diseases (n=538). Considering just the diabetes ICDs, Insulindependent diabetes mellitus (E10) represented 63.6%, followed by non-insulin-dependent Diabetes (E11) with 24.4% and unspecified diabetes mellitus (E14) with 12%. The majority of beneficiaries were male (71.7%), associated with urban jobs (46.7%) especially administrative posts, ranging from 50 to 64 years old (63%). Discussion The profile of workers who have requested benefits due to diabetes mellitus showed that the majority of beneficiaries were male adults, working in urban jobs ranging from 50-64 years old, mainly affected by Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus disease. In addition, these beneficiaries can be more susceptible to workplace thermal conditions, stress and other issues inherent to the disease, such as hypo or hyperglycemia. These data should help in the implementation of strategies and measures to prevent the work disability caused by diabetes involving Brazilian workers and improve the worker's quality of life.

Dr Hocking raises a number of important issues in commenting on our paper about mortality in the cohort of current and former employees of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) (Aust N Z J Public Health 2005;29(3): 229-37).Our paper was not intended to demonstrate or disprove the carcinogenicity of ionising radiation per se, but to compare the mortality of the ANSTO worker cohort with that of the New South Wales population. We agree that our study shares characteristics in common with many retrospective occupational cohort studies, including the absence of comprehensive information on a range of potentially important exposure variables and incomplete follow-up of some cohort members. We doubt that major methodological improvements could have been made to the study, given the small size of the cohort, the limited availability of exposure data for several potential carcinogens, both occupational and non-occupational, and the chronological period covered by computerised mortality registers.