1. MEDEXIS MEDical EXposure Information System
CEFIC Responsible Care Award 2010 – Solvay
Enclosures : a presentation of the project

2. Plan The MEDEXIS project Industrial hygiene The occupational physician
MEDEXIS: Secure combination of individual data
Setting up Medexis
Personnel health: Solvay strategy
Questions

3. The MEDEXIS project A uniformly high level of personnel health protection everywhere

4. What is the Medexis project?
MEDEXIS = MEDical EXposure Information System
Harmonisation on all Solvay sites:
Prevention of health risks
High level medical monitoring
Information management tool: “occupational medicine” and “exposure” type data
Medexis deployment in 2 parts:
Hygiene part
Medical part

5. 2 complementary approaches
Health protection:
2 complementary approaches
2 complementary approaches to health protection:
Controlling working conditions
→ Industrial hygienist
Medical surveillance
→ Occupational physician

6. Medexis Objectives Group Project → All Solvay sites
Access by hygienists and occupational physicians to complete and reliable data
Good documentation on levels of exposure to dangers
Medical monitoring adapted to each person and risk
Information collected and retained throughout professional life: personnel computer file: the occupational health file

7. Access to Medexis data
Access by hygienists and occupational physicians to objective, standardised, complete and reliable data, for prevention purposes:
Lists of dangers: substances, noise, vibration, … and the toxicological and regulatory characteristics of each substance
Risk exposure levels and protection for chemical, physical, biological and ergonomic hazards at work stations
Individual medical monitoring related to potential risks, going beyond regulatory requirements

8. Risk prevention Medexis contribution to health protection
Validated information on substances and their risks → better risk prevention
Global view of risk factors → if corrective measures necessary → faster and more effective decision
Employment health file
Computerised and unique Monitoring throughout career → traceability for professional exposures and health data recording
Always up to date clear and complete Exposure to risk factors → special attention
Monitoring
Individual monitoring based on high quality data
Up to date “Group” recommendations and methods → same monitoring quality everywhere in the world

9. Apply health surveillance protocols on regard of risks & exposures
Medexis: A standardising and integrating tool
Organize samplings campaigns
Manage key figures
Recor medical
results
Perform medical visits
Apply health surveillance protocols on regard of risks & exposures
Define standard health surveillance protocols
Manage persons
Manage agents
Assess risk & exposure
Conduct epidemiology studies
Perform actions for reductions risk
Describe working environments
Product safety
Human Ressources
Occupational Health
Business Intelligence
Industrial Hygiene
Standardising
Access by Hygiene and Health experts to the best methods and tools
(e.g. EA-tool, medical protocols) → harmonisation
Integrating
Bringing medical and hygiene data + administrative data related to work roles and positions occupied into relation

10. The industrial hygienist prevents risks due to exposure at the work station

11. Aim of industrial hygiene:
What is industrial hygiene?
Aim of industrial hygiene:
Prevent exposures at the work station, from the design of
installations and for each worker concerned.
Design, prevention of emissions, leaks…
Personal protective equipment and personnel monitoring
Work environment control and inspection (ventilation, noise…)
Regulatory requirements and work station analyses

12. What industrial hygiene data will Medexis contain?
Inventory of chemical products and non chemical agents, their physico-chemical and toxicological properties
Solvay methods and tools for the evaluation of work station risks
Exposure risks at each work station: chemical, physical, biological or ergonomic risks
Local and international standards or standards defined or adopted by Solvay (TLV, SAEL, …) in the absence of regulations

13. Evaluation of health risks
How does the industrial hygienist evaluate risks?
Standardised tool: “Exposure Assesment-tool”
Evaluation of all work station risks
Validated method, conforming to international best practice
Includes exposure data for each work station
Applied to all Solvay sites

14. Industrial hygiene in Medexis
Industrial hygiene data → Medexis database
Information collected and available
Risk knowledge at individual and collective level
“Good practice” sharing
Definition of best risk prevention strategies
Quality procedure
Who uses the industrial hygiene data in Medexis ?
The hygienists, occupational physicians, management and “Health, safety and environment” managers of the Solvay Group

15. The occupational physician protects and monitors personnel health

16. What is occupational medicine?
Aim of occupational medicine:
Protect and monitor personnel health
Examination and preventive advice based above all on the person: state of health, medical history, age and type of work are the key factors.
Use of exposure data → adaptation of medical monitoring to each situation and choice of specific or complementary examinations.
Individualised medical monitoring: examinations, biomonitoring
Regulatory requirements, scientific references…

17. Use of industrial hygiene data by the occupational physician
Industrial hygiene data → specific exposure risks at each work station
Individual “exposure risks profile” accessible to the occupational physician + knowledge of dangers from agents → determination of appropriate medical examinations and suitable medical monitoring
Medical monitoring also taking into account: hours, stress, physical and mental load, individual susceptibilities, pregnancy….

18. Medexis and the occupational physician
Use of Medexis by the occupational physician
Updating occupational medicine data
Medical examination and preventive advice based on: state of health, medical history, age, type of work...
Use of exposure data → suitable medical monitoring → specific or complementary examinations
Medexis: Best quality for examination content and medical monitoring
Electronic occupational health file = personal file, accessible to the occupational physician for my site, who is held to professional secrecy.

19. What will change for me?
Medexis: Computerised medical file → monitoring in different professional appointments → traceability of exposures, good information transmission and good conservation of all information.
Occupational health file
1st consultation: medical and professional questionnaire :
Confidential
Information needed for good medical monitoring, personnel history and professional risk factors encountered throughout my career
Exposure report
At the end of working for Solvay: personal report on exposures and the results of medical examinations supplied to the person concerned who can send them to his treating doctor

20. Who has access to the medical data in Medexis?
Confidentiality
Computerised occupational health file: no change from the professional ethics viewpoint: confidentiality and continuity maintained
Access
Access to the occupational health file: only the occupational physician for my site
Access to collective and anonymous health data: limited to the medical professions

21. MEDEXIS Secure combination of individual data

22. Combining Medexis data
Individual data → combined, collective data
Combination of anonymous health and hygiene data for a large number of persons and sites → strengthened knowledge of risks and medical monitoring
Combined data → health monitoring and epidemiological studies
“Inter-site” health monitoring: combination of observations of groups of persons on different sites→ better detection of any risks
Combined data → epidemiological studies: attempt to establish a cause and effect relation between a risk factor and a health effect

23. Data combination and access to personal data
Computer security
Combined data = anonymous: coded link to personal data only known by the responsible occupational physician
Personal data secured by a set of computer provisions against unauthorised access, loss, alteration and theft.
Consent from personnel
Agreement for anonymous and coded use of my health data
Right to information
Information on the results of studies

24. Protection of private life
Occupational health file protected by:
Laws relating to the protection of private life
Medical ethics: Occupational physician held to professional secrecy
Deployment of Medexis in each country:
Declaration of deployment of the Medexis project to the Privacy Protection Commission or a similar organisation and approval by it

25. Introduction of Medexis

26. Introduction of Medexis (1)
Medexis = worldwide project → all sectors and sites where Solvay
assumes responsibility for personnel health protection and prevention
+/- 90 sites for industrial hygiene
+/-75 sites for occupational medicine
+/- 20 countries
At least 10 languages
+/- 300 users
Doctors/nurses
Hygienists

27. Introduction of Medexis (2)
2 parts:
Introduction of the hygiene part
Introduction of the medical part
Medexis is part of the 25 priority Solvay Group sustainable development objectives for the period

28. Personnel health: Solvay strategy
“Comply with legislation and Solvay guide values for chemical, physical, biological and ergonomic risks”
“Prevent risks at source”
“Evaluate the risks at each work station using a reliable, standardised method that allows comparison between work stations and sites”
“Guarantee the same level of health protection everywhere by harmonised medical monitoring throughout the Group”
“Provide personalised medical monitoring adapted to the risk profile of each work station and the individual characteristics of each worker”
cf. Report “Pour un Développement Durable ” (~For Sustainable Development )

29. Questions?