What Power Does Occupational Health Have ?

The role of Occupational Health (OH) is to help employees throughout their employment, from assessing a candidate's fitness to work on the first day of work through ensuring that support is provided in compliance with applicable regulations.

OH serves as a counsellor to managers, advising them on how to support their employees and, where feasible, keep them on the job. It attempts to protect the employee's health by providing health surveillance, as established by statute and best practise, to ensure that the tasks and duties do not have any negative consequences on health. This month's blog will provide an overview of the many types of health surveillance required, as well as your responsibilities as an employer.

Health surveillance is an activity that collects data on workers' health in relation to the work they do. The benefit and aim of this are to protect the worker's health by detecting any health concerns early and identifying the need for any specific monitoring. It also assesses the effectiveness of existing control mechanisms and verifies compliance.

Any requirement for health surveillance will be identified as part of the health risk assessment, through good practise (for example, fitness to work in certain roles), or as a legal requirement. Further health surveillance may be considered where the risk cannot be avoided or minimised, but it is not a substitute for addressing the health risk.

Health surveillance can take numerous forms, ranging from non-technical forms like questionnaires and skin checks to technical ones like hearing tests (audiometry) and lung function testing. Any health surveillance is done in the least invasive method possible and is always fully communicated to the subject.

The level of exposure and accepted norms dictate the frequency of health surveillance. It may be required at the start of a position and at regular intervals thereafter, and it may also be required when a person leaves employment.

The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 require persons designated as users (for example, anyone who uses a visual display screen for a considerable portion of their day) to have their DSE set up assessed. This is usually done locally by a sufficiently skilled DSE assessor or by a self-assessment procedure with OH offering specialised ergonomic or tertiary support (as part of an escalation process). We can provide DSE assessor training, as well as specialised ergonomic support and workplace examinations, at Global OHS.

An OH specialist's view may be critical in establishing how to manage a capacity issue, and an OH specialist's opinion may be significant evidence in an employment tribunal suit. Typically, OH advises personnel and their managers on what adaptations may be made to allow staff to do their duties safely and successfully, with a focus on adjusting the work to the staff member's health needs whenever possible.

Having a place of work The OH service provides staff and managers with quick access to professional specialist assistance that will help protect, maintain, and support employees who have health difficulties at work. The advantage of working closely with the management to understand the nuances of positions within an NHS organisation is that OH may make adjustments and help that someone without that expertise and insight may not be able to offer.

Employers are not required to offer occupational health assessments for sick or disabled employees. However, the advice of an occupational health specialist can be invaluable in establishing how to manage a capability issue, providing expert advice to employers on what adjustments can be done to enable people to perform their duties safely and successfully.

An expert opinion from an occupational health professional can also be crucial in the context of any employment tribunal suit for unfair dismissal or unlawful disability discrimination, particularly after a protracted period of sickness-related absence that precludes an employee from returning to work.

If not, it is a good idea to develop a policy outlining how an employee can take use of available occupational health services. This could be after a long-term or periodic short-term illness leave, or for employees who continue to work but require adaptations to their working environment to assist them cope with a disability or avoid harm or illness.

An occupational health specialist can assist you in developing a proper workplace policy, in conjunction with other health and safety policies, to assist you in fulfilling your statutory duty to ensure the health and well-being of your workers.

Having an occupational health evaluation, both you and the employee should be guided by the recommendations provided as to what steps should be done to facilitate their return to work or enable them to remain in work. This could include a gradual return to work, modified duties, decreased working hours, or new working arrangements, as well as workplace adjustments.