Exposure to a SARS-CoV-2 infection at work: development of an international job exposure matrix (COVID-19-JEM)

Karen M. Oude Hengel; Alex Burdorf; Anjoeka Pronk; Vivi Schlünssen; Zara A. Stokholm; Henrik A. Kolstad; Karin van Veldhoven; Ioannis Basinas; Martie van Tongeren; Susan Peters

doi:10.5271/sjweh.3998

Exposure to a SARS-CoV-2 infection at work: development of an international job exposure matrix (COVID-19-JEM)

Karen M. Oude Hengel^*, Alex Burdorf, Anjoeka Pronk, Vivi Schlünssen, Zara A. Stokholm, Henrik A. Kolstad, Karin van Veldhoven, Ioannis Basinas, Martie van Tongeren, Susan Peters

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Objective This study aimed to construct a job exposure matrix (JEM) for risk of becoming infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus in an occupational setting. Methods Experts in occupational epidemiology from three European countries (Denmark, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom) defined the relevant exposure and workplace characteristics with regard to possible exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In an iterative process, experts rated the different dimensions of the COVID19-JEM for each job title within the International Standard Classification of Occupations system 2008 (ISCO-08). Agreement scores, weighted kappas, and variances were estimated. Results The COVID-19-JEM contains four determinants of transmission risk [number of people, nature of contacts, contaminated workspaces and location (indoors or outdoors)], two mitigation measures (social distancing and face covering), and two factors for precarious work (income insecurity and proportion of migrants). Agreement scores ranged from 0.27 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.25–0.29] for ‘migrants’ to 0.76 (95% CI 0.74–0.78) for ‘nature of contacts’. Weighted kappas indicated moderate-to-good agreement for all dimensions [ranging from 0.60 (95% CI 0.60–0.60) for ‘face covering’ to 0.80 (95% CI 0.80–0.80) for ‘contaminated workspaces’], except for ‘migrants’ (0.14 (95% CI-0.07–0.36). As country differences remained after several consensus exercises, the COVID-19-JEM also has a country-axis. Conclusions The COVID-19-JEM assesses the risk at population level using eight dimensions related to SARSCOV-2 infections at work and will improve our ability to investigate work-related risk factors in epidemiological studies. The dimensions of the COVID-19-JEM could also be valuable for other future communicable diseases in the workplace.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	61-70
Number of pages	10
Journal	Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health
Volume	48
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3998
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding
KOH received funding from a VENI grant from The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), project number 451-16-031.
The development of this JEM was conducted within the scope of OMEGA-NET, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), project
CA16216: Network on the Coordination and Harmonisation of European Occupational Cohorts. This study is partly funded by EPHOR (the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 874703). The UK contribution to this work was supported by
funding from the PROTECT COVID-19 National Core Study on transmission and environment, managed by the UK Health and Safety Executive on behalf of HM
Government.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health. All rights reserved.

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Oude Hengel, K. M., Burdorf, A., Pronk, A., Schlünssen, V., Stokholm, Z. A., Kolstad, H. A., van Veldhoven, K., Basinas, I., van Tongeren, M., & Peters, S. (2022). Exposure to a SARS-CoV-2 infection at work: development of an international job exposure matrix (COVID-19-JEM). Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health, 48(1), 61-70. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3998

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abstract = "Objective This study aimed to construct a job exposure matrix (JEM) for risk of becoming infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus in an occupational setting. Methods Experts in occupational epidemiology from three European countries (Denmark, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom) defined the relevant exposure and workplace characteristics with regard to possible exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In an iterative process, experts rated the different dimensions of the COVID19-JEM for each job title within the International Standard Classification of Occupations system 2008 (ISCO-08). Agreement scores, weighted kappas, and variances were estimated. Results The COVID-19-JEM contains four determinants of transmission risk [number of people, nature of contacts, contaminated workspaces and location (indoors or outdoors)], two mitigation measures (social distancing and face covering), and two factors for precarious work (income insecurity and proportion of migrants). Agreement scores ranged from 0.27 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.25–0.29] for {\textquoteleft}migrants{\textquoteright} to 0.76 (95% CI 0.74–0.78) for {\textquoteleft}nature of contacts{\textquoteright}. Weighted kappas indicated moderate-to-good agreement for all dimensions [ranging from 0.60 (95% CI 0.60–0.60) for {\textquoteleft}face covering{\textquoteright} to 0.80 (95% CI 0.80–0.80) for {\textquoteleft}contaminated workspaces{\textquoteright}], except for {\textquoteleft}migrants{\textquoteright} (0.14 (95% CI-0.07–0.36). As country differences remained after several consensus exercises, the COVID-19-JEM also has a country-axis. Conclusions The COVID-19-JEM assesses the risk at population level using eight dimensions related to SARSCOV-2 infections at work and will improve our ability to investigate work-related risk factors in epidemiological studies. The dimensions of the COVID-19-JEM could also be valuable for other future communicable diseases in the workplace.",

author = "{Oude Hengel}, {Karen M.} and Alex Burdorf and Anjoeka Pronk and Vivi Schl{\"u}nssen and Stokholm, {Zara A.} and Kolstad, {Henrik A.} and {van Veldhoven}, Karin and Ioannis Basinas and {van Tongeren}, Martie and Susan Peters",

note = "Funding KOH received funding from a VENI grant from The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), project number 451-16-031. The development of this JEM was conducted within the scope of OMEGA-NET, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), project CA16216: Network on the Coordination and Harmonisation of European Occupational Cohorts. This study is partly funded by EPHOR (the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 874703). The UK contribution to this work was supported by funding from the PROTECT COVID-19 National Core Study on transmission and environment, managed by the UK Health and Safety Executive on behalf of HM Government. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health. All rights reserved.",

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language = "English",

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Oude Hengel, KM , Burdorf, A, Pronk, A, Schlünssen, V, Stokholm, ZA, Kolstad, HA, van Veldhoven, K, Basinas, I, van Tongeren, M & Peters, S 2022, 'Exposure to a SARS-CoV-2 infection at work: development of an international job exposure matrix (COVID-19-JEM)', Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health, vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 61-70. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3998

TY - JOUR

T1 - Exposure to a SARS-CoV-2 infection at work

T2 - development of an international job exposure matrix (COVID-19-JEM)

AU - Oude Hengel, Karen M.

AU - Burdorf, Alex

AU - Pronk, Anjoeka

AU - Schlünssen, Vivi

AU - Stokholm, Zara A.

AU - Kolstad, Henrik A.

AU - van Veldhoven, Karin

AU - Basinas, Ioannis

AU - van Tongeren, Martie

AU - Peters, Susan

N1 - Funding KOH received funding from a VENI grant from The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), project number 451-16-031. The development of this JEM was conducted within the scope of OMEGA-NET, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), project CA16216: Network on the Coordination and Harmonisation of European Occupational Cohorts. This study is partly funded by EPHOR (the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 874703). The UK contribution to this work was supported by funding from the PROTECT COVID-19 National Core Study on transmission and environment, managed by the UK Health and Safety Executive on behalf of HM Government. Publisher Copyright: © 2022, Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health. All rights reserved.

PY - 2022/1/1

Y1 - 2022/1/1

N2 - Objective This study aimed to construct a job exposure matrix (JEM) for risk of becoming infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus in an occupational setting. Methods Experts in occupational epidemiology from three European countries (Denmark, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom) defined the relevant exposure and workplace characteristics with regard to possible exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In an iterative process, experts rated the different dimensions of the COVID19-JEM for each job title within the International Standard Classification of Occupations system 2008 (ISCO-08). Agreement scores, weighted kappas, and variances were estimated. Results The COVID-19-JEM contains four determinants of transmission risk [number of people, nature of contacts, contaminated workspaces and location (indoors or outdoors)], two mitigation measures (social distancing and face covering), and two factors for precarious work (income insecurity and proportion of migrants). Agreement scores ranged from 0.27 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.25–0.29] for ‘migrants’ to 0.76 (95% CI 0.74–0.78) for ‘nature of contacts’. Weighted kappas indicated moderate-to-good agreement for all dimensions [ranging from 0.60 (95% CI 0.60–0.60) for ‘face covering’ to 0.80 (95% CI 0.80–0.80) for ‘contaminated workspaces’], except for ‘migrants’ (0.14 (95% CI-0.07–0.36). As country differences remained after several consensus exercises, the COVID-19-JEM also has a country-axis. Conclusions The COVID-19-JEM assesses the risk at population level using eight dimensions related to SARSCOV-2 infections at work and will improve our ability to investigate work-related risk factors in epidemiological studies. The dimensions of the COVID-19-JEM could also be valuable for other future communicable diseases in the workplace.

AB - Objective This study aimed to construct a job exposure matrix (JEM) for risk of becoming infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus in an occupational setting. Methods Experts in occupational epidemiology from three European countries (Denmark, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom) defined the relevant exposure and workplace characteristics with regard to possible exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In an iterative process, experts rated the different dimensions of the COVID19-JEM for each job title within the International Standard Classification of Occupations system 2008 (ISCO-08). Agreement scores, weighted kappas, and variances were estimated. Results The COVID-19-JEM contains four determinants of transmission risk [number of people, nature of contacts, contaminated workspaces and location (indoors or outdoors)], two mitigation measures (social distancing and face covering), and two factors for precarious work (income insecurity and proportion of migrants). Agreement scores ranged from 0.27 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.25–0.29] for ‘migrants’ to 0.76 (95% CI 0.74–0.78) for ‘nature of contacts’. Weighted kappas indicated moderate-to-good agreement for all dimensions [ranging from 0.60 (95% CI 0.60–0.60) for ‘face covering’ to 0.80 (95% CI 0.80–0.80) for ‘contaminated workspaces’], except for ‘migrants’ (0.14 (95% CI-0.07–0.36). As country differences remained after several consensus exercises, the COVID-19-JEM also has a country-axis. Conclusions The COVID-19-JEM assesses the risk at population level using eight dimensions related to SARSCOV-2 infections at work and will improve our ability to investigate work-related risk factors in epidemiological studies. The dimensions of the COVID-19-JEM could also be valuable for other future communicable diseases in the workplace.

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DO - 10.5271/sjweh.3998

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SN - 0355-3140

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EP - 70

JO - Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health

JF - Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health

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Exposure to a SARS-CoV-2 infection at work: development of an international job exposure matrix (COVID-19-JEM)

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