Health Surveillance
Health on the Radar
Health surveillance means having a system in place within the working environment to look for the early signs of ill health caused by substances and hazards at work. After ensuring that you have the proper exposure controls in place, specific screening will allow us to look further into the health of your employees. This in turn helps to address the impact of the working environment before it becomes a serious, and potentially expensive, health problem.
Not all industries require in depth health surveillance, but if there are known risks in your working environment you should always seek further advice and be aware of the HSE Regulations (see below).
Under domestic law (the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974) employers are responsible for ensuring the safety of their employees and others. This responsibility is reinforced by regulations. Our medical professionals can help you to meet the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) standards for the required health screening of employees:
Main Surveillance Areas
The vibration transmitted from work tools and heavy machinery into workers hands and arms, which can be potentially harmful. Under the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations (2005), careful monitoring and full assessment of employee health and exposure is vital for this disabling disorder.
Workplace noise can put an employee's hearing at risk. The Control of Noise at Work Regulations (2005) mean that employers must provide health surveillance for all employees who are exposed to high levels of noise in the workplace. Our noise screening programmes can quickly help you to address this issue.
The Working Time Regulations (1998) implement the European Working Time Directive into British law. These regulations state that it is your responsibility as an employer to regularly make health assessments available to all individuals whom you ask to work at night.
Healthcare Connections offers these assessments via onsite clinics, at our medical rooms or with our simple paper-based health assessment.
The Control of Lead at Work Regulations (1998) - Even if you are not working directly with lead, lead dust particles can be in certain working environments and transfer to employees in the air, water, soil, food, or consumer products.
Any amount of lead in the human body can be harmful. Healthcare Connections can offer a simple, yet absolutely essential blood test for anyone who could be exposed to lead whilst at work.
Skin diseases can be triggered by your occupation and are known as 'occupational dermatoses'. it is usually caused by a skin irritant (something a worker is using that has skin damaging properties).
We can help you to uphold the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (2002) and to effectively manage and assess these conditions for your business. After an accurate assessment of the risks for your employees, health surveillance of the workforce should be carried out and regularly monitored.
Lung function testing (spirometry) and surveillance is a must have for anyone who is exposed to the hazardous substances and chemicals at work that can adversely effect your lungs and cause damage or disease.
Healthcare Connections can help your business to assess the risks and perform the necessary screening/surveillance in line with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (2002) or COSHH.
The risk of falling is obvious if you have an employee who is unfit to work at height and the consequences can be devastating.
Governed by the HSE's Work at Height Regulations (2005), it is considered best practice to carry out a fitness for task medical for all employees working at height to safeguard safety in the workplace, and for the general public.
Our occupational health professionals have developed a full Working at Height Medical Assessment and Health Protocol that can be adapted to meet your specific business needs.
When you have workers in confined spaces it is essential that you assess the health risks by a tailored medical assessment. Even a minor illness could have a major impact in this hostile working environment: Confined Spaces Regulations (1997).
>>Lone, Lead & Young Workers / Expectant Mothers
Other essentials assessments for the workplace include Lone Workers, Lead Workers, Young Persons and Expectant Mothers. Please ask us for more information.
Where Do I Start?
As a quick and easy starting point, we can offer a general health surveillance self-declaration questionnaire to cover the main areas of HSE requirement. For example, your paper assessment could include HAVS tier 1, noise at work, respiratory and skin condition questions.
Performing paper assessments as a first port of call saves you downtime and money because you won't be booking in every worker for a full face-to-face appointment.
Once fully completed by your employees, the questionnaires are then reviewed by our medical professionals for evidence of any issue or potential problem. If an issue is noted, our Operations team will advise and ensure that the appropriate medical appointment is booked promptly.
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Please contact us for all of your specific surveillance requirements, or for a complete evaluation of the necessary health screening you should be performing.