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correctness of the assessment of risks to health and to indicate if the assessment requires
a review.

Examples of the substances and processes which may give rise to identifiable health effects
and for which health surveillance measures might have to be carried out include:

• Substances of recognised systemic toxicity (poisons which affect the entire body rather
than a single organ) – monitored by appropriate clinical or laboratory investigations.
• Substances known to cause occupational asthma – monitored by enquiries seeking
evidence of respiratory symptoms related to work.
• Substances known to cause severe dermatitis – monitored by skin inspection by a
responsible person.
• Contact with chrome solutions in electrolytic plating or oxidation of metal articles by use
of an electrolyte, in dyeing processes, or in processes of liming and tanning of raw hides
and skins – monitored by skin inspection by a responsible person.

Pre-employment Health Screening
In certain circumstances, pre-employment health screening may be appropriate to ensure
that workers are fully fit at the outset and able to perform their work efficiently:

• For new workers, or those being transferred from one type of work to another, if it is
considered that the work is hazardous to health.
• Where the worker has to enter a hazardous environment to which he or she has not been
exposed previously.
• Where there is a high risk of accidents to themselves or others, such as in transport.
• Where there is a risk of endangering others through transmission of infection.
• Where the work entails high standards of physical or mental fitness.

Tests and procedures for pre-employment health screening should relate to the demands of
the work and the potential hazards it presents and may include vision, hearing and lung
function.

Records of pre-employment health screening provide a base-line measurement of an
individual’s health and can be used as a comparison for any subsequent health testing.

Biological Monitoring

Biological tests are used in number of circumstances for the early detection of occupational
disease and its precursors. Tests include:

ENSIGN| Unit IG2 – Element 7 – Chemical and Biological 46
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