Four projects on the relationship between health and working conditions have received grants totalling NOK 280,000 from Statoil's research fund.
NOK 90,000 has been donated to Prof Per Bakke in the institute for internal medicine at the University of Bergen to study work-related asthma in a general Norwegian population.
And Elverum joint occupational health service north of Oslo is getting NOK 30,000 towards a project on exposure to isocyanates and health problems following the rail accident at Ã…sta on 4 January.
Britt G Randem at the National Hospital in Oslo has been given NOK 100,000 for work on cancer incidence and mortality among Norwegians working with asphalt. This project received a similar sum last year.
Section head Oscar Espeland in the occupational and environmental department at the Telemark Central Hospital south of Oslo is receiving NOK 60,000 to look at implementing methods for sampling solvents in exhaled air among exposed workers.
Since the research fund was established in 1983, it has handed out almost NOK 7.5 million.
This money has gone to projects which seek to prevent possible occupational injuries and illnesses relating to petrochemical operations, and to other medical issues which could be significant for the working environment.
"Through the fund, we're helping to ensure that important studies are carried out," explains Statoil occupational health physician Hans-Jørgen Breder, who chairs the fund.
"These investigations, which might otherwise not have been done, contribute to results that lead to specific measures and that can increase basic knowledge in a number of fields."