Occupational medicine

Last updated
Occupational Medicine
MeSH D009787
Occupational Medicine Physician
Occupation
Names
  • Physician
Occupation type
Specialty
Activity sectors
Medicine
Description
Education required
Fields of
employment
Hospitals, Clinics, Government Agencies, Corporations,

Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM), previously called industrial medicine, [1] [lower-alpha 1] is a board certified medical specialty under the American Board of Preventative Medicine that specializes in the prevention and treatment of work-related illnesses and injuries. [2]

Contents

OEM physicians are trained in both clinical medicine and public health. [3] They may work in a clinical capacity providing direct patient care to workers through worker's compensation programs or employee health programs and performing medical screening services for employers. [2] [3] Corporate medical directors are typically occupational medicine physicians who often have specialized training in the hazards relevant to their industry. [3] OEM physicians are employed by the US military in light of the significant and unique exposures faced by this population of workers. [3] Public health departments, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) commonly employ physicians specialized in occupational medicine. [4] They often advise international bodies, governmental and state agencies, organizations, and trade unions. [5] [ citation needed ]

The specialty of Occupational Medicine rose in prominence following the industrial revolution. [6] Factory workers and laborers in a broad host of emergent industries at the time were becoming profoundly ill and often dying due to work exposures which prompted formal efforts to better understand, recognize, treat and prevent occupational injury and disease. [7]

More recently occupational medicine gained visibility during the Covid Pandemic as spread of the illness was intricately linked to the workplace necessitating dramatic adjustments in workplace health, safety and surveillance practices. [8]

Mission

Occupational medicine aims to prevent diseases and promote wellness among workers. [9] Occupational health physicians must: [9]

OM can be described as:

work that combines clinical medicine, research, and advocacy for people who need the assistance of health professionals to obtain some measure of justice and health care for illnesses they suffer as a result of companies pursuing the biggest profits they can make, no matter what the effect on workers or the communities they operate in. [10]

History

The first textbook of occupational medicine, De Morbis Artificum Diatriba (Diseases of Workers), was written by Italian physician Bernardino Ramazzini in 1700.[ citation needed ]

Notable Occupational Medicine Physicians

Governmental bodies

United States

Russian Federation

Research Institute of Occupational Medicine of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow)

Non-governmental organizations

International

Canadian

United Kingdom

United States

Europe

Australasia

See also

Notes

  1. It can be confusing that British English also uses industrial medicine to refer to occupational health and safety and also uses occupational health to refer to occupational medicine. See the Collins Dictionary's entries for industrial medicine and occupational medicine and occupational health.

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health</span> US federal government agency for work-related health and safety

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is the United States federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness. NIOSH is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Despite its name, it is not part of either the National Institutes of Health nor OSHA. Its current director is John Howard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupational hygiene</span> Management of workplace health hazards

Occupational hygiene is the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, control, and confirmation (ARECC) of protection from risks associated with exposures to hazards in, or arising from, the workplace that may result in injury, illness, impairment, or affect the well-being of workers and members of the community. These hazards or stressors are typically divided into the categories biological, chemical, physical, ergonomic and psychosocial. The risk of a health effect from a given stressor is a function of the hazard multiplied by the exposure to the individual or group. For chemicals, the hazard can be understood by the dose response profile most often based on toxicological studies or models. Occupational hygienists work closely with toxicologists for understanding chemical hazards, physicists for physical hazards, and physicians and microbiologists for biological hazards. Environmental and occupational hygienists are considered experts in exposure science and exposure risk management. Depending on an individual's type of job, a hygienist will apply their exposure science expertise for the protection of workers, consumers and/or communities.

The permissible exposure limit is a legal limit in the United States for exposure of an employee to a chemical substance or physical agent such as high level noise. Permissible exposure limits were established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Most of OSHA's PELs were issued shortly after adoption of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act in 1970.

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An occupational hazard is a hazard experienced in the workplace. This encompasses many types of hazards, including chemical hazards, biological hazards (biohazards), psychosocial hazards, and physical hazards. In the United States, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conduct workplace investigations and research addressing workplace health and safety hazards resulting in guidelines. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) establishes enforceable standards to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses. In the EU, a similar role is taken by EU-OSHA.

A recommended exposure limit (REL) is an occupational exposure limit that has been recommended by the United States National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The REL is a level that NIOSH believes would be protective of worker safety and health over a working lifetime if used in combination with engineering and work practice controls, exposure and medical monitoring, posting and labeling of hazards, worker training and personal protective equipment. To formulate these recommendations, NIOSH evaluates all known and available medical, biological, engineering, chemical, trade, and other information. Although not legally enforceable limits, RELS are transmitted to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) of the U.S. Department of Labor for use in promulgating legal standards.

Workplace health surveillance or occupational health surveillance (U.S.) is the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, and dissemination of exposure and health data on groups of workers. The Joint ILO/WHO Committee on Occupational Health at its 12th Session in 1995 defined an occupational health surveillance system as "a system which includes a functional capacity for data collection, analysis and dissemination linked to occupational health programmes".

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Occupational health nursing is a specialty nursing practice that provides for and delivers health and safety programs and services to workers, worker populations, and community groups. The practice focuses on promotion, maintenance and restoration of health, prevention of illness and injury, and protection from work‐related and environmental hazards. Occupational health nurses (OHNs) aim to combine knowledge of health and business to balance safe and healthful work environments and a "healthy" bottom line.

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American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) is a United States-based professional society for health care professionals in the field of occupational safety and health. ACOEM is the pre-eminent physician-led organization that champions the health of workers, safety of workplaces, and quality of environments.

Occupational heat stress is the net load to which a worker is exposed from the combined contributions of metabolic heat, environmental factors, and clothing worn, which results in an increase in heat storage in the body. Heat stress can result in heat-related illnesses, such as heat stroke, hyperthermia, heat exhaustion, heat cramps, heat rashes, and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Although heat exhaustion is less severe, heat stroke is a medical emergency and requires emergency treatment, which if not provided, can lead to death.

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The Mount Sinai Selikoff Centers for Occupational Health are a set of occupational and environmental health clinics that focus on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of workplace injuries and illnesses. Significant injuries and illnesses that are treated at the clinical centers include occupational lung cancers, manganese/silica/lead exposures, and asbestos-related illness, which was the career-long research of Dr. Irving Selikoff, the centers' inaugural director. The Selikoff Centers for Occupational Health's multidisciplinary health care team includes physicians, nurse practitioners, industrial hygienists, ergonomists, social workers, and benefits specialists, who are "leaders in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of workplace injuries and illnesses," and provide comprehensive patient-centered services in New York City and Lower Hudson Valley. The clinical centers are located within the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai under the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

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The Division of Industrial Hygiene was a division of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) with responsibility for occupational safety and health programs. It existed from 1914 until 1971, when it became the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). It had several names during its existence, most notably the Office of Industrial Hygiene and Sanitation in its earlier years and the Division of Occupational Health during its later years.

References

  1. Encyclopædia Britannica
  2. 1 2 Ladou, Joseph (2021). Current Diagnosis and Treatment: Occupational and Environmental Medicine (6th ed.). United States of America: McGraw Hill. pp. 1–37. ISBN   978-1-260-14343-0.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Thomas McClure, MD. "What Is Occupational Medicine and What Do Occupational Medicine Specialists Do?". San Francisco Medical Society. Archived from the original on 26 September 2006. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  4. "Occupational Epidemiology and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health". www.cdc.gov. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
  5. "Occupational Medicine". American Medical Association. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  6. "Changing the Face of Medicine | AliceHamilton". cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
  7. Hamilton, Alice (1985). Exploring the Dangerous Trades. Northeastern Univ Pr. ISBN   978-0930350819.
  8. Kammoun, Nesrine; Bani, Mejda; Nouaigui, Habib (2022). "The role of occupational medicine in the response to the coronavirus outbreak: the Tunisian Occupational Health and Safety Institute's experience". Pan African Medical Journal. 41: 19. doi:10.11604/pamj.2022.41.19.27713. ISSN   1937-8688. PMC   8895581 . PMID   35291363.
  9. 1 2 "New to Occupational and Environmental Medicine". ACOEM. Retrieved 2021-11-21.
  10. Interview with Dr. Stephen Levin/Obituary, Katie Halper, The Nation, February 14, 2012