NUS OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH PROGRAMME
 

INTRODUCTION
 

The NUS Occupational Health (OH) Programme has been developed to ensure that a structured system is in place to address the occupational health needs of its staff and students. It aims to protect and promote the health in the workplace.

1.

Office of Safety, Health and Environment (OSHE) is the general administrator of this programme by providing policies, standards and guidelines. The Senior OH Physician will also conduct specialist OH Clinics within UHC to address the medical surveillance, treatment of work-related conditions and fitness to work requirements.                                                                                                                      

2.

3.

ELEMENTS OF THE NUS OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH PROGRAMME

The occupational health programme consists of the following elements: 

1.

Risk Assessment
 

a

b

c

d

2.

Compulsory Medical Assessments & Surveillance
 

a

b

Current legislative requirements are listed below.

Please refer to:

(i)            SOP OH-02 Statutory Medical Examinations in NUS  

(ii)     SOP OH-03 Radiation (Ionising & LASER) Medical Examinations in NUS
     

c

In addition the University shall require the following mandatory health controls for work with material of animal or human origin; and infectious disease agents:

d

PI must develop an agent specific occupational health programme for research staff and students working in BSL 2 (or higher) laboratories.

e

Please refer to the following documents on sharps management:

i. SOP OH-05 Medical management of biological fluid exposure due to sharps or splashes
ii. SOP on Safe handling of sharps

f

Application Form for Occupational Health Services can be downloaded here.

The form request should be filled by the applicant’s supervisor/PI. Approved requests for medical surveillance will be funded by NUS.

Medical claims for work-related injuries should be submitted within 1 month of injury as far as possible. Please note that claims for undergraduate and postgraduate students are from the NUS Insurance schemes while staff would claim from the Workmen’s Compensation Insurance.

g

PIs/Managers are responsible for monitoring follow up medical programmes for staff and students under his or her supervision.

4.

Industrial Hygiene

a

For industrial hygiene monitoring, the PI/Manager is to contact the Office of Safety, Health and Environment to arrange for such assessments.
 

b

The PI/Manager shall review all exposure data that he or she receives from medical assessments and monitoring exercises that were conducted. In reviewing these data, the PI shall consider current legislative exposure limits.
 

c

A copy of this data should be forwarded to the Faculty Safety Officers / Coordinators for review. FSO will inform PIs if there is an increasing trend and he/she should implement appropriate corrective actions.

5.

Occupational related diseases, infection or illness
 

a

In the event of over exposure to hazardous agent resulting in possible infection, disease or illness, the PI/manager shall ensure:

b 

The medical physican may also inform OSHE about the disease or injury, and provide updates on the rehabilitation of the patient.

c

Work-related medical conditions that have more than 3 days medical leave, referred to Emergency Department of hospitals or require admission, will need to be notified to Ministry of Manpower. This will be done by OSHE OH Physician once it is established that the medical condition was sustained at work.

d

In the event of an Occupational Disease outbreak situation or laboratory acquired infection, the OSHE OH Physician will be a member of the investigation team to provide technical expertise and medical surveillance.

6.

Document Control
 

a

The PI/Managers shall keep all industrial hygiene monitoring and related records of their NUS staff or students during the period of supervision. At the end of employment or graduation, these documents should be forwarded to Faculty Safety Officer for filing.

b

All fitness to work certificates issued by the OH Physician should be kept by the individual or submitted to the PI/Managers for tracking. An electronic database for those who have enrolled within the OH Prorgramme is presently being developed.

7.

Personal Protection Equipment (PPE)Programme
 

a

PPE should be the last option for consideration in reducing exposure to hazardous agents.
 

b

Wherever a risk assessment has shown that PPE is required to protect staff and students from exposure to hazardous agents, the PI should ensure that the relevant PPE is provided and staff or students undertake the necessary training on the use, maintenance and limitations on the use of PPE such as gloves, eye goggles, respirators, etc.
 

c

Staff or students who require a respirator along the course of their work albeit only during contigencies will need to be provided with an appropriate respirator (eg N95 or chemical respirator) and undergo a fit test and medical assessment to assess fitness to don a respirator.

Please refer to NUS Respiratory Protection Programme.
 

8.

Training & Competency
 

a

The PI/Manager is responsible for educating the staff or student under his or her supervision about the unique health hazards associated with their project and the relevant controls that should be implemented. The training protocols shall be documented.
 

b

OSHE will provide occupational health related training and source for external trainers wherever necessary.

Contact Persons

Please contact the following personnel for enquiries pertaining to the NUS Occupational Health Programme: