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IntroductionHealth Surveillance can be defined in various ways. Classically it has been understood to comprise those strategies and methods to detect and assess systematically the adverse effects of work on the health of workers. It has however also been used to include systematic assessments of fitness for work, and/or of health status that is not directly related to occupation. |
Purposes of Health Surveillance
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Criteria for conducting Health Surveillance
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Health Surveillance Techniques should be:
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Examples of Health Surveillance
e.g. 2.5-hexane di one (a metabolite of n-hexane) in urine COHb in workers exposed to methylene chloride.
e.g. Cholinesterase in blood of workers exposed to certain organophosphorus pesticides
e.g. an occupational health nurse administering a questionnaire for symptoms of asthma or rhinitis; or examining the hands for dermatitis
e.g. lung function measurement in workers exposed to substances known to cause occupational asthma; Chest X-rays in workers exposed to respirable quartz
![]() This page deals with the classical definition of Health
Surveillance
in an occupational context, although you can find out elsewhere about screening. Links to relevant guidelines and criteria documents can be found elsewhere on this website, especially by clicking here and looking by subject area or by using the search tool. In the United Kingdom a substantial amount of valuable information on
national health surveillance of occupational disease and work related
illhealth is collected through the THOR
network. |
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