Observations on work force and training needs for assessing environmental health risks.

The continuing discoveries of hazardous waste sites have stimulated environmental health risk assessment efforts in State and local environmental health agencies. Elements of risk assessment are defined, showing how risk assessment interfaces with risk management. Environmental health risk assessment involves work components (tasks, activities, and technologies), the worker (position, classification, and occupation), and work organization (purpose, outputs, and objectives). Information from six State agencies was used to describe current State government experiences with environmental health risk assessment. Education and risk assessment are described, particularly as they relate to schools of public health and the role of continuing education for the public health work force.