A Study on the Current System of Occupational Physician in Korea / 대한산업의학회지

ABSTRACT

According to law the employer who has over 50 workers in his enterprise should employ an occupational physician as industrial health manager. The main role of the occupational physician is emphasized to the prevention of occupational diseases rather than the treatment and he should be the team leader of industrial health personnel. But this ideal system in terms of stipulations has lots of problems in operation. Therefore this study was designed to prove the attitude of reception, real condition and work content of the occupational physician in enterprise. The survey was done in 500 stratified random sampled enterprises over the country from July through September in 1987 by mailing questionnaire. As a result of the response from 145 enterprises, more than 85% of enterprise displaced occupational physicians. Among the occupational physicians 43% of them has no allowance for their working as industrial health managers and are payed less than 100,000 won monthly. And 66% of them visited only once a month or none enterprise, where they were nominated as a occupational physician managers. The major work content of occupational physician was doing outpatient clinic or regular physical examination rather than prevention of occupational disease. And it shows a deep discrepancy with the object of law or the expect of enterprise in which industrial hygiene and health education are more stressed for prevention of occupational diseases. The most of industrial workers showed no interest in work of occupational physician. As a conclusion, the current system of industrial health manager has maintained on paper formally and is apt to fall into making outward show. It is urgent for government and enterprise to find a solution which can be practically used the system of occupational physician. The work content of occupational physician is required high advanced knowledge and experience, and it should be operated dual system by special field and nonspecial field.