The Suffolk County Office of Employee Health Services (EHS) is responsible for the provision of health evaluations for County employees, members of the Suffolk County Decontamination Strike Team (DST), prospective employees and law enforcement candidates for both the County and town municipalities. Some of the functions of EHS include:
- Pre-placement medical evaluations: EHS performs pre-placement physical examinations for new employees hired for certain titles, including all law enforcement employees. Law enforcement candidates must also undergo a physical examination as part of the selection process for specialized sections of the Suffolk County Police Department.
- Fitness for duty examinations: EHS performs fitness-for-duty examinations for employees referred by their employing departments because of a concern that a physical or psychological condition is impacting their ability to perform their job duties. Medical fitness-for duty evaluations are performed by an EHS provider, and EHS coordinates psychological fitness-for-duty examinations with a contracted psychologist.
- OSHA examinations: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations and NYS Public Health Law outline specific requirements for employees with occupational risk of exposure to hazards including heavy metals, toxic chemicals and fumes, loud noise, air-borne, blood-borne, and tick-borne pathogens and communicable diseases. These include immunizations for specific infectious diseases, TB screening for patient-facing staff, periodic blood tests for employees with heavy metal, aromatic and organic solvent exposures, and regular hearing tests for employees with loud noise exposure. EHS is responsible for monitoring the approximately 6,300 County employees who are at risk for such occupational exposures. Employees undergo periodic monitoring and/or examination specifically designed to match potential hazards associated with each title or work location.
- Employee health and safety training: EHS provides County employees with training on hazard and injury risk reduction. This includes training on blood-borne pathogen precautions for the workplace.
- Respiratory protection program: EHS’ respiratory protection program includes assistance with hazard-specific respirator selection, medical evaluations for respirator use clearance, respirator fit-testing procedures and respirator maintenance training. The respiratory protection program emphasizes the proper use of personal protective equipment to prevent exposure to hazards, in addition to implementation of all feasible engineering and work practice controls.
- Workplace exposure investigations: EHS works with employees and their supervisors to investigate and manage needlestick injuries and other exposures to workplace hazards.