SPL27 DIGITALIZATION IN OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH PROGRAMMES: THE NEW CHALLENGES
Authors: Mutiara Ade 
Published: July 2024

Since technology became integrated into human life, rapid changes have occurred across nearly all aspects of human existence, including economics, social dynamics, and culture. Humans are required to adapt to and embrace these changes. Many manual jobs have been replaced by technology through automation. AI technology has swiftly provided humans with convenience in their daily lives. The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled individuals to become more adept with technology in order to maintain connectivity from isolated locations through the use of technology.

Occupational health is not immune to the challenges of these changes. Discoveries in digital methodologies for Risk Assessment, Fitness to Work program, and Occupational Health Surveillance processes, as well as supporting tools for diagnosing work-related illnesses, and even mental health programs, have significantly influenced the field of occupational health.

All of these developments are made to facilitate human work without deviating from the goal of Occupational Health programs, which is to create a work environment and maintain worker health to prevent occupational injuries and illnesses. The human role remains crucial to ensure the accuracy and validity of every analysis conducted digitally through the technology created.

If we look at the number of work-related diseases issued by the ILO as well as data on deaths caused by NCDs, our task as OH practitioners is certainly to prevent a significant increase in these figures.

So, what is the progress of digital innovation in the field of occupational health?

Upon deeper examination, technological advancements in the field of industrial hygiene have progressed rapidly in conducting health risk assessments to measure and control hazards. For example, in the case of physical hazards, gas detectors, which were previously manually operated, can now be integrated into workers' equipment with the aim of providing early warnings to personnel regarding potentially dangerous situations such as flammable or toxic atmospheres (gas) or fires, as well as heat monitoring, by placing numerous sensors at points where workers perform hot work. This ensures protection against heat-related diseases. Technological advancements in PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) represent significant progress in making workers more comfortable while still protecting them from health hazards.

In conducting Fit to Work assessments, digitalization and technologies such as Heart Rate Variability, Fit to Work assessment, 3D radiographer reader, and telemedicine can perform real-time screening, which is useful for early detection of diseases that may be caused by health hazard in the workplace, including Stress monitoring and NCD monitoring.

The role of the Occupational Health Doctor in addressing these challenges lies in combining competencies and skills in occupational health programs with this digitalization to achieve the goal of creating productive workers. Several challenges in implementing digitalization, especially regarding generation gaps, can be overcome through cross-generational collaboration and continuous knowledge transfer.

Legal aspects, government support, leadership commitment, and resource competencies remain key to the successful implementation of this digitalization. Digitalization should serve as enablers for the swift and accurate screening and early detection of health issues in the workplace.