“Mat-O-Covid”: a SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Job Exposure Matrix

ABSTRACT

While exposure assessment is complex for the occupational risk researcher, the objective of our work is to develop and validate a job-exposure matrix (JEM) for SARS-CoV-2 exposure called “Mat-O-Covid” project (“COVID-Mate” in French). A group of French experts, the JEM was developed for all workers using the 2003 Occupation and Socioprofessional Categories (with a transcoding gateway to the 2008 International Standard Classification of Occupations) and a focus on the health and care sector. The average of the experts' coding was used as estimates for both estimates, exposure "subjects” (colleagues and/or public) and "patients” for the focus on the health and care sector, as well as the probability of prevention for each. Intraclass correlations were considered good to excellent except for health prevention. Compared to the United States O*Net JEM, the evaluation was considered as fair. In conclusion, a "Mat-O-Covid” JEM providing a probability of occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 will have implications for research and public health, taking into account that its limitations are known, and its validation is still in progress. NB Mat-O-Covid is available at