【Basic Knowledge of Occupational Health】Occupational Health Surveillance
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This post was last edited by slll611 on 2016-3-10 at 22:09. 5 points for participation, 8 points for correct answers, and 10 points for in-depth discussions. Everyone knows what occupational health surveillance means, but do you know what occupational health monitoring means? Who should pay for occupational health monitoring? GBZ188-2014 \"Technical Specifications for Occupational Health Surveillance\" defines it as follows: For preventive purposes, based on workers’ occupational exposure history, it involves the continuous monitoring of workers’ health status through regular or irregular medical examinations and the collection of health-related data. It also entails analyzing the relationship between changes in workers’ health and the occupational disease hazards to which they are exposed, and promptly reporting the results of these examinations and analyses to both the employer and the workers themselves, so that timely intervention measures can be taken to protect their health. The \"Measures for the Supervision and Management of Occupational Health Surveillance in Employers\" (Order No. 49 issued by the State Administration of Work Safety) define occupational health surveillance as referring to occupational health examinations conducted before employees start working, during their employment, upon leaving their jobs, as well as emergency occupational health checks, along with the management of occupational health surveillance records. Occupational health surveillance mainly includes: occupational health examinations, health checks after leaving the job, emergency health assessments, and the management of occupational health surveillance records. Division of responsibilities: It is the responsibility of the employer to provide occupational health monitoring for workers who are exposed to factors that can cause occupational diseases. Employers shall, in accordance with **relevant laws and regulations**, and taking into account the occupational disease hazards present in the work environment, establish an occupational health surveillance system to ensure that workers receive the appropriate health surveillance corresponding to the occupational disease hazards they are exposed to. Employers must establish occupational health surveillance records, assign a dedicated person to manage them, and store them properly for the specified period of time, ensuring the confidentiality of medical information as well as protecting workers’ rights to privacy and confidentiality regarding their occupational health.
(1) Definition of health surveillance: Health surveillance refers to the use of various tests and analyses to assess the impact of occupational hazards on the health of those exposed to them, as well as the extent of that impact. It enables an understanding of the health status of employees, allows for the early detection of signs of health damage, and facilitates the implementation of appropriate preventive measures to prevent the occurrence and progression of diseases caused by these hazards. (II) Purpose and significance of health monitoring. Health monitoring essentially falls under secondary prevention. By combining monitoring of the working environment with occupational epidemiological analysis, it is possible to study the patterns of occurrence and development of diseases caused by occupational hazards among the population, as well as the relationships between exposure and resulting effects. It also enables the evaluation of the effectiveness of protective measures, providing a scientific basis for formulating and revising health standards and taking further control measures, thereby achieving the goals of primary prevention. (III) Contents of health monitoring Traditional health monitoring refers to medical surveillance, which relies primarily on health examinations to detect new cases and identify diseases, among other things. However, since the cause of occupational hazards are external harmful occupational factors, merely identifying patients with occupational diseases is not sufficient to control these causes and eliminate occupational diseases. Therefore, occupational health surveillance should cover both the working environment (as mentioned in the previous lecture) and the individual’s physical condition; the latter includes health examinations, the creation and use of health records, analysis of health status, and assessment of work capacity. 1. Health checks can be divided into pre-employment checks and regular checks. The purpose of a pre-employment examination is to identify occupational contraindications and obtain basic health information about the candidate. Regular examinations involve conducting targeted assessments of the health status of workers at regular intervals, depending on the nature and level of exposure to occupational hazards. The purpose is to investigate the impact of occupational hazards on health, to diagnose and treat occupational diseases promptly, and to identify susceptible populations. It belongs to the second level of prevention and is an important part of health checks. 2. Establishing health monitoring records: Utilizing data from production environment monitoring and health checks to create health monitoring records for employees is an important fundamental task. It provides valuable data for the assessment of occupational hazards, the diagnosis of occupational diseases, and occupational epidemiological studies. 3. Health status analysis: Health monitoring data from the workplace should not only be archived, but also promptly organized, analyzed, evaluated, and fed back to serve occupational health efforts, providing a basis for the implementation and evaluation of measures to control occupational hazards. The costs associated with occupational health monitoring should be borne by the employer
There is a difference between the definitions of health monitoring and occupational health monitoring.
Occupational health surveillance mainly includes occupational health examinations and the management of occupational health surveillance records. Occupational health examinations include pre-employment, during-employment, post-employment, and emergency health checks. The costs of occupational health examinations and medical surveillance for workers shall be borne by the employer.
Occupational health surveillance is a method for protecting health. The costs of occupational health monitoring are borne by the employer.