Ethics on Wearables Devices in Occupational Health Surveillance and Research

This past installment of the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine grand rounds, on Friday, January 10, 2025, focused on the ethics of wearables devices in occupational Health as described by Karel Van Damme, MD.
Karel Van Damme, MD, is an occupational health physician, who started his career as a labor inspector in Belgium. He was involved in the elaboration of European Union legislative regulations on occupational health protection. He was a personal advisor to several Belgian ministers of work. He is also a former chair of the board of the Belgian Compensation Fund for Occupational Diseases, which consisted of ‘social partners’, representing the national employers and trade union organizations. He is currently president of the Belgian ‘High Council on Prevention and Protection at Work’, which is a key body in negotiating legislation in this domain. Dr. Van Damme has lectured internationally on OSH and serves as an external expert for the International Labor Organization. His most current research related to a critical analysis of the use of genetic testing of workers, also as lead of European research projects on this issue. He also conducted epidemiological research, e.g., on benzene-exposed workers and on causes of myelodysplastic syndrome.