Dear All, I am required to develop an Health Management and Surveillance program for our company which is primarily a medium size steel fabrication facility. Can some experts here suggest me the way forward, with respect to what kind of information that I need to gather and what Surveys I would need to do etc and any guidance on the different types of surveillance and their frequencies. Appreciate any help in this regard. Regards, Pradeep

Do you have your own paint shop ? If so Lung function may also be required. Depending on paint type this could also mean testing urine. If it is big stuff you make you may have larger FLT's so may want to consider surveillance for that (eye tests etc) especially if you work 24/7 so night working. Agree with JohnW above especially HAV's, but would of thought hand grinders and Rattlers for welds. All depends a bit on the size of steel fab and equipment you have. Chris

I work for a small company in the same line of work and our first port of call was to appoint a suitably competent contractor to carry out occupational hygiene surveys in relation to noise, hazardous substances (dusts/fumes) and vibration. The reports provided us with the data required to allow us to review our risk assessments, control measures and ensure the health surveillance we would eventually provide was suitable in line with the level of risk. We then invited a few occupational health providers meet to discuss our needs and put forward proposals which would meet our needs. In the end up our health surveillance programme includes a general health check (height, weight, blood pressure), skin assessment, hearing assessment, lung function tests, hand arm vibration assessments and a urinalysis check which can provide indications of something underlying which may require medical treatment (I've known this to be an indicator of various illnesses including diabetes, thyroid issues and cancers). As to frequencies, we generally conduct annually for the first three years to give base line comparisons and thereafter at frequencies recommended by the the OCH provider which are usually either annually, three yearly or five yearly depending on the individual's age and/or health. The exception to this is that we carry out a Tier 2 HAV paper based questionnaire annually. If you have night workers, you will also have to include the specific requirements laid out in the Working Time Directive by offering a health check prior to commencing night work and annually thereafter although in most cases this can be done by using a paperbased questionnaire which is reviewed by OCH with a follow up appointment where deemed necessary.