The identification of hepatic injury and hepatic angiosarcoma among vinyl chloride workers--the epidemiological approach.

The Occupational Health Surveillance System described herein has provided the experience and data to clearly demonstrate that prospective, epidemiological application to the problem of health surveillance in the occupational environment is feasible and economical. It has demonstrated that the approach is implementable in industries of any size or type, can be operated without interference with industrial productivity, is extremely cost-effective at the epidemiological surveillance program level, provides the best means to identify and characterize agents which may produce occupationally-related disease in the human population, provides an ongoing means of assessing the effectiveness of intervention or preventive measures and be provided through the expertise of health sciences centers with economic benefit to the universities and industry and a significant social benefit to the community.