• The medical surveillance component of the safety and health program provides for monitoring of the health of employees whose work puts them at high risk for illness.

Another required element of the safety and health program is the medical surveillance program. While much attention is focused on safety hazards, health hazards are also a real concern at hazardous waste cleanup sites.

One of the biggest health hazards is exposure to hazardous substances. It’s possible to be exposed to a hazardous substance and not even know it because some substances are odorless and colorless. Employees exposed can have no indication of its presence until they start feeling the effects of exposure, and the effects from some substances might not show up right away.

Because employees working around hazardous substances may be at high risk of illness, the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) Standard requires employers to provide initial and regular medical exams in addition to any needed medical attention. Five types of exams offered in the medical surveillance program include:

• A pre-assignment exam
• Periodic exams
• A termination exam
• Post-illness or -injury exams
• Follow-up exams

The purpose of the medical surveillance program is to:

• Establish employees’ baseline medical condition,
• Assess fitness for duty,
• Document exposures and medical conditions,
• Detect and eliminate hazards, and
• Ensure emergency and non-emergency treatment is provided.