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Posted By Simon Carrier
Good day
I have been considering the merits of health declaration forms, not only because I am sad but because some of our employees are being TUPE'd to another company. We give a health declaration form to new employees and it covers items that are potentially associated with thier work eg stress, work at heights epilepsy etc. Yet the new company seems to try and cover every eventuality ranging from previous employment exposures to asking if you are a blood donor and how much alcohol you drink per week. Not really sure whether they have a better grip on the situation than us or not. Whilst I appreciate the benefits of identifing medical conditions early on it does seem a bit OTT. Your thoughts would be appreciated.
regards
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Rank: Guest
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Posted By J Knight
Hi Simon,
I suppose it could be the motives behind asking the questions which might differ. for example, questions about e.g. alcohol consumption are more relevant to HR bods, as there could be attendance and performance issues, whereas you may well be looking more at 'pure' safety related factors like eyesight etc. The other company has obviously also taken litigation defence very seriously, with questions about past exposure. Indeed, it sounds as though their questionnaire has been written by HR people and lawyers.
Myself, I wouldn't get too hot under the collar about it. Like everything else, a pre-employment medical is just a piece of evidence, and it is only as true as the employee's own knowledge and honesty make it. It's also as open to challenge in litigation as any other piece of paper. Is the other company a) bigger than you and or b) multi-national?
John
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Rank: Guest
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Posted By JKP
The guidance from/for OH professionals and data protection is that health questions should relate to the work risk and not be a general fishing exercise. You also need to consider how you are keeping this information as it is, or should be, confidential.
Other important considerations are who is looking at this information, are they qualified to understand what it means and how important it may be to doing the job. If not there is a distinct risk you may unecessarily be discriminating against a person because of health information provided or the person may think you discriminated. Think DDA.
jane
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