Job Modules and Task Modules

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Each Job Module contains questions about particular jobs. For example, the Driver Module contains questions suitable for long distance truck drivers, couriers, bus drivers, bulldozer drivers, and travelling sales workers.  Job Modules are developed by experts in occupational exposure based on literature, talking to industry specialists and their own experience.

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The questions in each Job Module ask about the determinants of exposure to an agent rather than asking whether people are exposed to that agent.  For example, we don’t ask people if they are exposed to benzene in their job. If they are a courier we ask them in the Driver Module how often they fill up their car with petrol. If they are a screen printer we ask them in the Printing Module whether they use chemicals to clean and degrease the screen mesh. We might also ask if they wore a mask, or had extraction fans to remove fumes. The answers to these questions determine the exposure to benzene that the worker is likely to have.

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A similar approach is used in nutritional surveys where people are asked about foods they eat (e.g. carrots) rather than nutrients they consume (e.g. vitamin A).

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Within Job Modules we have subsets of questions known as Task Modules.  A Task Module is a set of questions which are specific to a task such as welding, painting, applying pesticides, doing night work.  We have developed Task Modules for tasks which are done in multiple jobs, to ensure that we are consistent in comparing workers who do that task in any job. For example, a carpenter who does some painting is given the same questions as a full time painter.

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A special type of Task Module are the modules which assess noise and vibration.  Because noise and vibration are assessed over a standard 8 hour working day, these questions ask about the number of hours spent using noisy or vibrating tools and machines and then OccIDEAS calculates an appropriate 8 hour measure.

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Currently we have 50 Job Modules in OccIDEAS which cover the most common jobs in developed economies. We also have 44 Task Modules, and another 92 noise-related Task Modules.  More modules are being developed and you can also develop your own or contract us to develop them for you.

 

Click here to download the latest list of available modules.