The purposes of occupational medical surveillance in US industry and related health findings

Abstract

The primary purpose for implementing medical surveillance is to protect the general health and fitness of all employees. The next most frequent purpose of medical surveillance programs is to determine whether employees have the physical capability to perform their jobs (ie, surveillance to establish "fitness for duty"). The most commonly reported uses of medical surveillance data for establishments across all industry divisions were to implement or change work practices, to implement or change administrative control programs, to modify training programs, and to change personal protective equipment. Eighteen percent of establishments in all size classes and industries that have medical surveillance programs have identified adverse health effects among employees. The health effects most commonly identified by the medical surveillance programs were repetitive trauma, hearing loss, and skin disorders. Programs designed to detect hearing loss and cumulative trauma disorders, are in fact, finding these adverse effects. Among employees actually receiving periodic medical surveillance tests (6 million), 5% were found to have an abnormal test result.