Pre-employment Screening - Baseline Data for Future Exposures

The second part of Pre-employment Screening is creating Baseline Data for Future Exposures. This screening exists to establish a level ("baseline") of data that can later "determine if exposures have adversely affected the worker."

Baseline testing can include both of the following:

• Medical screening tests
• Biologic monitoring tests (for example, blood lead level prior to exposure, which can later be compared to test data sampled during the site visits)

OSHA notes that "the problem in predicting significant exposures for workers" is that "there are no clear guidelines for prescribing specific tests." However, it does provide some broad guidelines for approaching test selection. Employers should consider the following:

• Tests based on the worker's past occupational and medical history
• Tests based on an assessment of significant potential exposures
• Standard (industry-established) testing for specific toxicants in situations where workers might undergo significant exposure
• Standard procedures (if and when available) that determine the levels of "other substances (for example, lead, cadmium, arsenic, and organophosphate pesticides)"
• Tests that use pre-employment blood specimens and serum frozen for later testing, when necessary. (Note that this does not apply to all potential hazards. PCBs and some pesticides are examples of chemicals that are amenable to such monitoring.)

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