Abstract
Surveillance programs serve as a useful tool in assisting occupational health nurses in identifying employees with existing or potential health problems due to toxic exposures. They also assist the company in pinpointing potential health hazards in the work environment.
The surveillance assessment can serve as a useful tool in encouraging safe practices in the workplace and encouraging management to comply with OSHA, state, or company regulations. The surveillance assessment further serves asa vehicle for assisting the occupational health nurse in developing a procedure for collecting information regarding hazards in the workplace.
When developing a protocol for conducting physical examinations, the occupational health nurse mustbe able to identify those toxinswhich are present in the workplace, describe signs and symptoms which employees mayexhibit when suffering from overexposure to a hazard, and plan for dealing with such exposure situations.