Survey on opinions among employers regarding special health examinations in small-scale enterprises]

In order to clarify the employers' opinions regarding special health examinations and follow-up measures, we conducted a survey targeting small-scale enterprises that had less than fifty employees and no obligation to assign an occupational physician. We received 354 answers, a response rate of 49.5%. More than 60% of the employers felt that the special health examination was useful for preventing occupational diseases and for the health promotion of employees, and 83.9% of employers felt that the special health examinations were effective. On the other hand, about 30% of the employers felt that it was difficult to allocate a time and pay financial costs for special health examinations. The limited number of employees and financial restriction might prohibit them from carrying out and performing appropriate follow-up measures after the special health examination. Only 21.2% of enterprises had an occupational physician, 44.7% of employers had no information regarding the local occupational health service center, 51.4% of employers did not request an opinion related to employee's health problems after health examination. We concluded that it is important to build a social system to give employers information on where and how they may find sufficient medical resources for the effective application of the special health examination in small-scale enterprises.