Basic Occupational Health Services

The Basic Occupational Health Services are an application of the primary health care principles in the sector of occupational health. Primary health care definition can be found in the World Health Organization Alma Ata declaration from the year 1978 as the “essential health care based on practical scientifically sound and socially accepted methods, (…) it is the first level of contact of individuals, the family and community with the national health system bringing health care as close as possible to where people live and work (…)”.

An effort was launched by the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) to develop Basic Occupational Health Services, since occupational health services are available to only 10-15% of workers worldwide. Even where services are available, their quality and relevance may be low. Basic Occupational Health Services are most needed for countries and sectors that do not have services at all or which are seriously underserved.

To provide occupational health services for all working people in the world, regardless of mode of employment, size of workplace or geographic location, that is, according to the principle of universal services provision.

The surveillance of the work environment is one of the key activities of Basic Occupational Health Services. It is carried out for the identification of hazardous exposures and other conditions of work, identification of exposed workers and assessment of the levels of exposures for various groups of workers. Surveillance surveys must include the assessment of:

Information from surveillance of the work environment is combined with information from health surveillance, and other relevant available data are used for risk assessment. It includes:

The surveillance of worker's health is made through various types of health examinations. The main purpose of health examinations is to assess the suitability of a worker to carry out certain jobs, to assess any health impairment which may be related to the exposure to harmful agents inherent in the work process and to identify cases of occupational diseases which may have resulted from exposures at work. The following types of health examinations are carried out either on the basis of regulations or as a part of good occupational health practice:

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