Ethical Decision-making in Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety

Equips practitioners to solve real-world ethical challenges and strengthen their ethical reasoning skills across OEHS

Ethical Decision-making in Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety offers a comprehensive and practical guide to ethics in the occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) professions. By comparing professional codes of ethics across disciplines and integrating a structured decision-making algorithm, it equips readers with the tools to navigate complex ethical dilemmas. Rich case studies illustrate how ethical principles and professional standards can be applied in real-world settings.

This book will allow readers to:

• Apply relevant professional codes of ethics to guide ethical decision-making using a structured ethical decision-making algorithm
• Navigate safety, industrial hygiene, occupational and environmental health nursing, and occupational and environmental health medicine
• Address emerging and contemporary issues, such as the ethical issues brought about by globalization and using artificial intelligence in the practice of OEHS
• Understand the enforcement of ethical obligations and the consequences of ethical lapses
• Benefit from the authors’ combined decades of teaching ethics to students and professionals across all OEHS disciplines at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Southern California Education and Research Center in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health

Designed for both practitioners and students, this book fosters ethical sensitivity and provides a clear framework for responsible, informed action in OEHS practice.

Mark Katchen is the Managing Principal for The Phylmar Group, Inc. with more than 40 years of expertise in industrial hygiene, toxicology, occupational health, risk communication, and sustainable supply chain practices. He has co-taught the graduate-level course Ethics for Health and Safety Professionals for over 15 years at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Southern California Education and Research Center in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, educating students and professionals in industrial hygiene, safety, occupational medicine, and nursing.

Elizabeth Anne Thomas is an Adjunct Associate Professor, the Assistant Director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program, and the Deputy Director of the Occupational & Environmental Health Nursing Program at the University of California Los Angeles Joe C. Wen School of Nursing. She has co-taught the interdisciplinary ethics course for health and safety professionals alongside Mark Katchen for more than 15 years at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Southern California Education and Research Center in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.