Workplace Physician Research Articles

Assessment of Patients Applying for Medical Reports at the Family Medicine Clinic

Abstract Objective: Reports are crucial in Family Medicine, but many legal issues remain unresolved. Unnecessary examination requests cause significant costs, labor loss for physicians, and affect occupational safety. This can be prevented by informing institutions and reducing primary care physicians' workload by classifying tasks for workplace physicians to handle follow-ups. This study aims to evaluate the age, gender, and occupational distribution of people applying to the Family Medicine Outpatient Clinic for employment, driver's license, marriage, diaper, and drug reports, and to examine the relationship between the requested examinations and reports. Methods: In this study, the examinations requested according to the age and gender data of the people who applied to the Family Medicine Outpatient Clinic between 01.01.2014-01.01.2015 to obtain employment, health, driver's license, marriage, diaper and drug reports were evaluated by retrospective file screening method.Laboratory reference intervals were determined as the intervals used by the laboratory of our hospital.After all data were collected, they were entered into the SPSS 16.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, Illinois) program and analyzed using this program. Chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical variables. Significance level was accepted as p

Prevention of Occupational Accidents and Occupational Diseases with Supervised Machine Learning Algorithms: Different Sector Applications

Abstract − The Occupational health and safety is a discipline that prevents work accidents and occupational diseases with a proactive method. For employee health, countries have legal responsibilities within the scope of international conventions, and employers have national responsibilities. It is obligatory for employers to carry out risk assessments, provide occupational safety trainings, carry out inspections, employ occupational safety specialists and workplace physicians, and record all work regard work safety. In countries, inspections are carried out with labor inspectors and private companies provide occupational safety services. However, it is difficult for the authorities to monitor occupational safety in large industrial facilities such as petrochemicals and refineries, where the flow of workers, materials and work equipment is too much and very fast. As workplace capacity, number of employees and material flow increase, the type and number of work accidents and occupational diseases also increase. Artificial intelligence technologies facilitate these follow-ups. The purpose of this article is to investigate the proactive prevention of the factors that cause work accidents and occupational diseases with supervised machine learning algorithms in different sectors. A literature search was conducted on sciencedirect, scopus, googlescholar databases. It has been examined what kind of algorithms are used in which sectors. According to the studies in the literature and applications in different sectors, the data collected with sensors and stored with cloud computing are fed to the relevant supervised machine learning algorithms that have been trained and tested before, and the factors that cause work accidents and occupational diseases are determined in advance. In addition to sound, image, health, location and environment data, physical parameters such as distance, level and pressure are monitored instantly with sensors. Managers are warned when a dangerous situation or behavior is detected in and threshold values are exceeded. In addition to employee and vehicle location tracking, predictive maintenance is provided by monitoring the performance of work and production vehicles. With the decrease in occupational accidents and diseases, occupational safety performance increases and costs decrease.

İŞYERİ HEKİMLİĞİ UYGULAMALARI VE ÇALIŞANLARIN İKİNCİ VE ÜÇÜNCÜ BASAMAK SAĞLIK KURULUŞLARINA YÖNLENDİRİLMESİ

Employees may need to be referred to health institutions for different indications, such as illness and rehabilitation. In Turkey, the procedure for referring cases from the workplace to health institutions is not fully defined. Learning the approaches of workplace physicians on employee referrals will determine the direction and content of future studies on this matter. This study aims to obtain information about the characteristics of workplace physicians working in Izmir province and their attitudes towards case referral to health institutions. The population of the descriptive study consisted of workplace physicians registered in Izmir Medical Chamber e-mail information network. The subjects were contacted through the information network of the Chamber, and an online questionnaire was sent. 58% of the participants stated that they participated in risk assessment studies and conducted field surveillance. 69.3% of the participants stated that they were able to conduct a pre-employment examination for all employees, and 78.4% stated that they were able to conduct periodic examinations on a regular basis. 52.3% of the participants stated that they referred patients with a preliminary occupational disease diagnosis one or more times. One-fourth of the participants stated that they could not act freely in terms of referring cases from the workplace. The examinations performed at the workplace and referral of the necessary cases to advanced healthcare centers are vital steps in protecting and improving employee health. It is crucial for the workplace physician to feel free to refer suspicious cases and to have job security against all possible consequences.

Zufriedenheit angehender Arbeits- und Betriebsmedizinerinnen und -mediziner mit der digitalen Lehre in arbeitsmedizinischen Weiterbildungskursen während der COVID-19-Pandemie

Satisfaction of prospective occupational and workplace physicians with digital training in postgraduate occupational medicine courses during COVID-19 pandemic – A quantitative survey in Germany Objective: The aim of this paper is to investigate the satisfaction of prospective occupational and workplace physicians with the mandatory postgraduate training in occupational medicine offered by academies in Germany, which had to be rapidly converted from face-to-face to digital training during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Prospective occupational and workplace physicians in postgraduate medical education throughout Germany were asked about their needs and their satisfaction with digital training during the COVID-19 pandemic. The online survey took place from January to December 2021 and collected data were analysed descriptively. Results: Of the n=176 respondents, 48.0 % were satisfied with their academy‘s digital training in occupational medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority expressed a desire for further digital training in the future to complement face-to-face training (91.9 %). Different preferences for the use of both formats were identified. Conclusions: This study provides initial empirical evidence of the satisfaction and needs of prospective occupational and workplace physicians with the ad hoc digital training in occupational medicine offered by academies in Germany in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study results provide a basis for the further development and implementation of blended learning programmes in postgraduate and continuing medical education. Future studies should longitudinally evaluate both qualitatively and quantitatively the implementation of blended learning programmes at academies of continuing medical education. Keywords: medical education – online learning – COVID-19 pandemic – e-learning – blended learning

COVID-19 Pandemisi Sürecinde Sakarya’daki Bazı İşyeri Hekimlerinin Davranış ve Tutumlarının Değerlendirilmesi

Amaç: COVID-19 enfeksiyonu pek çok iş kolunda çalışan sağlığı üzerinde olumsuz etkilere sahiptir. Bu çalışma ile COVID-19 pandemisi sürecinde Sakarya’daki işyeri hekimlerinin görev yerlerinde aldıkları önlemler, bilgi edinme kaynakları, sürece katkıları, davranış ve tutumları ile işyerlerindeki deneyimlerinin değerlendirilmesi amaçlandı.Materyal ve Metot: Tanımlayıcı tipteki bu çalışma, 9 Temmuz–16 Aralık 2020 tarihleri arasında Sakarya’da aktif işyeri hekimliği yapan 77 işyeri hekiminden 61'i (%79,2) ile tamamlandı. Katılımcıların sosyodemografik özellikleri ve COVID-19 pandemisi sürecinde işyerlerindeki tutum ve davranışları, 24 soruluk bir anket ile çevrimiçi olarak toplandı.Bulgular: Katılımcıların 39’u erkek (%63,9), 22’si (%36,1) kadındı ve yaş ortalaması 46,72±9,54’tü. Araştırmaya katılan işyeri hekimlerinin %77,0’ı COVID-19 ile ilgili bilgi edinme kaynaklarının sosyal medya olduğunu belirtti. Araştırmaya katılanların 47’si (%77,0) COVID-19 sürecinde işyerinden destek gördüğünü ifade etti. Katılımcılar tarafından pandemi sürecinde işyerlerinin tamamında dezenfeksiyon önlemlerinin alındığı belirtildi.Sonuç: İşyeri hekimlerinin COVID-19 pandemisindeki rolü yadsınamaz. COVID-19 pandemisi ve benzer salgınlar hakkında işyeri hekimlerinin farkındalığının arttırılarak pandemi ile mücadelede etkin görev almaları sağlanmalıdır.

Coal workers' pneumoconiosis and surveillance: A 5-year experience

BACKGROUND: Coal workers' pneumoconiosis (cwp) is a parenchymal lung disease caused by inhalation of dust from coal and rocks in the mine. It is possible to prevent the disease completely with effective dust control; however, the secondary protection measures (screening and surveillance programs) are recommended in cases where effective dust control cannot be achieved. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to discuss the cwp surveillance program and the duties and powers of the workplace physicians in turkey based on the assessment results of cases referred to our clinic by workplace physicians due to suspicion of cwp. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a cross sectional study. The archive data were evaluated by occupational diseases specialists. RESULTS: Of the 127 coal mine workers, all males with a mean age of 40.5 ± 8.9 Years, 63 (49.6%) Were diagnosed as cwp. The duration of exposure to coal dust ranged from 7 to 390 months, and the mean duration of exposure was 129.1 ± 82.2 Months. Of the 127 coal mine workers, 49.6% Were diagnosed as cwp. CONCLUSION: According to the findings obtained in the present study, the assessment made by the workplace physician and radiological evaluation plays a key role in the diagnosis and followup of cwp. In turkey, periodic examinations continue to be the most important component of secondary protection in terms of occupational risk. Pulmonary radiography is used as an indispensable component of early diagnosis in employees at risk of developing pneumoconiosis. Furthermore, screening programs should be evaluated with risk assessment and exposure information. Workplace physicians should reevaluate the periodic examination and ilo assessment services in terms of technical and reader quality.

Attitudes and behaviors of family physicians regarding occupational diseases

ABSTRACTObjectives: The incidence of occupational diseases (ODs) is below expectations. The approaches of family physicians are very important. In this study, we aimed to evaluate attitudes and behaviors of family physicians about ODs.Methods: The questionnaire was first sent to family physicians via e-mail. Of 3663 responders, 3090 replies were included to study.Results: 44.1% of them stated they obtained detailed occupational history. In logistic regression analysis, physicians who obtained detailed occupational history, discussed their patient's health with an occupational physician, had education about ODs and those who stated that they wanted to receive training in ODs were more likely to refer their patient.Conclusion: In this study, it was determined that those who received education on ODs and those who have worked as workplace physician obtained occupational history, knew occupational diseases hospitals and wanted to receive further education.

Legal workplace policies for drugs and alcohol in Turkey

The widespread of individual and social problems related to substance use/abuse provoked the new approaches for workplace drug testing systems in the world. Workplace drug testing laws are constructed to protect the community from the consequences of drug use by workers. In Turkey, the legal arrangements on workplace drug testing exist in Turkish Penal Code, Turkish Labour Law, Workplace Physicians Regulations, Maritime Labour Law and Medical Examination Instructions in Highway Transportation Although Turkey has made the initial attempts to develop homogeneous and reliable regulations for workplace drug testing, a detailed workplace policy for drug testing at workplace has still not been provided.. An amendment has been done in the Regulations on Seafarers and a drug test (marijuana, cocaine, amphetamine like drugs and opiate) has been added into the routine tests to take a "Seafarer Health Report".

EDUCATION FOR EXPECTANT FATHERS IN WORKPLACES IN TURKEY

Worldwide, there is increasing recognition that if family and reproductive health programmes are to be successful, the involvement of men is essential. As part of the problem, men also have to be seen as part of the solution. The reality is that in many countries, including Turkey, men generally do not accompany their partners to health facilities for family planning, antenatal and postnatal services and are not expected to attend the labour or birth of their child. Workplace programmes are a potential strategy for meeting the reproductive health education needs of men in industrial cities such as Istanbul. This intervention study was developed to test the feasibility and effects of expanding a special programme for expectant fathers to large workplaces in Istanbul, with the aim of improving the health of Turkish families during the pregnancy, birth and newborn periods. The findings indicate that it is possible to train workplace physicians in Istanbul to conduct regular educational programmes for expectant fathers on reproductive health, and that such programmes may have beneficial effects, especially in the areas of pregnancy nutrition, exclusive breast-feeding, and support behaviours. Considering the difficulty of getting men to attend hospital or clinic-based educational programmes in large urban areas, bringing such training programmes to men at their places of work has the potential to be an important strategy. Given that large workplaces in Turkey already have full-time physicians charged with the duty of health education for employees, this is also a feasible strategy.

Promotion of work ability among French health care workers—value of the work ability index

The French HCWs who have been studied belong to the French sample of European NEXT Study. This sample consists of 55 public and private institutions in five regions. WAI has been calculated on 4306 subjects out of 5376 because of missing data. More than a third have a moderate or a poor index (29.4% and 5.2%, respectively). Half (50.6%) of the sample have a good index and only 14.9%, an excellent one. The WAI decreases with age: 19.4% of the “less than 30”, 14.6% of the 30–44 years old and 12.3% of the 45 + have an excellent WAI. But, the rate of decrease depends definitely on job demands and especially on physical load. The multivariate analysis showed that in France as well as in the other countries, work demand, uncertainty about treatments, low support from colleagues, and dissatisfaction with psychological support had high odds ratios for a low WAI. Dissatisfaction with physical working conditions and the necessity to maintain uncomfortable postures were the second group of factors with a strong influence on a low WAI. The absence of time for sports or leisure remained strongly linked with a low WAI after an adjustment to the other risk factors. The WAI enables the workplace physician to summarize data which the hospital can use to further its thinking about how to manage jobs and skills.