Occupational Health and Workplace Monitoring at Chemical Agent Disposal Facilities (2001) / Chapter Skim
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3 Health Monitoring
3 Health Monitoring
Pages 20-25
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From page 20... ...
The primary focus of occupational and environmental medicine is on the prevention of occupational injuries and illnesses, rather than on treatment, and on the prevention of occupationally related harm to public health and the environment. The goal of employee health monitoring is to ensure that measures to protect the employee from workplace hazards are effective by carrying out medical surveillance programs for the early detection of adverse health effects.
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From page 21... ...
Occupational physicians may also use epidemiological studies to assess the effectiveness of employee health protection programs. Physicians practicing occupational medicine require appropriate training, not only in this field, but also in clinical practice and related fields, such as industrial hygiene, toxicology, and epidemiology; they also work closely with industrial hygienists, engineers, and health physicists.
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From page 22... ...
Eva/uation, /nspection, and Abatement of Workplace Hazards Occupational health personnel should familiarize themselves with the workplace, inspect it regularly, know the jobs and their potential hazards, and make recommendations for mitigating hazardous situations. Toxico/ogica/ Assessments Occupational health personnel should be familiar with toxicity information on chemicals handled in the workplace.
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From page 23... ...
The following areas present special challenges: 23 rigid controls required to prevent employee and public exposure to chemical agents rapid response required if an agent is released, especially if exposure of employees or the public has occurred or is anticipated use of multiple contractors (on site and across all sites) to run various aspects of operations utilizing different medical forms and procedures the frequent use of OSHA level A or B ensembles, which can cause heat stress, especially in warm weather - public concerns about having chemical agent disposal facilities nearby the high levels of security required around chemical agent storage sites and disposal facilities detailed, frequent communications with the public and local emergency planning officials after a chemical agent release the personnel reliability program (PRP)
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From page 24... ...
These documents cover the following areas, which are governed in turn by numerous referenced OSHA and Army standards and regulations, as well as other federal and state regulations: . staffing and training · medical surveillance, including medical surveillance exams medical surveillance for chemical agent monitoring for heat stress · keeping, releasing, and retaining medical records support for the alcohol and drug abuse program support for hazardous waste operations support for the chemical PRP medical response to chemical accidents/incidents hearing conservation program support for the respiratory protection program support for the occupational vision program health education/communication about hazards, including reproductive and carcinogenic hazards treatment of on-thejob illnesses and injuries · epidemiological investigations · health care administration, including establishment of a quality improvement plan · industrial hygiene services · protection of patients' rights and responsibilities .
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From page 25... ...
Preventing exposure is still the key to avoiding adverse health effects. The major chemical warfare agents include vesicants, such as HD, and nerve agents, such as GB and VX.
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