The occupational health physician in the public health structure
Bodini, L.
Giornale Italiano di Medicina del Lavoro 9(5-6): 199-204
1987
ISSN/ISBN: 0391-9889 PMID: 3509159 Document Number: 304756
The paper deals with the relationship between duties and professional responsibility of the Occupational Health Physician in the Local Health Units. The Local Health operating in the field of Health protection in the workplace must guarantee: - generally acceptable management both qualitatively and quantitatively as regards knowledge and actions in the respective territories; up-dating of the information system in order to plan and check actions according to the degree and extent of risks in all possible working environments: industry and agriculture, service industry, construction industry, ect., and according to the health status of the working population. - unequivocal, timely and scientifically correct information of the public. The Health Protection in the Workplace Units should be responsible for these duties, transforming them into objective planning choices and setting up operative models of action based on typically interdisciplinary activities and tasks. In our opinion, health practice in community service should be mainly of an epidemiological and organisational nature rather than diagnostic and clinical. The main activities are therefore: - control and coordination of periodical and prescribed health examinations: the protocols must be suitable for and consistent with the risks involved and deontological and legal requirements must be respected. - establishment via epidemiological investigations of the health status of the workers in a community; this can also be achieved by means of direct health investigations (by industrial sector, by risk). - Training and information, health education.