To commemorate our 30th anniversary of support for the profession, we have expanded our focus to those professionals new to the field. This year we held an essay contest on the topic of “How Technology Will Impact Occupational Health and Safety.”

If we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that nearly everything we humans do is aimed at making some other job easier. When the first wheel was invented, the neighbors probably pointed and laughed at the person pushing it around until the time came to haul a woolly mammoth back to camp.

The landscape of occupational health has greatly advanced due to advancements in science and technology. Over the past two decades, emerging investigative technologies have allowed for greater understanding of occupational health hazards and mitigation (University of Washington, 2016).

Electronic data collection is a critical and ever changing process required for determining working conditions. The transition from a paper based workplace to a digital workplace is constantly occurring everywhere. The change from paper reports, personnel files, inspections, batch records, and most mail to their respective electronic versions is a revolution across industry.