When a job exposes employees to silica, asbestos, lead or hazardous waste, OSHA requires the employer to provide medical surveillance — a baseline exam and periodic re-exams by or under the supervision of a licensed physician, with specific tests on a specific schedule. UrgentMed runs these programs for Broward employers at both clinics: the exam, chest X-ray, spirometry, TB test and blood draws are on site, and the written medical opinion goes to the employer the way the standard requires.
Respirable crystalline silica (29 CFR 1926.1153 / 1910.1053)
Required for employees who will wear a respirator for silica 30 or more days a year: a baseline exam within 30 days of assignment and at least every three years after. Each exam includes a history and physical with emphasis on the lungs, a chest X-ray interpreted by a NIOSH-certified B Reader (taken here, read by the B Reader), spirometry by a NIOSH-course technician, and a TB test at baseline. The employer receives only the written medical opinion — limitations on respirator use and exposure, and whether a specialist referral is recommended — never the findings themselves.
Asbestos (29 CFR 1926.1101 / 1910.1001)
Baseline and annual exams for employees exposed at or above the action limit or who wear negative-pressure respirators: a standardized respiratory questionnaire, physical exam, spirometry, and a chest X-ray on the schedule the standard sets by years of exposure and age, with the physician’s written opinion to the employer.
HAZWOPER (29 CFR 1910.120)
Hazardous-waste and emergency-response workers who are exposed above permissible limits, wear a respirator 30 or more days a year, or are on a HAZMAT team need a baseline exam, an exam at least every two years (annually if the physician decides), after an exposure or symptoms, and at termination. The content is set by the physician around the exposures — typically history, exam, spirometry, EKG and a laboratory panel.
Lead (29 CFR 1926.62 / 1910.1025)
Employees exposed above the action level get blood lead and zinc protoporphyrin testing every two months for the first six months and every six months after, plus a medical exam annually or when a level is elevated. Draws are done here and results reported to the employer and employee as the standard requires, with removal and return-to-work criteria followed.
How an employer sets up a surveillance program
- Request services with the standards that apply and the number of employees.
- Employees are sent with an authorization and a copy of their exposure information; the clinic keeps the schedule for baseline and periodic exams.
- Written medical opinions and the employee copies are issued within the timeframe the standard requires; records are retained for the period the standard sets.
- Add respirator fit testing and the OSHA respirator questionnaire, and other workplace screenings, to the same visit.
Walk in at either Broward clinic
Both clinics are open seven days a week — Davie at 5149 S University Drive (Renaissance Plaza, just off I-595) and Plantation at 10199 Cleary Boulevard, Suite 10 — serving Davie, Plantation, Cooper City, Weston, Sunrise, Southwest Ranches, Pembroke Pines and the surrounding Broward County communities. Hours, maps and parking.
Insurance and self-pay
Medical surveillance exams are employer-billed under an account; the standards require the employer to provide them at no cost to the employee.