[Occupational medicine preventive studies in West Germany]

Prevention is of increasing importance in medicine, particularly in occupational medicine. The programs of health surveillance at the workplace in the Federal Republic of Germany are discussed. In 1983, 1,400,000 examinations of employees were performed; exclusion criteria were fulfilled in 2.1% (0.9% only temporarily). In 1984 the respective numbers were 1,450,000 examinations (1.8%, 0.8%). During the last few years, health surveillance programs markedly have improved the efficiency of prevention of occupational diseases. They will be an important task for occupational physicians in the future.