Minnesota Occupational Medecine is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment in Minnesota. As a secondary effect, it may also protect co-workers, family members, employers, customers, suppliers, nearby communities, and other members of the public who are impacted by the workplace environment. The International Labour Organization and the World Health Organization have shared a common definition of Minnesota occupational health. It was adopted by the Joint ILO/WHO Committee on Occupational Health at its first session in 1950 and revised at its twelfth session. The definition reads: "Occupational health should aim at: the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations; the prevention amongst workers of departures from health caused by their working conditions; the protection of Minnesota workers in their employment from risks resulting from factors adverse to health; the placing and maintenance of the worker in an occupational environment adapted to his physiological and psychological capabilities; and, to summarize, the adaptation of work to man and of each man to his job." The reasons for establishing good occupational safety and health standards are frequently identified as: Moral, Economic and Legal.
