This work was carried out as part of a program of research funded by the Health and Safety Executive, 25 Chapel Street, London, and their support is gratefully acknowledged Thanks are also due to the staff and students of the Barnet Area School of Nursing, Edgware and Barnet General Hospitals, and the OccupaUonal Health Departments at these hospitals for their generous cooperation in this workThe author is grateful to Donald Broadbent for valuable comments on this article and to Colleen Phillips and Davma Rendall for data processing and computing assistance Requests for reprints should be sent to Katharine R