MK Occupational Health Ltd - Newsletter Spring 2005

A MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATION OF GROUP OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SERVICES

To promote and maintain the health & safety of people at work

Nationwide Coverage by Association

MK Occupational Health Ltd is pleased to promote their membership of the Association of Group Occupational Health Services. This is the inaugural newsletter from the members of the Association which was established over 25 years ago, and was developed to enable access to a comprehensive range of services and expertise across a wide geographical area.

MK Occupational Health Ltd together with the other members of the Association works to a common set of professional standards. By working to these standards we can assure you of a system that is robust in defence of claims, protective of employers and representative of employee rights and conditions. Having this behind your service provision will give you peace of mind that your legislative and duty of care obligations are met. By having a common set of standards we are also able to work together with other Association members to provide services in various locations in the Country, where appropriate.

Within this newsletter you will see the scope of services available to you as both core provision and as specialist advice and see where we actually fit within your business structure. We are constantly updating our service provision and standards as the workplace and legislation evolves.

All Shook Up

Exposure to vibration in the workplace tends to occur either via the hands where hand held power tools or machinery are used, or via the body through the seat or feet.

Hand Arm Vibration (HAV) tends to result in painful and disabling diseases with symptoms such as loss of grip or strength, pain or numbness in the fingers or loss of the sense of touch. Whole Body Vibration (WBV) tends to occur in drivers of certain vehicles such as tractors, fork lift trucks and quarrying or earth moving equipment and shows itself in back pains and associated complaints.

It is estimated that around 36000 people in the UK have an advanced stage of ‘vibration white finger’ which is the most well known HAV disease. This disease is also the most common reason for occupational ill health claims made against employers under the HAV disease category.

If employees are at risk through exposure to vibration, OH practitioners suggest the following:

Identifying, controlling and monitoring risks of vibration will enable the provision of a sensible approach to the issue of vibration diseases. Ill health is not inevitable with the use of machinery if care is taken to avoid unnecessary exposure to the risks.

*HSE booklet Health Risks from Hand-Arm Vibration – Advice for Employers.

The Cost of Absence

The Government, media, and HSE have focused attention on sickness absence; the ways in which it should be managed and prevented, and the support needed for individuals to return to work. These elements are fundamental to the work of OH practitioners and it certainly brought the ethos of Occupational Health to the forefront of a number of employers.

Sickness absence costs UK businesses over £3.8 billion each year which has an obvious impact on the profitability and productivity of the entire economy.

Advice from OH providers is that early intervention is the key to minimising not only the length of absence, but also to reduce the potential for litigation at a later date.

Positive action means that long term sickness absence is reduced and that sick employees are most likely to return to work.

It is important that procedures are followed so that employers, employees and stakeholders are assured of fairness and consistency of intervention. A sickness absence policy provides structured guidelines for the health professional to support any action and the employee knows that their health is being taken seriously.

Where absence is inevitable a return to work policy can assist in a similar manner. Although not legally required, all parties will understand the systematic approach that is to be adopted in order for an individual to return to the workplace. Whether a formal policy is in place or not, it is good practice to set out in writing what the expectations are of each party involved, the roles and responsibilities of the company and the individual.

The HSE set out 6 steps as guidance to employers in managing sickness absence:

Occupational Health can and should have a role in each of these steps and can offer specific support in both setting procedural policies and implementing the steps outlined.

The HSE has a number of case study examples of good practice which make interesting reading. Visit www.hse.gov.uk/sicknessabsence/experience.htm for more details. Or www.managingabsence.org.uk which
provides employers with specific information on approaches to sickness absence. The site is a collaboration between Government, employers’ and employees’ representatives, health and professional service bodies and patient groups.

A Question of Confidentialiality

The employer has specific obligations to the employee for consent and confidentiality:

Consent

Any activity carried out by an occupational health professional to an individual employee will require the employee’s informed consent. By informed consent we mean that the employee knows why he or she is seeing the occupational health professional and has agreed to the medical, consultation or assessment.

It is incumbent on the company to inform the employee in writing as to the reasons why they have been referred, this provides the employee with the opportunity to refuse consent.

Certain activities do contain implied consent. For example pre-employment questionnaires, nightworker questionnaires, health promotion activities and lifestyle medicals, all imply consent by completing the form or attending the medical.

From time to time it is necessary to obtain an individual’s specific consent for further activities. For example to enable the health professional to obtain information from the individual’s own medical practitioners (Access to Medical Reports Act 1988). For these activities specifically worded consents are used by the occupational health practitioner depending on the activity required.

Confidentiality

All medical information held by occupational health departments, whether verbal or written, whether from the individual or other medical establishment is held in strict confidence. The records are held for varying lengths of time between 10 and 40 years, depending on current legislation. They can only be accessed by outside parties with the fully informed written consent of the individual or by a Court Order. The occupational health notes of a company can be passed onto a subsequent contracted occupational health provider, again by written consent from the individual employee.

No information is passed to the employee’s management without the employee’s consent.

Occupational health assessment reports are not subject to The Access to Medical Report Act, however, occupational health ethical guidelines indicate that employees should be aware of the information and opinion being reported and that, if requested, access should be available to the individual.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Occupational Health but were afraid to ask!

What is it, why do I need it, how can I benefit, what should I expect?

Occupational Health has a variety of functions, principally these can be summarised into:

Ensuring that the workforce is fit for the job they are employed to do; that the workplace is fit for its purpose and neither has a negative impact on the other.

Fitness relates to both the mental and physical fitness of an individual and the retention of this fitness requires Occupational Health to be proactive, preventative, monitoring, adaptive and advisory. So you should expect a practitioner to monitor the health of the employees, monitor the environment in which they work, advise on the adaptation of work to the capabilities of the worker and advise management on all aspects of employee health in relation to their work.

It is apparent from this description that Occupational Health does not work in isolation, nor is one practitioner likely to have all the answers. So, Occupational Health should always work as an integral part of organisational policy and procedures, there should be strong consultation and association with the HR function and obviously, the Health and Safety practitioners. It is a joint responsibility getting to the position where all these functions work in a common framework and you as an employer have evidence of your duty of care, whilst the employee has a clear view of their own responsibilities to themselves and others.

All the members of the Association of Group Occupational Health Services provide a range of Core services directly or indirectly:


The overriding consideration for you as a company is that the provider is competent in its provision and that they work within the specified legal and professional guidelines. By using an Association company this is assured.

All the members of the Association of Group Occupational Health Services can provide the flexibility to tailor their services to meet your needs as an individual business.


See Association of Group Occupational Health Services