Ethics in occupational health practice : back to basics

Good occupational health practice requires adherence to ethical guidelines which have been developed overtime and have originated from various sources. In the process of addressing and rectifying the issue of occupational risks, the moral aspects cannot be avoided. Ethics pertaining to the broad field of occupational health remains an ongoing interaction between many partners, and a subject with no clear boundaries and many dilemmas, requiring multi-disciplinary cooperation, consultation and participation. In the context of the ever-changing world of work, this paper provides an overview of the definition and interpretation of ethics; the basic principles of biomedical ethics; the role played by codes of ethics, with special emphasis on the International Code of Ethics of the International Commission on Occupational Health; ethics with particular reference to occupational health practice; and the emerging issues, globally and in regional settings, that continue to present ethical challenges to occupational health professionals.