title: The occupational health audit.
abstract: The final report contains no magic or proprietary secrets. It is simply a logical review of what exists with an orderly recommendation of what should be done. To repeat -- many times the hardest part of any job is getting started. The purpose of this exercise is to provide a plan and a way to get started. This may seem like something so obvious that it is not needed. But a review of existing occupational health programs dispels that view. Five years after the enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, hundreds of thousands of physical examinations are still being performed in a total vacuum; examinations whose contents bear little relationship to the hazards encountered. Countless laboratory determinations are being provided to personnel officers and plant managers who have absolutely no background in interpreting the meaning of those results. Millions of records are being meticulously kept with no goal in mind as to what purpose they should serve nor consideration for the privacy of individuals. In short, untold millions of dollars are being wasted while the things that should be done are left undone because, to quote, "the cost is too high." Often health professionals are employed by an organization because health crises have developed which force expert handling. The health professional enters chaos and is kept so busy answering fire-calls that there is no time for the orderly evaluation of needs and the development of operating routines required to prevent new crises from developing. Today's crises are being addressed while tomorrow's crises are developing out of routine situations. The health professional is not at fault; rather, executive management has failed to provide the necessary systems to meet its responsibilities. So long as this situation prevails, there is a need for someone to take the time to develop an orderly approach to occupational health surveillance. When such a condition exists, it is time to call in an independent auditor to provide an objective evaluation of what needs to be done. It is to provide a "handle" for getting hold of such situations that we developed our Occupational health Audit. It offers one way to get the job started.
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008485:Medical Audit; D009786:Occupational Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D009934:Organization and Administration; D011787:Quality of Health Care