Occupational Health and the Built Environment: Ethical Issues
The built environment includes many different types of human-made structures, such as houses, apartments, factories, shopping malls, office buildings, schools, roads, sidewalks, airports, parks, cities, dams, waste sites, sewers, electric power lines, pipelines, suburbs, and cities. This chapter provides an overview of ethical issues related to occupational health and the built environment, including property rights versus public health, distribution of health risks and environmental justice, occupational health and safety standards, and housing standards. To address these issues, decision-makers should have access to scientific information concerning the health impacts of the built and workplace environment and should be aware of the basic values at stake. Affected stakeholders, as well as the public at large, should have meaningful input into government decision-making related to these issues.