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Published in Ken Addley, MCQs, MEQs and OSPEs in Occupational Medicine, 2023
A detailed exposure assessment will be necessary only if a work-related disease is suspected. Then an in-depth history is needed of what the worker has been exposed to, for how long and in what quantities. The practice of occupational medicine is based on the concept of the effect of work on health and the effect of health on work. Hobbies and out-of-work activities may be relevant (e.g., the use of adhesives for model making in a case of occupational asthma). Previous job history is important, particularly if dealing with chronic disease. An accurate assessment will facilitate the provision of realistic and accurate advice to both employee and employers.
Standard Protocol and Provocation Tests
Published in Kurt Ammer, Francis Ring, The Thermal Human Body, 2019
Vardasca has studied the requirements for a vibration stress that can be applied to the hands, and the effects of that stress can be measured by thermal imaging. A physical test of this kind also needs to be supported by a detailed questionnaire to ascertain the exposure conditions, and any documented symptoms. This approach shows promise but has yet to become an accepted means of testing as a national procedure to establish a clinical diagnosis. In the study by Vardasca, a vibration frequency of 31.5 Hz was used with an induced maximum acceleration of 36 m/s2. The hand under test was placed in contact with the vibration plate for 2 min, and thermal imaging used to monitor the temperature distribution before and after exposure. Further studies in this area of industrial injury may lead to an established clinical test for occupational medicine [13].
Medical standards for beach
Published in Mike Tipton, Adam Wooler, The Science of Beach Lifeguarding, 2018
Matters are further complicated when applicants are supported by their own doctors, who will normally be unaware of the complexities of the working environment, against the decision of the employer’s doctor. This is a common problem in occupational medicine. Part of the difficulty lies in the fact that the evidence for some medical conditions is not that robust, and different specialists will have different views of the risk. This tends to be particularly true when a condition is episodic and unpredictable. Clearly, the fact that other ‘safety critical’ occupational groups use similar standards helps to remove the charge of arbitrariness from beach lifeguard medical decisions. Provided that the medical evidence has been carefully assessed and, where necessary, appealed through an appropriate mechanism, the advice of the beach lifeguard employer’s doctor (who should be an accredited specialist in occupational medicine) should stand.
Moral Distress in Military Medicine: Toward Analysis of, and Approach to Measurement, Prevention and Care
Published in The American Journal of Bioethics, 2023
Megan Applewhite, James Giordano
In general, the obligations, or at least moral considerations borne of individual and collective duties are relevant to much of the scope of any form of occupational medicine (American Medical Association 2022). To be sure, occupational medicine must reflect the ecology of those jobs, duties, and services involved, and the need for relative balancing of goods that are important to both individual health, as well as overall good of the occupation. If we consider military medicine as a form of occupational healthcare, then we must appreciate the operational goods that are intrinsic—and essential—to the occupation at hand (i.e., the military). And, once we entertain consideration of what is held to be “good,” then, by definition, we address aspects of morality (given that what is “moral” are those things regarded to be good, right, and in these ways, not good or “wrong”) within the context and constructs of those interactions within a defined collective (Angeles 1992).
Occupational chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder: prevalence and prevention
Published in Expert Review of Respiratory Medicine, 2022
As it is mentioned above, the development of occupational chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, as in the cases of other occupational diseases, is a matter of prevention. Implementation of preventive measures and activities and efficacy of the implemented measures and activities, especially those in primary prevention, should be carefully evaluated. Up to now, a number of studies that evaluated preventive activities focused on respiratory hazards at different workplaces and the gaps in these activities is limited and there is a need of further research in this field. For example, education and training of workers, employers, industrial hygienists, doctors (specialists in occupational medicine, specialists in pulmology, general practitioners, etc.) and other health care workers, industrial hygienists and other subjects involved in the issue of safety and health at work is considered as an important activity within primary prevention of occupational chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. To my knowledge, there is a lack of studies that investigated informing of the workers from ‘dusty occupations’ about results of the risk assessment at their workplaces, as well as about results of their education and training on protection from the respiratory health hazards at their workplaces. Furthermore, there also is a lack of studies that evaluated education and training of health care workers in this field, etc.
Incorporating the interaction between health and work into the undergraduate medical curriculum – a qualitative evaluation of a teaching pilot in English medical schools
Published in Education for Primary Care, 2021
Ferhana Hashem, Sabrena Jaswal, Catherine Marchand, Lindsay Forbes, Naren Srinivasan, Amanda Bates, Stephen Peckham
Frequently, health and work are regarded as topics that fall under the speciality of Occupational Medicine (OM) [6]. Evidence suggests that the teaching of OM is poorly represented in undergraduate training, partly due to perceived difficulties in teaching the subject, and the challenges posed by accommodating large numbers during workplace visits [6]. Its decline in the curriculum is leading to a loss of experience of tutors able to teach about work-related illness or advise on fitness for work [7]. Topics covered in OM are relevant to nearly every speciality especially to primary care and public health [8], yet it has not been a compulsory part of the undergraduate curriculum [7]. Teaching health and work to undergraduates is therefore vital as they will be required to manage most work-related problems as general practitioners or hospital doctors [7].