Health surveillance

You will have been sent an appointment and a questionnaire from the Occupational Health Team to complete prior to your appointment.  The medical is conducted by an Occupational Health Advisor who is a qualified nurse.

Health surveillance is legislative under the Health and Safety at Work Act, Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH), Asbestos Regs, Noise at Work Regs etc.  Medical monitoring is required to ensure that the work you are doing is not affecting your health.  Examples of this may be:

Skin checks, lung function testing, hearing tests, other monitoring due to the chemicals or dust you use or the environment you work in – this often includes blood or urine tests.

A fitness for work medical is necessary for safety critical aspects of a job and you need to be fit enough to undertake the tasks you need to do for example: driving a vehicle for the job, working at heights, entering confined spaces.

We undertake a variety of tests: height; weight; blood pressure measuring; grip strength measuring; checking your flexibility and range of movement; spirometry; audiometry and vision checks

The type of medical you are invited to depends on the job you do and is based upon the risk assessments within your department.

The medicals can take up to 45-60 minutes to complete depending on your answers to any questions and the monitoring and testing required.

All Occupational Health records are kept confidentially on an electronic system and recall information is stored in the iTrent system so we know when your medical is due.