation in numerous international meetings and access to professional literature.

As a result of the scientific activities, approximately 300 original research papers, peer reviews and reports are published per year, mostly in internationally renowned professional journals e.g. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, International. Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, Environmental Health Perspectives, Archives of Toxicology, Mutation Research, Contact Dermatitis, Clinical Toxicology, to name the most important ones. The staff is actively involved in developing monographs and other training materials for occupational physicians, hygienists, medical students etc., which are essential for occupational health practice. A significant activity is also the translation and dissemination of WHO monographs e.g. from the Environmental Health Criteria series.

The activities of the Nofer Institute have gained considerable significance at the national and international levels. During the socioeconomic transition of the Central and Eastern European countries, the Institute has actively participated in the process of restructuring the occupational health services and prepared drafts of new legal acts on OHS, social insurance system etc. In 1992, the School of Public Health, a member of ASPHER, was established to offer professional training and manpower development for OHS centres, labour inspectorate, sanitary inspectorate and environmental protection institutions.

A dynamic development of international collaboration has also proceeded. Our cooperation with WHO has always been essential. Since 1975 the Institute has acted as the WHO Collaborating Centre in Occupational Health and recently it has been granted the status of the WHO Leading Institution in Integrated Workplace Health Management. Several international seminars, training courses and conferences were jointly organized, and the Institute participated in the implementation of a number of research projects e.g. coordinated by the WHO Regional Office for Europe and International Agency for Research on Cancer. At present, the Nofer Institute participates in different activities initiated by WHO, ICOH, MEDICHEM, IARC, EUROTOX, IUPAC, and ACGIH, NCI, and ATSDR in the US. The staff of the Centre is frequently invited to participate in WHO missions as WHO Temporary Advisers, IAEA/ICRP experts and others.

The research workers of the Institute have been members of numerous international and domestic scientific societies and associations such as ICOH, MEDICHEM, EASOM, AAAI, and PSOM. Three professors have also been nominated Fellows of the prestigious Ramazzini College. The Institute has close collaborative links (both formal and informal) with a number of lead institutions in occupational, environmental and public health, both from the CEEC and European Union countries, as well as with some of American scientific institutions (e.g. the University of Iowa, the University at Albany, ATSDR CDC, NCI).

Intensive networking activities have been maintained with 46 institutions in 27 countries, (including 30 centres in EU and other Western European countries, 11 in CEEC and NIS, one Asian and four US institutions) within INCO Copernicus, Fifth Framework Programme (5FP) and IARC and NCI Projects. Subject to particularly dynamic progress is our cooperation with research centres in EU countries through joint participation in five INCO Copernicus and 11 5FP projects. The close working and informal contacts we have established this way are developing successfully.

As for the collaboration with similar research centres in the CEEC, most of the contacts that were lost in the past due to the economic problems, have recently been restored and many new established. We hope this direction will evolve and good collaborative relationship will be developed for harmonising the health policies and preventive activities within the region.

We are seeking partners for joint research and networking in occupational and environmental health both within the European region and other parts of the world, not only to exchange experience, update scientific knowledge and master methodology, but most of all to translate the theory into practice and find solutions to common problems, with the ultimate goal of improving the health, well-being and quality of life of contemporary communities. We welcome everybody who would like to join us in this challenging yet worthwhile task.