Occupational form
TB Screening Form
A TB screening form is usually an employer's, school's, or public-health department's checklist: symptoms, risk, tuberculin skin test or IGRA, and chest x-ray when indicated. It is not a treatment record for active tuberculosis. It is a snapshot used to clear someone for a workplace or to decide whether public health needs to be involved.
What you are clearing
Long-term care, hospitals, corrections, shelters, and some schools still require baseline TB screening. Use their current form. Canadian TB Standards change; a 2012 two-step TST protocol printed on clinic letterhead may not match what that employer or that health unit wants this year.
Symptom review is not optional. Cough, hemoptysis, night sweats, fever, weight loss — if any are present, this is no longer a clearance form. It is a workup. Do not tick 'cleared' and also tick 'productive cough for 4 weeks.'
Latent vs active
A positive TST or IGRA with a normal chest x-ray and no symptoms is latent infection until proven otherwise. That person is usually not contagious. They still need a plan (treat, defer, or refer). 'Positive TB test' on an occupational form without that distinction panics HR and does not help public health.
Who completes it
- Physician, NP, or occupational health nurse as the form allows.
- TST planting and reading must follow the rules for who may read (including the 48–72 hour window).
- Chest x-ray reports belong attached, not summarized from memory as 'normal years ago.'
How to complete the screening
- Symptoms today. If positive, stop clearance and investigate.
- Prior TB disease or treatment, with year and country if known.
- BCG history if the form asks — it does not make a large TST 'negative.'
- TST: date planted, date read, millimetres of induration (not erythema), who read it. Two-step only if this baseline requires it and there is no documented prior TST.
- IGRA if that is what the site uses, with the lab date.
- Chest x-ray when indicated (positive test, symptoms, or the form's rule). Date and conclusion.
- Clearance statement the form actually offers: no evidence of active TB vs unfit pending workup. Do not invent a third box.
Worked example (fictional)
New PSW hire — long-term care
Fictional 22-year-old. Do not copy onto a real occupational form.
Employer form, LTC. No cough, no fever, no night sweats, no weight loss, no hemoptysis. Born in Canada, no known TB contact, no prior treatment. BCG: no. Two-step TST: step 1 on 18 Aug = 0 mm at 48 h; step 2 on 25 Aug = 0 mm at 48 h. Read by occupational health nurse. CXR not indicated. Impression: no evidence of active TB on this screen. Cleared for the employer's TB purpose only. Not a full pre-employment medical. If symptoms develop, re-present — this form is dated 26 Aug 2026.
Why occupational health sends the person back
- TST read outside 48–72 hours, or recorded as 'negative' with no millimetres.
- Symptoms present and still 'cleared.'
- Positive IGRA with no chest x-ray and no public-health plan.
- Using a BCG history to ignore a 15 mm TST.
- Wrong employer's form, or last year's student-placement PDF.
Draft the TB screening form from the visit
In Scribeberry, open Forms, search for TB screening, or upload the employer's or public-health unit's current PDF. Generate from the encounter and your notes, then edit every field before you sign. Scribeberry does not pre-map this form. You still review and sign.
Frequently asked questions
Is IGRA better than TST?
Use what the receiving site and current Canadian TB Standards support for that person. Do not run both without a reason. Record the test you actually did.
Does a positive TST mean they cannot work?
Not by itself. Active disease is the contagious problem. Latent infection needs a chest x-ray, symptom review, and a treatment decision. Write that sequence. Do not 'fail' the person on millimetres alone.
Who reports to public health?
Suspect or confirmed active TB is reportable. Follow your province's public health act. An occupational clearance form is not a substitute for a report.
Does Scribeberry notify public health?
No. Scribeberry helps you complete the PDF. You report and submit through the proper channels and keep a copy in the chart.
Forms
