[Occupational medicine qualification examination and check-up]

At the examination of a future apprentice his health conditions and the strain he may experience in his chosen trade are compared. The recommendation to choose an other trade shall be given in cases of important inadequacies. Examples of such cases and the outcome of these apprenticeships collected from a survey of all apprenticeships in Basle starting in 1973-77 are given. Measures preventing such inadequacies are suggested. Periodic examinations are prescribed by the Swiss workers compensation law in cases a worker runs an actual risk of noxious exposures at his place of work. The rationale is to prevent strain as mentioned above and to reveal any occupational disease or similar problem related to the daily work.