Where is Occupational Medicine Going?

Abstract

Occupational medicine, Occupational and Environmental medicine, Industrial Hygiene, Occupational and Sports medicine, Protection at Work, whatever it is called in different countries, this is an extraordinary important branch of preventive medicine. In some European countries, occupational medicine as a scientific study lost its recognition, starting from health centres to medical schools. The question to be asked is whether such an automatic negation of a new danger is positive, not only for the reason of the lost dignity, but also because of endangering community and environment. For a long while now we witness the results of low rating and significance of the occupational medicine. The traffic accidents and misuse of firearms have increased, as well as sudden deaths of young athletes at sports events, the number of work injuries and professional illnesses. Further question is the growing privatization and tendency of the total privatization of primary and specific healthcare, i.e. the whole health system except partially hospitals. The occupational medicine specialist at the open market losses the much needed neutrality and in order to keep the clients and survive, panders to contracted firms or to the workers. Furthermore, psychologists and psychiatrists that make a compulsory part of the occupational medicine teams, do inadequate work capacity assessments by overlooking specificity of the workplace. It is necessary to return dignity and independency to occupational medicine, so that it can achieve its primary task – assessment of work capacity, without any type of pressure. Trends of the modern occupational health services, visiting of work places, questioning and screenings have to be conducted but at the strong stationary Occupational medicine centres, preferably at scientific educational institutions.