Intake Clinics

An intake clinic is held where a group of workers sharing the same employer, workplace or workplace exposures have reason to believe they have similar and related health concerns. This includes every type of injury or illness, including ergonomic issues such as repetitive strain injuries. The purpose of an intake clinic is to capture information about the workplace, the working conditions, the exposures and the work and health histories of the workers. 

As a result of an intake clinic, OHCOW is able to identify hazardous workplace risks and make recommendations for change. Possible disease clusters such as cancer are identified. Trends in diseases related to a particular industry or process are revealed. OHCOW will use the information to recommend change to prevent future injury or exposure. 

From this information, one of the key roles of the OHCOW team is to make the work relatedness assessment. This can be on an individual or group basis. For an individual worker, where appropriate consents have been signed, this information is shared with the advocate in order for Workers' compensation claims to be filed. A general assessment of the workplace, working conditions and exposures is used to make recommendations to the worker group and the advocate/s in order to develop a prevention plan. 

OHCOW's multi-disciplinary team of health-care practitioners in consultation with the client group and their advocate/s develop a plan for the clinic that is unique to the group and the circumstance. The role of the OHCOW team is to guide the process; to develop an appropriate health history and exposure questionnaire, to educate the client group on risk and hazard mapping, work with the advocate and the clients to plan and implement the intake clinic itself. back