Science, Work, and Health Justice in the Absence of the Event
Abstract: Prevention represents one of the foundations of public health and occupational medicine, yet it often remains marginal in social and communicative recognition due to its intrinsically non-observable nature. This contribution analyzes the cultural and systemic paradox of prevention, highlighting its concrete impact on the reduction of adverse events, workplace injuries, and work-related diseases. Through a narrative review of scientific and institutional literature and an interdisciplinary analysis of health protection models, the article shows how preventive interventions generate measurable benefits in terms of risk reduction, economic sustainability, and improved health outcomes. Prevention thus emerges not only as an effective health strategy, but as a structural element of equity and social justice within contemporary welfare systems.
Keywords: #GenderBias #OccupationalMedicine #OccupationalHealth #Prevention #OccupationalRisk #WomenAndWork #HealthInvisibility #Equity #GenderMedicine #PublicHealth #KatiusciaVella #EthicaSocietas #ScientificJournal #EthicaSocietasJournal #HumanSciences #SocialSciences #ethicasocietasupli
INTRODUCTION
In public and scientific debate, prevention occupies a paradoxical position. It represents one of the most effective tools for protecting collective health, yet at the same time it remains poorly visible and insufficiently recognized. Avoided events—accidents that do not occur, diseases detected at an early stage, reduced exposures—do not generate narrative nor attract media attention. Yet it is precisely within this dimension of absence that prevention demonstrates its greatest effectiveness. Understanding this paradox is essential in order to properly assess the role of prevention within health systems and occupational contexts.
CONCEPTUAL AND SCIENTIFIC FRAMEWORK
In public health, prevention is defined as a systematic set of interventions aimed at reducing the probability of harmful events occurring and limiting their consequences. It is traditionally articulated into primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention—levels that, in occupational settings, find application in risk assessment, technical and organizational measures, health surveillance, and training programs. These interventions act upstream of harm, influencing health determinants and significantly modifying the distribution of risk within the working population.
THE PARADOX OF THE AVOIDED EVENT
From a cognitive and communicative perspective, prevention encounters a structural limitation: the absence of an event does not generate immediately perceptible evidence. Unlike accidents or manifest disease, the avoided event produces no images, emotions, or urgency. This mechanism contributes to a distortion in the perception of the value of preventive policies, favoring resource allocation toward emergency management rather than risk anticipation. The World Health Organization has repeatedly emphasized that a substantial proportion of major chronic diseases and work-related adverse events are preventable through structured and continuous interventions.¹
EPIDEMIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE AND INSTITUTIONAL DATA
Epidemiological evidence confirms the effectiveness of preventive strategies. Annual reports by INAIL show a significant correlation between the implementation of safety policies, training, and health surveillance and the reduction of serious and fatal workplace accidents across multiple productive sectors.² Similarly, EU-OSHA reports indicate that the indirect costs of inadequate prevention—including absenteeism, permanent disability, and productivity losses—far exceed the investments required to implement preventive measures.³ These data demonstrate that prevention constitutes an economically sustainable strategy as well as a health-oriented one.
PREVENTION AS APPLIED SCIENCE
Prevention is grounded in consolidated scientific methodologies, including risk analysis, predictive models, and longitudinal studies. In occupational medicine, the early identification of functional alterations enables timely interventions capable of significantly modifying the natural history of disease. Evidence shows that even low-intensity chronic exposures produce cumulative effects and that work organization represents a major determinant of health outcomes. Prevention therefore acts not only on the severity, but on the very probability of adverse events.
THE CULTURAL AND SYSTEMIC DIMENSION OF INVISIBILITY
The limited visibility of prevention has significant systemic implications. It contributes to the undervaluation of professions engaged in anticipatory health protection and may reduce investment in preventive policies. This phenomenon fosters a culture centered on delayed, reparative intervention, thereby weakening the overall effectiveness of health protection systems in the workplace.
PREVENTION, EQUITY, AND THE RIGHT TO HEALTH
From an ethical and legal perspective, prevention plays a central role in promoting equity. Acting before harm occurs helps reduce inequalities in exposure to risk and ensures the effective realization of the fundamental right to health. In the Italian legal system, this right is enshrined in Article 32 of the Constitution, which attributes both individual and collective dimensions to health protection.⁴ Prevention thus emerges as an essential instrument of social justice within contemporary health systems.
CONCLUSIONS
Scientific evidence consistently demonstrates the effectiveness of prevention in reducing risk and improving health outcomes. The principal challenge does not lie in proving its usefulness, but in making its value visible within a communicative and political context oriented toward emergency and crisis.⁵ Strengthening the recognition of prevention requires promoting a cultural shift that prioritizes responsibility, risk anticipation, and the sustainability of health protection systems.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1] World Health Organization. Preventing Disease through Healthy Environments. Geneva: WHO, 2016.
[2] INAIL. Relazione annuale sugli infortuni e le malattie professionali. Rome: INAIL, latest available edition.
[3] European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA). The Cost of Poor Occupational Safety and Health. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2014.
[4] Italian Republic. Constitution of the Italian Republic, art. 32.
[5] Marmot, Michael. The Health Gap: The Challenge of an Unequal World. London: Bloomsbury, 2015.
OTHER WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR WOMEN, WORK AND HEALTH TELEMEDICINE AS A PARADIGM OF TRANSFORMATION IN TERRITORIAL HEALTHCARE THE OCCUPATIONAL PHYSICIAN: THE INVISIBLE ALLY WHO PROTECTS THOSE WHO BUILD THE WORLD IL CLINICAL RESEARCH COORDINATOR (CRC): UNA FIGURA STRATEGICA PER LA CONDUZIONE DEGLI STUDI CLINICI LATEST 5 CONTRIBUTIONS MUSCAT AND THE IRANIAN NUCLEAR DOSSIER GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AS A CLINICAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH PHENOMENON: THE PADOVA CHARTER 2026 ECONOMIC AUTONOMY AND FINANCIAL EDUCATION IMPARTIALITY OF THE JUDGE AND THE REFORM: INTERVIEW WITH MARCO TAMBURRINO OPAQUE DATA, CLEAR PAIN
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