What does OEM mean in ENVIRONMENTAL

What Is OEM?

The purpose of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM) is twofold: First, OEM seeks to reduce injuries or illnesses resulting from working in hazardous or unhealthy environments by providing evidence-based advice on risk reduction. Such advice may include suggestions for safer or less hazardous equipment; better ventilation; adequate training in safe working practices; or protective gear such as respirators. Second, OEM works to assess how a given environment affects workers’ health over time. For example, a doctor may identify exposures to toxic materials in a workplace as an issue through surveillance or investigation related to an individual worker’s health complaints. In addition, research studies conducted in collaboration with workplace experts help inform how exposures might be managed while accounting for economic impacts on businesses.

Benefits Of OEM

In addition to helping protect workers’ health and safety while they are employed at a particular workplace or facility, Occupational Environmental Medicine can also provide benefits when workers change employers or facilities. This is because many businesses have adopted policies that support preventive measures like establishing exposure levels for toxic materials that protect workers from harm during their employment with that business—a concept known as “intervention before exposure”. In many cases these policies are more stringent than those established by government regulations—meaning that even if a worker changes jobs within the same industry, they will likely still benefit from improved protection against harmful exposures. As a result, it remains important for employers—and healthcare providers—to understand the role of Occupational Environmental Medicine in protecting workers' health overall rather than just at one point in time or for one job in particular.