What Is an Occupational Health Service?
An occupational health service provides a number of services for the protection of workers and improving the working environment. These services monitor exposure levels to hazardous substances in the workplace and propose procedures for controlling exposure. They also monitor workers for overexposure and other health risks and contribute to the prevention of such risks. The primary task of occupational health services is workplace surveillance. Employee Assistance Programs services provide ambulatory care to workers during the course of their workday. The services are usually provided by a general practitioner and involve simple, non-invasive treatments. However, some occupational health services may also involve more comprehensive medical care.
Many of these services are subsidized through social security. Occupational health services can be a valuable resource for employers. As the scope of Workplace Wellness services has expanded, there has been a need for additional standards for occupational health services to ensure their effectiveness. International health organizations have issued guidelines for assessing and evaluating the quality of occupational health services. The ILO Convention on Occupational Health describes an occupational health service as a comprehensive, multidisciplinary service whose primary objective is to promote health and prevent ill-health in the workplace. It also calls for occupational health services to be accessible to workers in small and medium-sized enterprises, agricultural workers, and self-employed communities. Occupational health services may be provided by a commercial provider or by in-house staff. Some organisations choose to hire a full-time OH team for highly hazardous or safety-critical areas.
However, the choice of an OH service provider will depend on a number of factors, including the size of the business, type of work, and location of the workforce. SEQOHS accreditation for commercial OH services can help employers ensure that their OH service is providing a high-quality service. An occupational health service should record all relevant health information in workers' personal confidential health files. The files should contain information on workers' jobs, exposure to occupational hazards, and the results of their health assessments. These files may only be shared with the worker's consent. This practice protects workers' privacy and complies with the ILO Occupational Health Services Recommendation No. 171. Its aim is to ensure that workplaces comply with regulations regarding occupational health services. Before the industrial revolution, the main focus of occupational health was manual labor.
After the Civil War, many factories opened up across the nation, creating thousands of jobs. These factories employed young and inexperienced workers. However, many were riddled with health hazards and had poor ventilation systems. This made workers breathe toxic fumes and accumulated dust. A primary objective of an occupational health service is to improve the health status of workers. This includes health promotion programmes. In some countries, health promotion in the workplace is treated as a distinct discipline. Health promotion specialists work independently in enterprises, but should work with an occupational health service to ensure that the programme is relevant, feasible, and effective. Be sure to check out this website at http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/health.care/ for more info about healthcare.
