Preventative Medicine

The Preventive Medicine Service has been operational at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University for a number of years, and plans and performs Health Surveillance through health protocols drawn up as appropriate to the specific risks.

Under the terms of the "Consolidation Law on Occupational Health and Safety", the students of universities and other educational institutions are considered equivalent to employees with regard to exposure to biological/chemical/radiological risk, and therefore health surveillance is also compulsory for them.

"CONSOLIDATION LAW ON OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY"

The new Consolidation Law on occupational health and safety came into force in May 2008, and introduced major changes to the provisions of the previous Legislative Decree 626/94, as amended.

The provisions of the new Legislative Decree 81/08 on occupational health and safety also further reinforced the roles of the individual players in the workplace.

While on the one hand the Employer is obliged, through its Health and Safety Manager and Medical Officer, to implement all measures necessary to ensure occupational health and safety, employees are also required to be aware of their active role in assisting the Employer in this task. For these purposes, it should be remembered that students are classified as workers, since they are subject to the same legislative requirements.

And the best way for workers to fulfil this obligation is for them to present for regular health checks, attend training courses in an active, constructive spirit, make correct, constant use of Personal Protective Equipment, and comply with the procedures issued by the Health and Safety Service.

This important legislation can only be correctly applied if all those involved participate seriously and responsibly, bearing in mind that the hospital where they work or study is classified as a "high risk" location.

The Intranet site is provided and maintained with the aim of ensuring students easy access to documents, creating a channel for communications with all enrolled students, and making updated material available.

Under the provisions of the law referred to above, our main duties are:

• Preventive Health Surveillance, with compilation of the relative health record.

. Issue of Preventive Surveillance Plans: the type of check is specified.

• Regular Health Surveillance: Issue of Regular Surveillance Plans: the frequency of the checks to be performed, which depends on the risk identified for each role, is specified. Compilation of the health record for each student.

• Preventive and Post-Exposure TB Surveillance: writing and issue of the TB Surveillance Protocols: performance of Quantiferon test, TB examination, administration of any treatment.

• Hepatitis B vaccination. Administration of Hepatitis B vaccine: management of subsequent appointments, evaluation of response to vaccination, recording of data,

• Influenza vaccination. Administration of influenza vaccine: management of contacts with the Local Health Authorities, notification of students.

• Management of Medical Radioprotection (Legislative Decree 101/2020). Implementation of Regular Surveillance Plans

• Surveillance after exposure to transmissible (contagious, infectious, exanthematous) diseases. Control and surveillance of students exposed to biological risk: surveillance in association with the Hospital Infections Committee (CIO). Implementation and management of health surveillance after accidental exposure: recording of data, compilation of INAIL (Workplace Accident Insurance Authority) forms, Hbv vaccination if not immunised, subsequent blood tests.

• Management of reports of occupational diseases. Diagnosis of occupational diseases: verification, change of duties if appropriate, reporting to competent authorities (Local Health Authorities - INAIL Insurance Authority).