Purpose of Medical Surveillance

Medical surveillance is a "feedback loop to the employer" because information about personnel medical issues may indicate undetected hazards in the workplace.* Medical surveillance serves the following purposes:

• Assesses and monitors workers' health prior to employment and also during the course of employment
• Helps to provide proper emergency and non-emergency treatments to personnel when needed
• Ensures workers are physically capable of completing the tasks they will be assigned
• Reports each worker's medical conditions (either to federal, state, and local agencies, as required by law)
• Helps to identify potential problem areas on a work site
• Makes it possible to evaluate the effectiveness of an existing worksite's preventative safety strategies
• Provides a more active (rather than reactive) approach to workplace safety
• Aids when adjudicating claims and when providing evidence (should litigation occur)
• Assists with any future epidemiological studies (studies related to diseases)

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