Document 9ER7xaYmjReNXqpVyb7B8wB3

TABERSHAW--INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE IN WESTERN ZONE OF GERMANY 305 Arbeitsgemeinschaft has taken the place of the I. G. Farben organization and is open to membership to any full or part time industrial physician. Very few part time physicians, however, are members of this group. In establishing the organization in 1948 an agreement was made between the employers, the labor unions and the industrial physicians to serve as the basis for their functions and duties (see Appendix III). By the terms of this agreement the functions of the physicians are limited essentially to (1) physical examination of workers applying for hazardous occupations and (2) first aid for all industrially injured or ill. The need for such an agreement appears to be an aftermath of the war, the industrial physicians apparently not enjoying the confidence of the workers, since many of them misused their profession on behalf of the employers to further the war effort. Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Arbeitsschutz This organization is the only one in Germany which can be considered a volun tary community group interested in the health and safety of workers. It has been stated that over 100 corporations and ISO individuals are members and represent industry, engineering, medicine, government and labor. The objectives of the organization are as follows: 1. Publication of a journal on industrial medicine. 2. Publication of monographs on various subjects. 3. Maintenance of a library on industrial safety. 4. Organization of two safety meetings a year. 5. Advice on legislation regarding industrial hazards. 6. Encouragement and subsidies for solution of special problems. 7. Maintenance of a museum of industrial safety. It was noted that this group has never and does not intend to collect any statistics on accidents and occupational diseases. They have no interest in general safety education but only in specific technical problems. They are currently working under a severe, handicap, since their entire library was destroyed. Before the war foreign literature was abstracted, and resumption of this service is planned. Publi cation of the journal Zentralblatt fur Arbeitsmedizin, which was discontinued in 1943, will, it is expected, be resumed within a month. West German Chamber of Physicians Dr. Oelemanri, director of the West German Chamber of Physicians, and several private practitioners were interviewed with regard to their part in the practice of industrial hygiene. Private practitioners are entitled to treat workers who are injured or ill from industrial causes. The industrial physicians are not supposed to treat such patients but are to refer them to their private physicians. In cases of severe injury or illness the patient may be referred by the accident insurance doctor (Vertrauensarst) to a specialist for diagnosis and treatment. The determination as to whether a worker is able to return to work is a function of the private physician. In case the latter disagrees with the industrial physician as to the worker's recovery the Vertrauensafzt makes the decision. (1 ' <