Strategic plan for occupational health department

In XYZ pharmaceutical industry

Vision:
At XYZ Pharma, we work every day to grow as a leading Egyptian Pharma Company
that makes a difference in patients’ life.

Mission:
We aspire to become a leading Egyptian player in innovation, offering people, patients and
their beloved ones new medicines and solutions to achieve better health outcomes and
higher quality of life.

We make our vision real through robust pipeline growth, strong collaborations with best-in-
class Research Institutes and valuable partnerships with our strategic allies.

We pledge to successfully develop distinctive treatments for Mental Health conditions (incl.
Pain), Central Nervous System (CNS) and Rare Diseases while selectively strengthening
our leading position in the Consumer Healthcare segment.

Values:
ETHICS AND RESPONSIBILITY: we take care of our employees, of patients and consumers.
The respect of the highest ethical standards is the basis of all our actions and our
decisions are oriented by a long-term perspective. We are committed to ensuring a
sustainable economic development of the company, to safeguarding the environment and
the communities in which we operate.
PERFORMANCE: each of us is responsible for achieving their goals and those of our Team.
We are determined to get things done and to do our best in all circumstances, with speed,
rigor and transparency. We seek excellence, constantly looking for ambitious goals. We
face difficulties with determination and resilience.
INNOVATION: we encourage the development and testing of new effective and concrete
solutions. We challenge the status quo. We manage complexity and instances in a world
that is constantly changing. We take responsibility for courageous choices aimed for the
growth and development of the company. We learn from our mistakes and pursue
continuous improvement.
ENGAGEMENT: we are positive, motivated and open to new ideas, styles and perspectives.
We promote collaboration within the group. We value skills and reward merit. We share and
celebrate the company’s successes and the achievements of our people.
Our Core Behaviours: 
INTEGRITY: We act with integrity, trust, respect and transparency.
PERFORMANCE: We are passionate to achieve goals with urgency, striving for excellence
without compromising on quality and safety.
INNOVATION: We are forward thinkers, experimenting new solutions with speed and agility.
COLLABORATION: We champion working together in high performing teams.
COURAGE: We speak up and challenge the status quo giving and accepting feedback.
PASSION: We work with passion, energy and positive attitude.
THE MAIN GOAL of an occupational health program
is a healthy work force, including everyone from the chief executive officer to the newest
unskilled worker. It should lead to health maintenance and improvement, less absenteeism,
increased productivity, and the achievement of worker and corporate goals.
All the basic elements of prevention, acute care, counselling and rehabilitation must be
included. The scope of each program will depend on the size of the business or industry,
on its geographic location, on the potential hazards in the operation, and on the philosophy
of management and labor.
The program must be defined in written policy. This is true whether the plan is for a small,
single establishment involving only a few workers or a large multi-plant corporate program.
The policy should include the program's basic objective, the duties, authority and reporting
relationships within the organization. It should clearly indicate that management
understands and fully supports the program, because without the complete understanding
and the philosophical and financial support of management, the best conceived program
has little chance of success.
Occupational health and safety programs involve several disciplines, including
occupational medicine, occupational nursing, industrial hygiene, safety and accident
prevention, psychology, sociology, and health physics.
These health professionals must work closely not only with each other, but also with other
members of management. This is especially true when working with personnel and labor
relations groups.
Cooperation can be accomplished if the primary objective-the health and safety of the
worker-is continually kept in mind. This will have a positive effect not only on the worker
but also on personnel and labor relations in areas such as workers' compensation,
sickness, absence and group insurance.
Two other areas should be considered: the effect of effluent from the company on the
surrounding environment or community and the effect of the items or materials produced
on the health of users or consumers.

Administering the Program

Management plays a major role in health and safety programs at the corporate or plant
level. Management must agree that the program is preventive and not simply a tool to
reduce compensation costs or mechanically improve the safety record.
Authority and responsibility must be given to the chief health and safety professional in the
organization.

Health Professionals in the Management Structure

The physician should report to a senior member of management at both the plant and
corporate level.
The plant physician reports to the plant manager and the medical director reports to the
president or a senior vice-president.
Occupational health nurses should report to the physician in charge, administratively and
tactically.
If the company is not large enough to have a fulltime physician, the nurse should report to
the part-time doctor on technical matters but may report to the personnel manager
administratively.
Industrial hygienists may report at plant or corporate levels to the medical organizations or
directly to the same reporting level as the physician.
This is best determined within each company. The needs, philosophy, expertise, and the
full or part-time status of the hygienist must be considered.
The role of other health professionals such as the health physicist, psychologist, or social
worker should be determined in a similar way.
Whatever the reporting relationship, each health professional must be responsible for
planning, justifying and administering his or her own budget.
Also, a close relationship must be maintained among the disciplines of occupational
medicine, nursing, hygiene, accident prevention, psychology, and health physics. It may be
best to consolidate these activities, both at the local and corporate levels.
The safety or accident prevention professional has traditionally reported to the personnel
department.
As safety activities expand in the plant and the community, the reporting relationship must
be re-examined and, if necessary, realigned to meet modem requirements.
First-aid workers report to the plant physician on technical issues, and administratively to
the personnel department.
Paramedical personnel, who are sometimes called physicians' assistants, report directly to
the plant physician technically and administratively because most are employed in plants
with a full-time physician.

Occupational Health Examinations

Pre-placement health evaluations:
An automated or check-off type of history will often give the physician enough information
to categorize the patient's health status without further examinations.
Traditionally, physical examination, chest X-ray, urinalysis, and minor blood tests have
been done to 'weed out' hernias, bad backs, or other physical disabilities. The results of
pre-employment screening should be used to describe applicants' health and determine
their physical ability to perform a job. Initial examination is used for job placement and as a
baseline for further periodic health examinations based on work exposure.

Selective job placement:

Considering a job's physical requirements in relation to workers' physical limitations will
frequently prevent accidents and ill health, and increase productivity. Applicants' physical
capabilities must be matched to the work they are expected to perform.
This may allow willing workers with some physical defects to work.

Periodic health evaluation:

Management must agree with the purpose of the periodic examination, which should be
clearly defined in a well-developed program. It is to evaluate the employee's health, with
emphasis on 'target organs' which may be affected by actual or potential environmental
exposure.
This examination relies heavily on a check-off questionnaire, and selected tests such as
audiometry for noise, spirometry for air-borne particles, and blood tests for specific metals
and/or chemicals.
If all test results are normal, the physician may eliminate the personal examination and
review only the record.
Such a procedure lends itself to multiphasic screening.
Environmental Hazards
Hazards in the work environment must be recognized, evaluated, and controlled.
There must be a high index of suspicion for environmental hazards such as air-borne
particles and vapors, and physical agents such as radiation.
The health program must assess the ability of raw materials and industrial processes to do
harm.
The intermediate steps and their exposures must also be considered.
Finally, the finished product should be reviewed to determine the possible effects on the
worker.
Each step in production must be considered for its effect on workers over a long period
and in emergencies, such as acute spills or breakage.
Industrial hygienists assess severity, length of exposure, and engineering control methods.
Proper protective equipment, education about hazards, and correct use of equipment are
also important.

Environmental Data and Physical Examination

Environmental contaminants, exposures, and stressors must be eliminated wherever
possible.
If they cannot be eliminated completely, personal protective devices must be provided.
As the environment is measured, physical examinations should be made of the organ
systems affected by particular materials, etc.
Information about exposure can be computerized.
This system must involve a coordinated, epidemiological approach.
Industrial engineers determine workers' location and movements. Industrial hygienists
monitor the environment and atmospheric exposures.
The medical department gives workers physical examinations and conducts multiphasic
screenings.

Functions and Duties of Health Professionals

1. Occupational physician
Occupational physicians must be familiar with the industrial process in the plant, with the
potential and actual health hazards associated with the manufacturing process, and with
the physical requirements of the job.
They often step out of their offices into the plant environment or 'shop floor' atmosphere
for discussions with supervisors and workers. Only then will the physician be able to
advise management about health conditions, health hazards, and safeguards to protect
health and safety.
Occupational physicians must have basic information to conduct preplacement and
periodic examinations, and health education programs in the plant. They must also have a
basic knowledge of prevention, industrial hygiene, engineering control measures,
ergonomics, standards, etc.
Family physicians are important contacts for occupational physicians.
Emergency cases may be seen but referred to the family physician or other specialists.
However, it is important that the physician in the plant be contacted at frequent intervals
about conditions which are adversely affecting the health of employees. An employee who
has a non-occupational disease, and who consults the physician in the plant should be
seen but referred as soon as possible to the family physician for more definitive care.
Clear ground rules must be established between the physician, the company, and the local
medical society about health care. If the occupational physician is male, all women
employees should be examined in the presence of a third party, preferably a female nurse.
Reportable communicable diseases should be reported to the local health department.
Plant physicians must review preplacement, periodic, transfer, and re-entrance health
examinations.
They should arrange for ongoing first aid courses for plant personnel and cardiopulmonary
resuscitation courses, directed by St.John Ambulance and plant medical staff.
An applicant or an employee's health record should not be discussed with other personnel,
except as required in the performance of their duty.
Diagnoses are confidential, between the occupational physician and the employee.
Any biased judgment or opinion which might be used to further the company's or the
employee's interest at the expense of the other is unprofessional and highly inappropriate.

2. Occupational health nurses

Nurses should be well trained and, if possible, certificated in occupational health nursing.
Duties include prevention, treatment, education, and rehabilitation.
Nurses' preliminary testing and completion of medical questionnaires in preplacement and
periodic examination enable occupational doctors to spend more time with abnormal
findings.
With written orders from the physician, the nurse can handle many major accidents and
injuries. Written orders are necessary to define the nurse's limits and responsibilities in
treating patients.
Sometimes rehabilitation is carried out in the unit or in the local hospital.
Nurses should be in contact with the rehabilitation team. Nurses educate individual
workers or groups of workers in proper health techniques, diets, hypertension, and the
proper use of personal protective equipment.
Also, nurses serve as counsellors for personal, physical, and mental health problems. They
can often be especially effective in alcohol and drug abuse.
Occupational health nurses should visit the shop floor and other areas in the plant
periodically, in order to understand the relationship between employees' symptoms and
works.

3. Industrial hygienist
Industrial hygienists may be an integral part of the plant health and safety team, or may be
hired as outside consultants to monitor the workplace.
Hygienists must make corporate management aware of potential in-plant environmental
hazards, how to measure these hazards, and appropriate engineering controls.
They must periodically monitor the controlled environment and must work closely with
physicians and nurses to achieve and maintain proper environmental control.
Hygienists have special knowledge in hygiene, toxicology, and ergonomics.
They must also be familiar with the shop floor.

4. Safety and accident prevention coordinator

All safety and accident prevention programs in the plant are the coordinator's
responsibility.
The coordinator must attend to unsafe actions by employees and the unsafe environment.
The safety supervisor must make periodic checks of the working environment and be
familiar with the number and severity of accidents.
The coordinator must be in close contact with the physician and nurse, in order to
effectively work as a team member.
These professionals have traditionally reported to the personnel department, but it may be
more appropriate for them to report to the same company official as the medical officer
does.

5. First-aid personnel
Often, where there is no full-time or part-time physician or nurse, employees are selected
and trained to provide emergency first aid in the plant. They should obtain certification
from a first aid course. Where there are physicians or nurses in the plant, these programs
are organized by the health services department, which must ensure that enough
employees are trained to do emergency first aid.
6. Other health professionals
Other health professionals may be involved in the medical department, such as a health
physicist, a psychologist, or a social worker. The need for these will be governed by the
size and the type of operation.

Health Records
The health record at work should contain all information about employees' health at
preplacement, periodically throughout their career, and at the termination of employment.
It must record all occupational injuries, illnesses, and treatments.
When designing a preplacement health questionnaire, consider the average applicant's
education, so that the history may be completed with a minimum of assistance from
medical staff.
Consideration should also be given to computerized programs.
Records must be kept confidential; the personnel office and management are entitled to
know whether or not a worker can fulfill a job properly, but must not have access to
confidential information.

Evaluation
In order to evaluate the program's effectiveness and to determine costs of medical services
and a realistic budget, statistical reporting should cover costs, number of patients, tests,
etc.
1. Accident and illness investigation reports
The causes of occupational injury and illness can be determined by an accident or illness
report completed jointly by the first-line supervisor, the plant safety coordinator, and the
medical officer.
If each of these people completes their portion of the report accurately, unsuspected
problem areas may be identified and controlled. Such a report helps reduce accidents by
making all employees more aware of the in-plant environment.
The report also demonstrates to employees that the company takes the matter of their
health and safety seriously.
Such reports, with certain modifications, can be used as Workers' Compensation reports.

2. Industrial hygiene records

The hygienist should do enough examinations to characterize in-plant exposure to
environmental hazards at different locations.
These reports should be more than a list of numerical values; they should also interpret the
findings and discuss corrective action.
Acceptable exposure concentration should be emphasized.

3. Industrial hygiene surveys

After an initial plant evaluation, the industrial hygienist will do a baseline survey of the
working environment, including vapors, dusts, etc.
The hygienist will also periodically monitor the plant. The number of individual samples
can usually be reduced after the baseline is obtained. Emergency surveys are done when
there are sudden spills or explosions.
Management should consult the doctor and the industrial hygienist early in the planning
and pilot stages of a new process or operation, so that necessary environmental control
and medical monitoring can be included in economic feasibility studies. Environmental and
occupational health are essential business expenses. Everyone should be aware that
minimal changes in the process can cause maximal environmental problems.

Safety and Accident Prevention

Property, machine, fire, mechanical, and electrical safety should be considered.
Management and workers must be educated about safety procedures.
Safety begins the moment that a worker is employed and continues throughout
employment. There must be a systematic inspection of new, re- vised, and existing
production and safety equipment to identify potential safety hazards and to ensure
compliance with government requirements. A systematic accident investigation program
should be coordinated with first line supervision in the medical service.

Special Programs
In addition to basic occupational health and safety procedures, there are special risks and
special toxicants in many industries, needing programs to identify, monitor, and control
them.
The worker must be properly motivated to cooperate in recognition, evaluation, and
control, for the protection of his health.
Some common hazard control programs include: hearing conversation against noise; eye
protection against flying particulate; respiratory protection against air-borne agents such
as lead, silica, asbestos, cotton, and solvent vapor; thermal protection against heat or cold,
and protection of the skin against sensitizers or irritants.
Other special programs could include: medical disaster control, alcohol and drug abuse
control, consultation and management on group insurance benefits, absentee control
(prevention rather than policing), occupational mental health, controlling hazards and
toxins that escape from the plant into the community, expansion of community services,
and health evaluation of new or modified products as they affect consumers.

Conclusion
Prevention of illness and injury, promotion of health through proper evaluation of the
employee and the working environment, and measures to combat emergencies and other
stressors are features of a comprehensive occupational health program.
The breadth of such a program depends upon the number of employees, the enlightenment
of management and labor unions, the costs that may be borne by the industry and the
community, and the priority given to these preventive approaches in the total spectrum of
health care in the community.
A proper program should enable employees to develop their potential and maintain their
health.
The returns to management and to the community are decreased absenteeism, increased
productivity, and a healthier and happier work force.