A group of pharmacists in an occupational setting. It is an Occupational Health Pharmacy (OHPh), a practice of pharmacy in the institutional, corporate, company or industrial setting. Occupational Health Pharmacy, a requirement for private and government company or institution's medical clinic handling, storing and dispensing of ethical or prescription products for their employees and/or dependen
ts whether free, subsidized or sold. It is specifically an area of pharmacy practice in occupational set-up of private and government (both national government agencies or branch/government owned and controlled corporations and city/municipal health department or LGU) institutions or industrial corporate or company in which, as part of the company's benefit, they provide pharmacy services in their medical clinic department. The medical clinic of a particular company is in compliance with the requirement of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). The occupational health pharmacists works hand in hand with the occupational health physicians, occupational health nurses and occupational health dentists among others as required by law. As an occupational health pharmacys or industrial pharmacy in the workplace or in occupational setting, the primary function or role of a pharmacist as a member of the occupational health team is to follow both the company and Food and Drugs Administration (FDA)'s guidelines in the procurement of medicines from a reputable and licensed distributors, keep a system of medicine inventory, to dispense medicines to employees and/or dependents of the company and most of all to do counseling which is of utmost importance in patient care. Pharmacists in the occupational health or industrial pharmacies of private or government company secures License to Operate (LTO) from the FDA. Their employers require them to be physically present every time the company's pharmacy is open, mostly eight hours a day and five times a week as a full-time pharmacist. They may be part of the payroll or organizational or "plantilla" system/chart of the company they work for either as regular or contractual employee or as an outsourced third party pharmacy service provider. In this set-up, while other companies or institutions have the capacity to hire pharmacists in their satellite pharmacies, their are pharmacists working in institutions, that, being the lone pharmacist they handle or supervises a number of satellite pharmacies, depending on the number of the company's branches, offices or subsidiaries. In these institutions, satellite pharmacies is being handled or manned by nurses. This exists because of several factors, like the company's budget capabilities, bulk of work or scope of the pharmacist's responsibilities, population of the company or the distance of the main branch from the satellite pharmacies. This is an area in the pharmacy profession where pharmacists can improve the health of the company's employees which is the building block of our nation.
