Ethics and Occupational Health: From the changing world of work to the future challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The ethical dilemmas confronting occupational health are becoming more complex as they reflect changes in the world of work, demographic shifts, new technologies and future challenges to public health due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. This scenario is setting new contexts for occupational health physicians (OHPs) in their tasks and professional conduct, emphasizing the role of OHPs in balancing between individual (i.e. the health and working capacity of individual employees), enterprise (i.e. maximize the production) and community (i.e. the health and safety of the community at large) interests. This study looks at the problems raised by these ethical concerns in occupational health and proposes some solutions Materials and Methods: Thanks to a comprehensive analysis of ethical decision-making models in occupational health, we identified some drivers and barriers for correct professional ethics that can represent a starting point to acknowledge some proposals for ethical solutions Results: There has been no systematic attempt to study the true extent of ethical issues and how they are resolved in practice. In fact, the presence of numerous variables to be taken into consideration, as well as the growing number of potential stakeholders involved in ethical choice, prevented the identification of an ideal proposal able to solve ethical challenges in OHPs practice Conclusions: To deal with the ethical dilemmas in today’s changing world of work and the pandemics, the logic of an integrated approach must take account the importance of all three types of ethics personal (individual), professional and institutional.