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. 2020 Jan;62(1):e12172.
doi: 10.1002/1348-9585.12172.

Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of occupational health services in a tertiary hospital in Singapore

Jeff Hwang  1   2 , Elsie Yong  3 , Karen Cheong  3 , Zheng Jye Ling  4 , Lay Hoon Goh  5 , Fong Seng Lim  5 , Victor Loh  5 , Natasha Bagdasarian  6 , Jyoti Somani  6 , Sophia Archuleta  6   7 , Judy Sng  1   2 , See Ming Lim  1
Affiliations

Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of occupational health services in a tertiary hospital in Singapore

Jeff Hwang et al. J Occup Health. 2020 Jan.

Abstract

With coronavirus disease 2019 declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020, occupational health services in a tertiary hospital in Singapore stepped up via a three-pronged approach, namely, protection of individual staff, protection of staff workforce, and prevention of nosocomial spread so as to support business continuity plans. Despite the multiple new challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital's occupational health services were able to adapt and keep all employees and patients safe with strong support from senior management and close collaboration with various departments.

Keywords: COVID-19; business continuity plan; hospital; infection control; occupational health.

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Conflict of interest statement

Approval of research protocol: N/A. Informed consent: N/A. Registry and the registration no. of the study/trial: N/A. Animal studies: N/A. Conflict of interest: N/A.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Number of pre‐employment cases seen at Occupational Health Clinic (OHC) before and after implementation of additional public health measures in hospital on 7 February 2020. There were new staff hired at short notice to cope with the demands due to new measures and increased workload. In total, over the first 3 months, a total of 1389 new staff were seen by OHC. On average, around 100 new pre‐employment cases were seen weekly since 7 February 2020, as compared to around 50 cases prior
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Number of staff on phone surveillance at Occupational Health Clinic (OHC) before and after implementation of additional public health measures in hospital on 7 February 2020. All staff with unprotected exposure to COVID‐19 cases in the community or in the hospital and staff returning from overseas post‐travel would be put on phone surveillance of acute respiratory illness (ARI) symptoms twice a day. If they were asymptomatic at the end of 14‐day period post‐exposure or post‐travel, they would be able to return to work without further review. However, if they reported development of ARI symptoms when under surveillance, they would be required to report sick immediately and to be swab tested for COVID‐19. Altogether, a total of 376 staff were put on symptom surveillance in the first 3 months of COVID‐19 local transmission
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Numbers of reviews to return‐to‐work post–acute respiratory illness (ARI) before and after implementation of additional public health measures in hospital on 7 February 2020. All staff who reported sick with ARI symptoms would need to be reviewed by Occupational Health Clinic (OHC) prior returning to work. They were not on phone surveillance. A total of 2846 return‐to‐work reviews were conducted by OHC in the first 3 months since COVID‐19 local transmission in Singapore
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References

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