What is Meant by Medical Monitoring for Workplace Hazards?

The primary goal of all medical monitoring of the workplace is to assure that workers are protected from any physical injury or health damage caused by the circumstances of their job.

To do this the workplace first needs to be fully evaluated to determine what all kinds of hazards exist that could potentially impact the people who perform duty in that location. Examples of workplace hazards include heat and cold extremes, high noise levels, noxious chemicals, vision risks, ionizing radiation, heavy metals, cancer-causing agents and asbestos, to name just a few. If a possible damaging risk is present, we must know about it so we can act to protect those individuals that could be at risk.

Once each risk factor is identified, it is important to figure out how we can protect our workers. This can include engineering changes that physically limit the potential injuries for those in the area. For instance, if there is a very loud piece of equipment, placing dampeners would be helpful. You could even build a wall to limit the transmission of the noise to the nearby personnel. If there are dangerous fumes present, by adding extra ventilation measures we can decrease the amount of those fumes that remain within that job site. Avoiding and limiting as many direct employee exposures is far more successful than simply hoping others measures will still protect those workers.

Next, we look to see what we can do for each employee to control unavoidable hazards. This can be personal protective equipment, referred to as PPE, that is specifically designated according to the identified hazards. It is always important to communicate to each worker why the proper PPE, hearing protection, or other measures must be used as effectively as possible. If not, the workers may not fully use the available protections that will allow them to function safely regardless of the related risks they face at their particular job site.

Then comes occupational health monitoring. Once the medical staff knows what each worker is exposed to they can tailor their medical testing to make sure no one is suffering any type of heal effects due to those workplace hazards without being recognized. Certain types of blood and urine tests can allow the medical team to watch for any signs of damage in the individual. Some risks might require observation of chest x-rays, hearing tests, lung function studies, or anything else the medical staff feels is appropriate related to the hazards involved.  

For many people, having to go through all of these tests and medical evaluations may seem troublesome and unnecessary. Nevertheless, we occupational health professionals are working very hard to make certain that you do not suffer harm just because you are trying to make a living at the job for which you have been hired. Many job sites are inherently dangerous so all of these actions are designed to keep each and every worker as safe as possible, regardless of the nature of risks related to each job.

Despite every precaution we use to limit health effects in the workplace, some people may suffer adverse results due to their occupational exposures. It is extremely important that any such problems be identified as quickly as possible to make certain that no permanent damage is suffered by any employee. Failing to recognize a developing medical condition might allow that health issue to worsen significantly. This is what we truly hope to avoid!

This is the real bottom line: we want all of our workers to operate in safe conditions despite the required hazards present in their job site and always remain as healthy as possible!