Most diseases, injuries, and other health conditions experienced by working
people are multifactorial, especially as the workforce ages. Evidence supporting
the role of work and personal risk factors in the health of working people is
frequently underused in developing interventions. Achieving a longer, healthy
working life requires a comprehensive preventive approach. To help develop
such an approach, we evaluated the influence of both occupational and personal
risk factors on workforce health. We present 32 examples illustrating 4 combinatorial
models of occupational hazards and personal risk factors (genetics, age,
gender, chronic disease, obesity, smoking, alcohol use, prescription drug use).
Models that address occupational and personal risk factors and their interactions
can improve our understanding of health hazards and guide research and
interventions.