Rank: Super forum user
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Afternoon all
I am not a occupation practitioner however as a company I have pushed for health surveylance checks for all employees taking in noise, cholestral, skin, lung function and eye sight checks
Anyhow all booked and was taken up by everyone within the offices and operatives working outside at height
Most OK except a few referals who have been to doctors and we have paid for a letter off the doctor they are fine to work
Occupational are requesting we have any defers sent back to them for futher tests and to assess if they are fit to work as this is a legal requirement?
Question - is the doctors note sufficient or do I need to go back legally to occupation health (independant to our company) me confused
Anyone with more knowledge than me on this subject please let me know were we stand as a company and our duty of care
Thanks in Advance
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Rank: Super forum user
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There are two basic different reasons for doing health checks to which different requirements apply.
One is where employees' work exposes them to risks such as hearing loss because of the work or the working environment. The purpose of these checks is to find out if their work is harming them and if it is, to do something about it. This is properly termed 'health surveillance' and there are legal requirements about in for example the Noise regs, the COSHH regs and so on. The occupational health professionals will also have a set of standards telling them what to do when they find something wrong, including follow-up checks.
Another is where checks are offered to employees as a benefit. These checks are offered on a voluntary basis, that is, it is up to the employee whether to take them up. Cholesterol checks always be in this category as they have nothing to do with workplace hazards, and so would hearing tests if the employees aren't exposed to harmful levels of noise at work.
The first thing you need to do is to be clear about why these tests are being done. The second thing is to discuss this with the occupational health provider. If you have asked them to provide 'health surveillance' then they will take this to be the first kind I mentioned above, where the tests are done as part of managing workplace risks and there are legal requirements. If you have only offered it as a benefit, and your employees are not at risk of developing medical conditions such as hearing loss, asthma etc as a result of their work, then it isn't health surveillance and the legal requirements don't apply.
Both you and the provider need to know which it is.
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1 user thanked Kate for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user
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I would say that it depends on what the Occupational Health Service provider was contracted to do. Your legal responsibility extends only so far as health surveillance is required relating to work related health problems, eg noise exposure and hearing loss, skin problems and exposure to chemicals. If an employee was refered to their GP for cholesterol or high blood pressure then it is for the GP to say if the person is fit for work or not, not the Occupational Health Service provider. I would expect them to get involved if the person was referred for a work related problem which potentially required adjustments to be made to their work and working environment in which case I would expect them to give professional advice. I suspect that this is a tactic for getting you to pay for more services.
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1 user thanked Hsquared14 for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user
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It depends on which standards you have or the OH provider has assessed the individuals against....if it s Contruction Better Health (which is common) there are job roles noted as safety critical - which your working at height guys might fall into (excuse the pun :))...which would put you in a difficult position IF they did not meet the standard required...not striclt a legal requirement but would make your life difficult if the person had an accident...
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1 user thanked stevedm for this useful post.
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