Exposure assessment; interpretation and reporting of test results; occupational health consultation; physical exams; record keeping. A medical surveillance program, including methods for collecting, tracking, and analyzing employee health and safety data, is crucial for maintaining a safe work environment. This includes utilizing a Remote Surveillance Trailer in Susanville CA for initial medical exams and tests, as well as regular follow-up and data collection for historical records, all of which are required by OSHA. In the past, the terms medical surveillance and medical examination were sometimes used interchangeably (and sometimes incoherently), and it is important to understand the distinctions between these activities.5 Medical surveillance describes activities that are aimed at health events or a change in the biological function of a exposed person or persons.
A surveillance program involves recurrent longitudinal examinations and analysis of data over time. The medical examination is a complementary activity, sometimes considered a form of medical surveillance, which is designed to detect the first signs of a work-related illness by administering tests to apparently healthy people with a cross-sectional approach. 5 In the past, different meanings have been assigned to the term medical control, but the most appropriate thing is to consider it analogous to that of screening. Screening activities generally have a more clinical approach compared to surveillance (the person being tested can receive direct treatment in response to the screening test), but medical test data, collected in a standardized manner, aggregated and evaluated over time, can also be evaluated as part of a surveillance program.
Figures like these help explain why an effective medical surveillance program is vital for you and your business. The components of a medical surveillance program come together to ensure that workers stay safe and sound. Understanding what medical surveillance is, how it can have a positive impact on your workplace, and the ways in which third parties, such as Mobile Medical, can help implement these programs in the workplace can help you take steps to create an ideal work environment. These standards and the practice of medical surveillance benefit employers in a number of ways, as they make the workplace happier, healthier and more productive. Identification of the group or groups of workers for whom surveillance or detection activities will be appropriate. The availability of effective interventions is an important consideration when establishing a medical surveillance or screening program.
The provider can take care of the required screening tests and all other components of your medical surveillance program. The Department of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) offers a full range of medical surveillance services, which can be customized to meet the unique needs of each department and to help it meet all applicable regulatory standards. Such medical surveillance may consist, at a minimum, of gathering information about the medical history of a target population. For example, three of these types of medical surveillance that may be occurring in a workplace include evaluation of a worker's ability to use or use respiratory equipment or other required personal protective equipment, medical examinations related to work placement, and medical examinations as part of emergency medical care after a work-related exposure or incident.
Concentra has been offering medical surveillance exams and other occupational health programs and services for more than 40 years. Both surveillance and medical examinations are the second line of defense behind the implementation of engineering, administrative, and labor practice controls (including personal protective equipment). Employers should continue to use these established medical surveillance applications, as appropriate, and keep in mind that future analyses of these data with respect to current exposure to nanomaterials can provide useful information about potential health effects related to exposure to those nanomaterials. Medical professionals, such as family doctors and certified medical laboratories, can provide the services required by OSHA as part of a medical surveillance program.
