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ACOEM OEM COMPETENCY: HAZARD RECOGNITION, EVALUATION, AND CONTROL
The physician has the knowledge and skills necessary to assess if there is risk of an adverse event from exposure to physical, chemical, or biological hazards in the workplace or environment. If there is a risk with exposure, then that risk can be characterized with recommendations for control measures. The OEM physician has the knowledge and skills to evaluate the impact of such exposures on the health of individual workers, patients, and the public. The physician may collaborate with other professionals, such as industrial hygienists, safety engineers, ergonomists, and occupational health nurses, on such efforts.
1. Characterize existing and potential occupational and environmental hazards within defined populations.
Perform a workplace walkthrough assessment of occupational health and safety concerns.
Perform an environmental site visit.
Evaluate and interpret the results of industrial hygiene surveys.
Interpret and apply Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) permissible exposure limits (PELs), the American Conference of Governmental Industrial hygienists (ACGIH) threshold limit values (TLVs) and biologic exposure indices (BEIs), Environmental Protection Agency standards, and other criteria in the assessment of chemical and physical hazard exposures.
Apply ergonomic principles to optimize comfort and reduce risk at work, including evaluation and redesign of hazardous lifting jobs, repetitive motion work, and jobs with special visual demands.
Advise Employers and Employees regarding industrial hygiene controls, such as work practices, respirator use, and engineering controls.
Recommend and implement policies and control measures to reduce or mitigate safety and health hazards.
Identify and minimize exposure to ionizing radiation (e.g., radon, x-ray, radioisotopes).
Identify and minimize exposure to non-ionizing radiation (e.g., ultraviolet, infrared, microwave, radiofrequency, electromagnetic).
Appropriately engage the services of a radiation protection officer and health physicist.
Prevent, diagnose, and manage health effects associated with high-altitude living and working.
Explain the hazards of barotrauma and decompression sickness.
7. Design and manage a hearing conservation program for workers exposed to loud noise.
Advise employees and employers regarding the use of hearing protection.
Design programs to comply with the OSHA noise standard.
Assist employees and employers with the management of the effects of shift work, jet lag, and other chronobiological stressors.
Perform a risk assessment.
Explain the basic methodology of risk assessment.
Identify exposure-related health hazards.
Assess dose-response relationships.
Evaluate levels of exposure.
Characterize risk.
10. Communicate to target groups including health professionals, the public, and the media, in a clear and effective manner both orally and in writing, the levels of risk from real or potential hazards and the rationale for selected interventions.
Manage communication and reactions to a perceived or actual cluster of disease.
Manage communication and reactions to an episode of mass psychogenic illness.
Manage communication and reaction to widespread exposure or perceived exposure to toxic materials.
Explain the health impact of global environmental changes, including global warming, ozone depletion, ultraviolet radiation exposure, and persistent organic chemicals.
Manage communication with communities affected by pesticide applications, hazardous waste sites, transportation accidents, and other environmental and industrial exposures.
Explain the controversies associated with electromagnetic field exposure.
11. Assess the workplace and environment for potential hazards and address the need for personal protective equipment and other exposure control methods.
Identify and control occupational/environmental risk factors for the development of skin disorders.
Assess the workplace for potential hazards to the eye and address issues of eye protection, including the use of safety glasses and contact lenses.
Describe the key elements of a good respirator program.
Identify the visual requirements for various occupations (including regulatory requirements), and correlate these requirements with job tasks and job hazards in determining fitness for duty and accommodations.
