Health surveillance is an effective means of detecting any harmful changes to a workers health and importantly, to help identify at an early stage if further corrective action is needed.
What is Health Surveillance?
Health surveillance checks that the health risk management system is correctly working. It is a statutory risk based system of on-going health checks when exposing workers to substances or activities that may cause them harm. It allows you to identify any ill health symptoms early and highlights the controls you need to improve.
There can be confusion about what you legally have to do as a number of different health ‘checks’ are available. You need to be clear about the difference between those that are legally required and those that are best practice.
Legally Required
The law states that health surveillance is needed for some employees depending upon their risk of exposure to issues like noise, dust, vibration, asbestos or silica.
Industry best practice
Some employers choose to do more than the law requires because of the benefits they see in doing this.
For example, Health Monitoring for muscular skeletal issues.
Well-being
These checks are not legally required or work related. Again some employers promote wellbeing because of the overall benefits to their employees and the workforce.
For detailed information on the When and the How – follow this HSE link:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/health-surveillance/index.htm
