1969 - 2019: 50 years of IOM

To celebrate 50 years of IOM, we commissioned 50 posters that combine art and science to commemorate landmark moments in IOM's history.

We hope you enjoy and share our content online.

#iom

Over the last 50 years, IOM has made a unique contribution to understand the causes and effects of ill health at work, in the environment, and to provide solutions to mitigate these risks.

#consultation

IOM scientists have provided expert testimony in occupational disease civil litigation in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, providing independent assessments and opinions to support the litigants.

#iom

IOM opened its first overseas office in Singapore in 2012 to build a link to South East Asia. With initial support from the Singapore government, IOM established international level capacities in Singapore across nanotechnology risk management, occupational hygiene research and consultancy and training.

#air-quality

Building on an established occupational hygiene capability, particularly in local exhaust ventilation testing, IOM developed a successful hospital ventilation testing service.

#consultation

Since 1995 IOM has been recognised as an official World Health Organisation (WHO) collaborating centre for Occupational Health.

#asbestos-research

IOM conducted research to establish a correlation between the concentration of airborne fibres released and the percentage of asbestos in the soil.

#workplace-exposure-limits

Funded by the European Chemical Industry Association and in partnership with the university of Utrecht in the Netherlands, IOM pioneered the Chemical Exposure Management and Assessment System (CEMAS); a method for the systematic recording of chemical exposure data on an electronic database.

#air-quality

Between 28,000 and 36,000 premature deaths in the UK annually are due to exposure to air pollution. In response to a UK government review into interventions to improving outdoor air quality and public health, IOM led on four out of five rapid evidence assessments on planning, transport, agriculture and behavioural interventions to reduce exposure to pollution.

#mental-health

A study conducted by researchers at Heriot-Watt University and IOM in 2018, funded by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), investigated UV exposure amongst outdoor construction workers in the UK.

#asbestos-research

The extensive improvements which IOM developed for counting and measuring of asbestos, were incorporated into a World Health Organisation (WHO) standardised method for the measurement of asbestos fibres in the air.

#air-quality

IOM pioneered a first-of-its-kind device; The IOM inhalable dust sampler which has enabled the measurement of the inhalable fraction; a measurement that is critical in determining the safety of workplace dusts and aerosols.

#consultation

One in five of the UK workforce are over 50, with that figure projected to rise to one in four as the population continues to live and work longer.

#mental-health

With over 1 million people in the UK employed but not having a fixed permanent work site, including sales reps and repair workers, IOM funded by the British Occupational Health Research Foundation undertook a project in 2010 to examine the effects remote and mobile working has on the health and wellbeing of those individuals.

#workplace-exposure-limits

British Standards commissioned IOM to develop a standard to ensure workers could safely use nanomaterials.

#air-quality

The UK government’s Technology Strategy Board approached IOM to help “de-risk” the emerging nanotechnology industry by launching the first centre of excellence for the safety of nanomaterials.

#air-quality

With assistance from scientists at the Scottish Centre for Indoor Air Research, IOM was involved in the largest study to measure second-hand tobacco smoke concentrations in cars during real-life journeys.

#workplace-exposure-limits

IOM is a scientific collaborator in the ongoing BRAIN study commissioned by the DRAKE Foundation to determine the relationship between concussion and neurological disease, including dementia and Alzheimer’s in former elite rugby players.

#occupational-cancer

Funded by the Institute of Safety and Health, IOM are currently undertaking a project assessing the issues of occupational health and safety surrounding the return to work for those who have recently been treated for cancer.

#air-quality

On behalf of NHS Health Scotland and the Department of Health, IOM contributed to a large-scale programme of work evaluating the effect the smoke-free legislation had on fine particulate matter in 105 bars in Scotland and England.

#asbestos-research

Through financial support from the Asbestos Research Council and the Colt Foundation, IOM carried out a 20-year program of ground-breaking research into understanding the toxicology of asbestos and other fibres.

#air-quality

IOM’s founding purpose was to understand the causes of lung disease in coal workers and provide the evidence for safe working limits to eliminate them.

#workplace-exposure-limits

In response to public concerns about the use of sprayed pesticides in agriculture, IOM conducted research funded by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs that measured real-life pesticide exposure in the urine of adults and children living close to sprayed crops.

#air-quality

IOM were part of a ground-breaking pathological study examining the lungs of deceased miners. The study showed that for both smokers and non-smokers, the more coal dust a miner inhaled, the greater risk he would have of significant emphysema and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

#air-quality

IOM led the first structured international research project into the health risks of nanoparticles.

#air-quality

IOM was appointed by the Woodrow Wilson Center, a US based think tank, to develop a position paper on health issues relating to nanoparticles.

#workplace-exposure-limits

Funded by the Health and Safety Executive, IOM published a major epidemiological study into the health and welfare of sheep farmers who use insecticides on farms while sheep dipping to control scab mites in 2001.

#workplace-exposure-limits

IOM have published three research papers uncovering the attitudes people have to mechanical lifting aids within hospitals.

#consultation

In 2007 the European Commission launched new regulations into the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restrictions of chemicals; widely known as the REACH regulations.

#workplace-exposure-limits

One major research theme for IOM is dermal exposure which included a programme of research undertaken for the oil industry to investigate skin exposure to heavy fuel oils and to understand whether there are health risks for those workers handling this substance.

#occupational-cancer

Worldwide, occupational cancer claims the lives of more than 666,000 people a year. That is one death every 47 seconds. In the UK around 14,000 people are diagnosed with cancer from exposures to carcinogens at work, with around two-thirds of them eventually dying from their disease.

#air-quality

With unhealthy air pollution levels on the rise in the Chinese megacity, Beijing, IOM led an integrated multidisciplinary study utilising expertise from exposure science, epidemiology, toxicology and toxicogenomics.

#air-quality

Working underground, most notably tunnelling, has long been recognised as a dusty and potentially hazardous occupation. In 2015, IOM investigated the exposure to dust, silica and diesel exhaust emissions experienced by construction workers engaged in tunnelling operations in Crossrail tunnels in London.

#occupational-cancer

Tens of thousands of lead workers may be at risk from health issues including cancer, kidney disease, heart disease and brain damage without even realising it. These safety concerns led the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to investigate links between lead exposure and cancer.

#air-quality

In 1995, when the Monserrat volcano began erupting, IOM scientists helped monitor and assess the health risks from inhaling its ash on the island.

#air-quality

IOM has worked with Transport for London and the Mayor’s Office to look at ways to tackle the City’s growing emissions.

#air-quality

As part of a major EU research project into the external cost of energy generation, IOM developed methods to quantify the health impacts of outdoor air pollution.

#mental-health

With the rise of the telecommunication sector in Europe, IOM on behalf of key stakeholders within the industry, led on a forward-thinking study in 2010 to examine the mental wellbeing of those working within the industry.

#occupational-cancer

In 2007 the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC) identified a link between firefighting and a variety of cancers and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Since then IOM has undertaken two studies into the impact of cancer risks within firefighters.

#consultation

In 2007, IOM began work with the European Parliament to provide independent expert advice on a variety of emerging issues within the field of health and safety at work to the Employment and Social Affairs committee.

#occupational-cancer

Work undertaken by IOM helped determine that an estimated 8,000 people in the UK die every year from work-related cancer; that is more than double the 3,000 people who die from road traffic accidents annually.

#air-quality

Motivated to improve the understanding surrounding environmental pollution globally, IOM contributed to The Clean Air for Europe (CAFE) programme; a European Union funded review of air quality standards.

#mental-health

Workplace stress is a common issue in over 23 million small to medium sized enterprises in the European Union; that is 99% of all European businesses.

#occupational-cancer

Funded by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, scientists at IOM completed research into the possible risk of breast cancer amongst women who work night shifts.

#air-quality

IOM conducted research for London Underground to identify ways to improve ventilation and reduce temperatures within underground tube carriages.

#mental-health

Commissioned by the Health and Safety Executive, IOM conducted a research study in 2007 into the ill-health linked with Display Screen Equipment including musculoskeletal disorders, mental stress and visual fatigue.

#air-quality

Through cutting-edge research, IOM established the inhalable fraction; a ratio that determines how much dust can be inhaled into the respiratory tract.

#occupational-cancer

Working with the International Agency for Research on Cancer and others, IOM helped publish definitive results in a major European epidemiological study into the carcinogenicity of mineral wool fibres and other synthetic fibres, most commonly found in products such as household roof insulation.

#asbestos-research

The World Health Organisation estimates that each year 125 million people worldwide are exposed to asbestos in the workplace, with 107,000 of those workers dying from asbestos related diseases.

#asbestos-research

In the late 1970s laboratories around the world used different techniques and data gathering methods to measure asbestos and other fibres in the air.

#asbestos-research

Following research into measuring methods, IOM developed the Walton-Beckett microscope eyepiece graticule for counting asbestos and other fibres in 1977.

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