Enterprises’ expectation on competencies of occupational physicians and occupational health administration in Thailand

Abstract

The Association of Occupational and Environmental Diseases of Thailand has a supervisory role in occupational medicine competencies by developing curricula to match international standards. A part of this task concerns work in the occupational health field of collaboration with enterprises. However, in the past 20 years in Thailand, no study has collected the opinions of enterprises’ representatives on the competencies of occupational physicians. The objectives of this study are to determine enterprises’ expectations of each competency of occupational medicine; the provision of occupational health administration in enterprises; and the related factors on the provision of occupational health administration in enterprises. This cross-sectional study collected information through self-administered questionnaires which were sent to the occupational health and safety departments in enterprises that have more than 100 employees, excluding hospitals and educational institutions. Descriptive statistics and Multivariable Gaussian regression were applied in this study. From a total of 135 respondents, it was found that enterprises were most concerned with occupational physician competencies in the role of medical surveillance (domain number 3) which included a walk-through survey to identify hazards in the workplace, designing medical examinations based on hazards, and analyzing the results of environmental measurements. Moreover, most services in occupational health administration in the enterprises were done as required by law, except return-to-work examinations. Positive factors in the provision of occupational health administration in enterprises include international companies or international occupational health policy, large enterprises, and having a physician present at the enterprise. This study reveals important data for medical schools and professional associations regarding how to improve training courses. In addition, our study should also help to promote new policies for enterprises in the provision of occupational health administration in the future.