Guidance and Position Statements

ACOEM provides this guidance on monkeypox (mpox) for occupational and environmental medicine (OEM) physicians and other health professionals responsible for preventing and treating monkeypox among health care workers and those workers who may have skin-to-skin contact with others (e.g., schools, correctional facilities, laboratories, veterinary settings, sex workers, etc.). This document is also intended to address some of the associated work-related issues.

ACOEM recommends that adults follow immunization recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to reduce their risks from vaccine‐preventable illnesses. ACOEM believes that staying current with immunization recommendations will help protect the health of the American workforce, avoid needless work absences, and ultimately promote a healthy economy.
 

As occupational and environmental medicine (OEM) physicians are responsible for developing and implementing a travelers’ health program in the workplace, ACOEM has developed this guidance to provide up-to-date information on what vaccines, and the timing thereof, are necessary for employees who travel.
 

Maintaining healthful, safe, and productive work environments for workers in correctional settings is a matter of deep consequence to the workers and the incarcerated individuals with whom they share space. The Task Force hypothesized that an examination of the academic literature would reveal opportunities for an improved approach to research in these settings. A scoping literature review using search terms related to the occupational and environmental health of workers in correctional environments, limited to studies performed in the US was therefore conducted.

This statement by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine provides guidance for OEM providers who serve workers and employers in industries where heat exposure occurs.

This guidance document addresses the current state of OEM practice and education, and the challenges faced regarding the training of future OEM physicians. This Board-approved article has been submitted to JOEM for publication. However, due to the importance of the material contained in this paper, ACOEM is releasing it prior to its publication in JOEM.

This guidance statement from ACOEM focuses on the different strategies that OEM health professionals can implement to protect workers from health impacts associated with climate change hazards, foster workplace resilience in the face of rapidly changing environments, and take the necessary steps to mitigate the effects of global climate change.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic persists, and the impact of viral mutation-driven variants remains uncertain, ACOEM is updating its guidance for performing more widespread spirometry. The guidance remains interim due to the rapidly evolving understanding of how SARS-CoV-2 can be best controlled. This ACOEM guidance document is intended to help occupational health clinical service providers minimize risks to patients and health care personnel.

The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) recommends that COVID-19 vaccination be mandated for all health care workers (HCWs).