Pre-employment / fitness for work assessments
There is a legal requirement to ensure that an employer does not put any prospective or existing employee’s health at risk and to make any reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010.
Essentially, any pre-existing health conditions at pre-employment must not be made worse or aggravated by the requirements of the job. Many employers find that a pre-employment medical or health related paper screen, once a conditional job offer has been made, will enable them to achieve the following:-
- ensure that the applicant meets statutory medical safety standards
- advise the employer or applicant of adjustments or restrictions which may be required
- ensure that the applicant will not be harmed by the duties of the post
Pre employment medicals can be undertaken as a remote service through confidential paper screening or carried out on site, particularly in the case of those roles which require statutory medical clearance to be undertaken.
Statutory health surveillance
Noise
Legislation: Control of Noise at Work Regulations (2005)
www.hse.gov.uk/noise/index.htm
The Noise Regulations 2005 require employers to prevent or reduce risks to health and safety from exposure to noise at work. Regular hearing tests (audiometry) should be carried out on all employees identified by risk assessment as being exposed. Health surveillance is done each year for the first two years and then three yearly for most employees, with more regular screening required for those individuals deemed to be particularly susceptible.
Respiratory and skin
Legislation: Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) (2002)
COSHH covers the employer’s legal duty to reduce, as far as is reasonably practicable, the exposure of their employees to substances hazardous to health. This covers any substances which may be irritant, corrosive, toxic, and harmful or which may be ingested, inhaled or damage the skin during contact.
Health surveillance for exposure to respiratory hazards (dusts, fumes, vapours) is generally carried out on an annual basis as follows:
Spirometry / lung-function testing - for those exposed to respiratory sensitisers e.g. isocyanate paints
Low-level respiratory surveillance / paper screening – for those exposed to other respiratory hazards e.g. weld fume
Skin surveillance - for those exposed to skin sensitisers e.g. chemicals, adhesives or cements
Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS)
Legislation: The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations (2005)
www.hse.gov.uk/vibration/hav/index.htm
Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome is related to the use of hand-held power tools. Health surveillance should be carried out on all employees deemed to have exposure based on risk assessment. Health surveillance is a tiered approach which requires annual paper-based screening with clinical assessment normally on a three-yearly basis with increased surveillance if problems are detected.
Fitness to drive medicals (including lift-trucks, mobile work equipment & company car drivers)
Guidance:Rider Operated Lift Trucks:Operator Training and Safe Use (L117)
This guidance advises that lift-truck drivers should have regular medicals to assess their fitness to operate these vehicles. It is advisable that medicals are performed at the start of employment, 5-yearly from the age of 45, then annually after the age of 65, though many companies elect to carry out the medicals at more frequent intervals and also include any of their commercial or company car drivers in the screening programme. These medicals can be carried out on site and a report on fitness is provided.
Health assessments for company car drivers can reduce the risk of accidents and help to lower insurance premiums.
Medicals for working in confined spaces
Legislation: The Confined Spaces Regulations (1997)
A confined space is a place which is substantially enclosed (though not always entirely) and where serious injury can occur from hazardous substances or conditions within the space or nearby (e.g. lack of oxygen).
This medical is carried out on commencement of role to assess fitness for work concentrating on musculo-skeletal and respiratory robustness as well as information gathered on any other health conditions that may increase likelihood of ill health/injury. Repeat medicals should be performed on a 5-yearly basis, or earlier if a new health condition is declared.
Medicals for working at height
Legislation: Work at Height Regulations (2005) (amended 2007)
These medicals are carried out to ensure that those working at height are safeguarded from injury and/or death due to an underlying medical condition. The medical is carried out on commencement of the role with follow-up medicals on a 2-yearly basis, or earlier if a new health condition is declared.
Night-worker health assessments
Legislation: The Working Time Regulations (1998) (amended 2003)
The purpose of this screening is to identify any conditions that might mean that working at night poses a potential risk to the employee’s health and safety.
Under the Working Time Regulations an employer must offer night workers a free health assessment before they start working nights and on a regular basis while they are working nights. In many cases it will be appropriate to do this once a year, though employers can offer a health assessment more than once a year if they feel it is necessary.
Workers do not have to take the opportunity to have a health assessment (but it must be offered by the employer).
The health assessment is made up of two parts: a paper-based self-administered questionnaire and a medical examination. The latter is only necessary if the OHA has doubts about the worker’s fitness for night work. The health assessment should take into account the type of work that will be done and the restrictions on the worker’s working time under the regulations. If a worker suffers from problems which are caused or made worse by night work, the employer should transfer him or her to day work if possible. New and expectant mothers should be given special consideration. Special consideration should be given to young workers’ suitability for night work, taking account of their physique, maturity and experience.
DSE workstation assessments
Legislation: The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 (updated 2002)
Surveys have found that a high proportion of DSE workers report aches, pains or eye discomfort. These aches and pains are sometimes called upper limb disorders (ULDs), which can include a range of medical conditions such as RSI. Most of these conditions do not indicate any serious ill health, but it makes sense to avoid them as far as possible.
That doesn’t mean that DSE is risky – it isn’t. ULDs can be avoided if users follow effective practice, set up their workstations properly and take breaks during prolonged use. By just taking a few simple precautions, work with DSE can be more comfortable and productive.
Company Health Management can carry out DSE Assessments for you to ensure legal compliance, recommend adjustments for maximum ergonomic benefit and advise on specialist equipment that may be required for very complex cases.
Sickness absence management / rehabilitation
Sickness absence is widely regarded as the single greatest cause of lost productivity and, in the current economic climate, it makes sound financial sense to ensure that businesses are running at optimal efficiency.
Occupational health intervention is a key element of any strategy for managing sickness absence. We welcome referrals for employees with frequent short-term absence concerns, health conditions leading to long-term absence, or in cases where a health problem is adversely affecting an employee’s performance at work.
Here at Company Health Management we pride ourselves on the quality of our occupational health consultations, which can be either face-to-face or over the telephone. Consultations are comprehensive and likely to cover several areas including:
- the presenting condition
- the past medical history
- the employee’s social circumstances
- the work role
- their functional capacity
- other biopsychosocial factors
- future management of the case
Employees are advised that we are required to provide impartial objective advice to both the employer and the employee, whilst maintaining confidentiality with regards the employee’s actual health condition. We always aim to give evidence-based advice that is practical for your business to implement and that helps to keep you legally compliant.
We recognise also that there are sometimes other factors behind someone’s absence from work that aren’t purely medical and we work hard with employees and employers alike to identify the reasons behind the absence and to implement programmes that help restore healthy and effective employees to the workplace.
The Disability Discrimination Act (1995) (amended 2005) now encompassed in the Equality Act 2010 may apply in some cases and our advice would prove extremely useful with regards to making any possible adjustments to job duties within the workplace.
Stress management
By the term “stress”, we mean the process that arises where demands of various types and combinations exceed the person’s capacity and capability to cope. This can lead to signs of stress such as irritability, poor sleep, lowered concentration levels, anxiety and mood swings.
Stress itself is not an illness – it’s a state. However, if stress becomes too excessive and prolonged, mental and physical illness may develop. This can lead to poor work performance, sickness absence and loss of productivity.
Company Health Management is ideally placed to help your company implement effective strategies for managing the risk of work-related stress within your organisation. We can help you to develop and implement policies and procedures to reduce the risk to employees’ mental health at work. We can devise and deliver training courses for managers to recognise signs of stress in their employees and we can also carry out confidential consultations with employees reporting signs of stress. From there we can offer appropriate support and guide the business in how best to support their employee in returning to productive work.
It’s not just about preventing poor mental health. Company Health Management sees work as hugely beneficial to employees in many ways and is passionate about promoting employee well-being by working with companies to help their employees and profits to thrive!
Health promotion and well-being initiatives
Health promotion has historically been seen as a “nicety” for businesses that have some extra money to spend. However, recent guidance from the Department for Health following release of the Boorman Review, advises that all companies should now be proactive in promoting health and well-being and that in such areas as obesity and smoking. Every company nationally now has some responsibility to future generations of workers and our nation as a whole to address these issues due to the expected ageing workforce in the years to come.
Motivationally for companies is the undeniable fact that obesity and tobacco consumption, for example, in their workforce leads to a higher prevalence of ill-health, which has a knock-on effect on attendance and in the employees’ ability to provide sustained and productive service in their job role.
We would always recommend that we carry out a general health-needs assessments with your employees to determine which health promotion initiatives (smoking cessation, healthy eating, promoting exercise, healthy heart, diabetes awareness) are going to be most beneficial to them. We can then devise and deliver those initiatives to suit the needs of the business e.g. individual counselling sessions, group activities, presentations, sponsored events etc.
Well-being isn’t just about health promotion though and Company Health Management is passionate about seeing employee well-being being integrated into your business strategy. From the décor of your premises, the catering facilities, your recruitment and appraisal processes, styles of management, employee engagement programmes and reward schemes…these all have a huge impact on employee morale, their well-being, their health and, ultimately, on their productivity.
Policy and procedure development
Many company policies and procedures can benefit from input by Occupational Health Consultants. Clearly those relating to health surveillance and sickness absence management will link very closely. However, we can also advise on:
- stress management policy
- new and expectant mothers policy
- travel policy (fitness to travel)
- company car drivers policy (fitness to drive)
- drug and alcohol misuse policy
- the health aspects of company risk assessments