1998 annual report Office of Occupational Medicine and Medical Surveillance
the mission of EH-61 is the prevention of worker illness by fostering outstanding occupational medicine and medical surveillance programs within the DOE complex. The EH-61 annual report for 1998 describes our major activities and achievements as we have worked toward realizing this mission through our main program lines (1) Surveillance; (2) policy(Field SUppOti; (3) Information/Communication; and (4) Research. Some of our major 1998 accomplishments are highlighted below for more details, please consult the corresponding sections of this report. The FORMER BERYLLIUM WORKERS MEDICAL SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM identifies and locates former employees exposed to beryllium and provides enhanced medical monitoring for early identification of chronic beryllium disease (CBD). Over Z0,000 current and former workers have been contacted to date, and there have been about 8,8oo responders. More than 100 cases of CBD have been detected. The DOE FORMER WORKERS PROGRAM (FWP) is targeted primarily to former workers who have either retired or left DOE facilities. In FY 1998, there were 10 pilot projects operating at 9 sites. These pilots will validate approaches for medical screening of former employees and health risk communication efforts. When completed in FY 2002, the information gained from the pilots will serve as a basis for projecting funding and resources needed for the FWP in the years ahead. We have helped develop health-related POLICIES/GUIDANCE, that will promote the health of the contractor workforce by addressing current and emerging issues related to occupational health. The RADIATION EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE CENTER/TRAINING SITE (REAC/TS) is supported by EH-61 and assists DOE by maintaining state-of-the-art expertise in radiation medicine and biodosimetry. This support provides DOE with a national and international 24-hour response capability for evaluating and managing victims of radiation accidents occurring at its facilities or among the general public. In collaboration with site occupational medical programs and operations offices, we have enhanced medical surveillance efforts by completing the development of the MEDICAL SURVEILLANCE INFORMATION SYSTEM (MSIS), which will enhance the ability of both Headquarters and site occupational medical clinics to evaluate site-wide/DOE-wide trends, as well as health issues related to specific worker cohorts. We have achieved the first linkup to a major site. We have helped improve worker risk communication by developing and disseminating a model WORKER RISK COMMUNICATION PROGRAM for beryllium workers.
- Research Organization:
- USDOE, Office of Environment, Safety and Health
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Environment, Safety and Health (EH)
- OSTI ID:
- 7541
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/EH-0587; ON: DE00007541
- Language:
- English
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