Occupational Health
Sickness absence management
Absence for any length of time can be detrimental for any organisation. SPA Medical Services occupational health advisors can provide independent and professional advice to employers to help manage their employees’ absence and their overall fitness to work.
Our sickness absence management can encompass the following areas:
- Fitness to work and return to work
- Absence management
- Rehabilitation
- Vocational fitness (fitness to do a specific job)
- Travel health and safety (e.g. fitness to drive)
- Eligibility for early retirement and disability benefits
- Stress management and alleviation
Benefits of occupational health to the employer
- Estimated cost saving of £4 for every £1 spent.
- Increase in productivity, profit and performance by positive behaviour change.
- Improve risk management strategy through health screening, surveillance and training.
- Compliance with statutory legislation.
- Management and containment of costs associated with sickness and absence.
Health surveillance & COSHH surveillance
Certain working environments require ongoing health surveillance (sometimes this is a mandatory requirement) to measure the impact of a work environment on particular employees. Examples of such environments may include excessive noise, toxic fumes, excessive vibration, or working with substances that are hazardous to health.
Reasons for occupational health surveillance & COSHH surveillance:
- Detecting health problems early, so appropriate action can be taken
- Conforming to legal requirements
- Protecting your workforce
- Providing independent counsel for employees raising concerns
SPA Medical Services occupational health advisors can help organisations establish what, if any level of health surveillance they require to help them meet their obligations cost effectively.
Ad-hoc occupational health services
SPA Medical Services can also provide organisations with information and advice relating to a number of diverse work related health requirements.
- Management of Ill-Health Retirement – expert advice regarding an employee’s fitness to continue work
- Risk Assessment (eg COSHH & Manual Handling) – expert advice on specialist problems identified from internal risk assessments
- Ergonomic Advice – expert advice regarding the comfort and user friendliness of the work place
Each year 2 million people suffer from ill health which they believe is linked to their work. 20,000 of these cases were significant enough to warrant these people to see a specialist. HSE (2005)
New employee screening and health surveillance
New employee screening and health surveillance (pre-employment health assessments) assess the health of potential new employees in order to ensure their health and general fitness is suitable for the role they will undertake. We work with clients to evaluate the hazards and risks of the job and to ensure that the prospective employee can work safely.
Reasons for new employee screening:
- Ensuring the prospective employees health and fitness is suitable for their role.
- To bring any issues to the attention of the employer which may impact on their performance, the role, or their terms of employment.
- To advise on health/disability issues in relation to the Equality Act 2010.
SPA Medical Services can also advise organisations on the level of new employee screening and health surveillance required for specific roles;the level of which may range from a questionnaire based assessment to examination and interview based assessments to medical assessments for high risk roles.