Pulmonary function tests are an essential component of your respiratory protection program because they measure an employee’s lung function. When performed on a new hire, a pulmonary function test can identify employees who may not be suited to wearing a respirator or working in an environment where there are potential hazardous exposures.

The information gained from respiratory health surveillance, including medical evaluation and pulmonary function testing, may lead to detection of early lung disease. Detecting lung disease early allows for earlier access to management and treatment. Pulmonary function tests truly are a safety net for employees.

When any industry, corporation, or company uses spirometry as a proactive occupational health tool to monitor respiratory function, not only does it place a focus on employee’s well-being, but it can also serve to discover root issues causing these respiratory conditions.

Occupational health spirometry testing is an exceptional, noninvasive, and highly effective method of monitoring the lung capacity and wellness of employees

Spirometry is one of the most common pulmonary function test. OccumedKe uses spirometry to measure:

• Air volume breathed out, or forced vital capacity (FVC)
• Air volume expelled in one second, or forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and
• The relationship between the two (the FEV1/FVC ratio)

Clinicians can use any of these tests (or a combination of them) to examine results over time to diagnose a worsening condition or a need for work restriction or medical treatment.

It’s important to understand that OSHA requires pulmonary function testing only in the medical surveillance provisions of standards related to specific substances, such as asbestos, cotton dust, benzene, formaldehyde and, more recently, silica and beryllium.

Examples of Occupational Lung Conditions that can be identified on Spirometry

• Obstructive lung disease
  • Asthma (Irritant Induced and Occupational)
  • Bronchiolitis Obliterans
  • Bysinossis (Cotton fibres, hemp etc)
  • Chronic Beryllium Disease
  • Interstitial Lung Disease
  • COPD
• Restrictive lung Disease
  • Asbestosis and Related pleural disease
  • Chronic Berillium Disease
  • Pneumoconiosis (Pulmonary Fibrosis)
  • Hard Metal Disease (Pulmonary fibrosis – Un/Cemented carbide materials/tools)
  • Hypersensitivity pneumonitis
  • Silicosis (Mining, drilling, quarrying, blasting, grinding etc)
• Mixed Obstructive/Restrictive lung disease

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• to identify whether employees have suffered hearing loss and
• to determine if noise in the workplace might be contributing to hearing loss.

If you need to raise your voice to speak to someone 3 feet away, your noise levels might be over 85 decibels

Exposure to high noise levels can cause permanent hearing loss which cannot be corrected by surgery of hearing aids. Short term exposure to loud noise can also cause a temporary change in hearing with symptoms such as :

• Tinnitus (Ringing in your ears)
• Hearing loss
• Feeling tired or irritable

These short term problems may go away within a few minutes of hours after leaving the noise. However, repeated exposure to loud noise can lead to permanent hearing loss.

Loud noise can also contribute to physical and psychological stress, reduce productivity, interfere with communication and concentration which may result in workplace accidents and injuries

NOISE > 85 decibels.

can damage your hearing after repeated exposures lasting 8 hours or more. Equipment, like printing presses and lawn mowers, and activities like vacuuming, or using earbuds or headphones with the volume set around 70%, all average about 85-90 dBA.

When noise reaches 95 dBA – which is loud enough that you must shout to be heard by someone at arm’s length – it can put your hearing at risk in less than an hour. Bulldozers, ambulance sirens, chain saws, bars/nightclubs and large sporting events are all louder than 95 dBA.

In addition to damaging hearing, loud noise can cause other physical stress as well as mental stress. Often the short-term effects of such stress go unnoticed or are blamed on other things. These symptoms can range from feeling tired and/or irritable to having temporarily high blood pressure or muffled hearing. Over time, with repeated exposure to loud noise, more lasting conditions can develop, such as hearing loss (a permanent condition), and it is unknown if these exposures may also lead to more lasting cardiovascular conditions, such as high blood pressure.

Fortunately, workplace noise exposure can be reduced and occupational hearing loss entirely prevented with today’s hearing loss prevention strategies and technology. This NIOSH study also highlighted the importance of workers getting screened regularly for hearing loss, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, and the benefits of workplace health and wellness programs. These programs have been shown to have a substantial return on investment, by reducing losses in productivity from disease progression and boosting morale. Workers exposed to loud noise may especially benefit from these programs.

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• if employees are medically fit to start working (and be exposed) to those substances, and
• if employees are medically fit to continue working with designated substances

In short, employers who expose employees to hazardous substances have a legal obligation to

• monitor whether such exposure is harming employees’ health
• take every precaution necessary to protect employees and reduce the potential harm.

WE COME TO YOU

We know that employers with designated substances can’t just send a few hundred (or even a few) employees down to the local clinic for their medicals.

Our On-site services saves employers money, by reducing the time it takes to conduct these medicals. our nurses and doctors come to you, bring portable equipment, and conduct the designated substance medicals right at your workplace.

Call us to discuss your needs

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Employers who are unsure of how to handle an injured worker’s compensation can rest assured that we will provide them with the most accurate assessments and plan of action.

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We provide competent training in workplace first aid essentials targeting staff. The main objective of the First Aid course is to equip participants with knowledge and skills to prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. These include CPR, choking, basic medical conditions to dealing with bleeding and shock. It enables the participants to deal with most emergency incidents within and around their workplace and home

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• are exposed to designated substances like Lead, Mercury, Silica, Asbestos, and so on, or
• are required to operate equipment where standards or regulations require employee health testing.

These are specified under the Medical Rules (2005) and OSHA 2007 enforced by the Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health under the Ministry of Labor.

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Pre-placement medical examinations are used to ensure that an employee is medically fit for the work being offered, and that he/she is able to do the work without injuring themselves or others. Employers use these medicals because:

• They are required by law, in cases where employers use designated substances or
• it’s prudent to ensure that employees are medically able to do the work they’re being offered

We can help clients determine the right protocol (series of tests) to use for each job type; arrange for medicals to be conducted consistently across all our service staff & clinics and even arrange for standardized, consistent pricing across Kenya.

Call us, and we’ll gladly walk through the process with you.

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Some key competencies unique to occupational medicine include:

• Clinical Medicine
• Workplace Hazard Assessment including:
  • Knowledge of different hazards
  • Health Effects of occupational hazards
  • Control of work related hazards
  • Investigation of adverse events
• Critical appraisal of information
  • Causation determination
  • Evaluations of diagnostic tests efficacy
  • Evaluation of health intervention efficacy
• Fitness for Work determination
• Development and integration of wellness and fitness programs for the workplace

No matter which industry we look at, employees’ health has a huge impact on performance and productivity in almost any job. This in turn has an impact on the companies’ performance as well. After all, employees that are fit will be able to contribute in a better capacity, and will also need lesser downtime from work. It wouldn’t be a stretch to then say that an organization’s success is closely linked to the health of its workforce.

Medical examinations serve two main purposes in Occupational Health practice:

• To place people on work that is commensurate to the physical and mental capabilities

An unsuitable worker could pose a safety risk to him/herself, other team members and even the company at large as a result of legal suits for injury benefits. This would also help your company meet the required safety standards by DOSH

Specific functional assessments are a great way to find the right fit, and significantly reduce the chances of injury during work. This in turn will help the company to reduce, and maybe even avoid compensation claims and insurance costs due to work related injury and disease, or work related mental disorders

• To monitor those exposed to known or suspected environmental hazards causing work related disease.

Components of the Medical Examiantion

• Medical History, to ascertain and rule out any past or likely health conditions that could impact performance and safety
• Vision Check, to check for strength of vision, color blindness or other sight issues
• Audiometry Test, to check for hearing ability or hearing loss
• Functional Assessments as per the job role

This being said, we are also able to customize the health assessment parameters for specific job roles, as need be

The result of the Medical Examination is

A Report on the Employee Fitness for Work

Categories of the Medical Examination

Pre Employment /Entrance Medicals

The doctor must evaluate whether the performance of the given work at the workplace known to him will not lead to a negative development of the worker’s state of health, or whether this worker could harm the health of his fellow citizens in connection with his state of health. It is conducted:

• after temporary incapacity for work longer than 8 weeks (again before inclusion in the labor process),
• in the case of reasonable suspicion that there has been a change in the employee’s medical capacity (on his initiative or at the initiative of the employer).

Periodic Medicals

Regular inspections are carried out in order to assess the development of the state of health during the performance of work at the given workplace. Used to:

• detect early health adverse effects due to work
• evaluate the ability to use personal protective work equipment
• exclude employee from work process in a timely manner upon exposure to hazardous substances

The frequency of regular examinations is based on the assumption of possible changes in health status due to work

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