Posted By Jonathan Breeze Sounds a bit like petty empire building to me! If HR don't want to share the information with you, why not train them up to do the assessment? Tell them that and see how quickly the information arrives on your desk. It's not a problem we have because HR and H&S both answer to the same manager in my organisation. We do the assessment together in consultation with the employee. Needless to say I am bound by company confidentiality rules.

Posted By Jonathan Breeze Jason, I re-read your post and note that it's OH rather than HR that are not sharing the information and fair enough (patient confidentiality etc.) However that leaves you in a bind because the HSE Guidance at http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg373.pdf clearly states that (on the stage 2 flowchart) the company has to provide a specific assessment based on the advice they have received. So that means either the OH team train to do the assessments themselves; or they provide you with the anonymised information so you can do the assessment and return it to them; or you request a transfer / merger to the OH team. But it strikes me that overcomplicating the system is more likely to lead to documentation going missing. Like I said previously it's not a problem that's been raised in our organisation. I must admit the prospect (described by Merv) of completing a Pregnancy Risk Assessment without being told the person you are assessing is actually pregnant, seems particularly stupid. But it would make an interesting game on "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue". "Och, Hamish..."

Posted By Homer I have experienced this position also, but your Occ Health Department are only doing their job. I found best way to get round it was ask loaded questions i.e. you both know who you are talking about but don't mention any names. It seems to work. To be honest both you and your Occ Health have best interests in mind so it shouldn't ever be an issue.

Posted By Bill Elliott Jason - If your OH service is not allowing you to carry out the "health" bit of your role - give the policy to them to write. Seriuously though it does seem a little bit of an overeaction by OH, Yes they are bound by patient confidentiality but you do need to know certain details if you are to comply with your statutory duties. We do not have such a problem in my organisation, we have an excellent working relationship with the OH team who will share with us the information necessary to carry out our role - suitably anonymised of course, everything else of a personal nature and therefore easily identifiable to an individual is dealt with by the OH team who are more than adequately trained to deal with most assessments.

Posted By John Murgatroyd http://www.ethics-networ.../econfidential.htm#legal or: "Breach of medical confidentiality leads to successful setttlement. Mr A developed a depressive illness following the disclosure of sensitive personal information about his medical condition. His solictor agreed a settlement of £17,500 in relation to a breach of medical confidentiality" I suppose you could say that by giving information to HR your OccH unit is breaching confidentiality....unless permission has been sought and given, that is.