Attachment I, 12 
The necessary foundation for any long-term studies of biotechnology workers 
will be the indefinite maintenance of careful records on each worker by each 
institution or firm engaged in biotechnology. At a minimum, such records must 
include the name of each worker, personal identifying information including 
Social Security number, results of all physical examinations and special 
medical tests, a complete history of work experience (including information on 
areas of work, specific jobs, and specific organisms, processes, and products 
encountered), and a record of any illnesses or of any accidents in which the 
worker was involved. 
LIMITATIONS OF MEDICAL SURVEILLANCE 
The likelihood is small that a medical surveillance program for biotechnology 
workers will detect any illness caused by recombined organisms or by their 
products. Neither the nature nor the possible time of onset of any such 
illness is known. Further, such illnesses may appear in only one or a few 
workers. Nonetheless, the detection of any occupational illness caused by 
recombinant organisms or by their products will have important biological and 
public health consequences, and should be actively sought. 
CONCLUDING COMMENT 
Medical surveillance of workers engaged in industrial applications of rDNA 
will be no substitute for other mechanisms for the protection of workers in 
this industry. Physical containment of organisms and of their products will 
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