Occupational Health

Occupational Health is a service which provides independent medical advice on an employee’s health and wellbeing. This medical advice is provided within the context of work.

Occupational Health Advisers are medical professionals who have received specialist training in the area of work and health. They will provide advice on how a job might affect an employee’s health, or on how an employee’s health may affect their ability to do their work. They also provide advice and recommendations on specific workplace adjustments to support employees.

You would normally be referred to Occupational Health if there is a concern about your health and work. This includes situations where your health could be at risk, or where your health or medical condition could impact on your ability to undertake your work in any way. The referring manager will usually be your line manager, but it could be another appropriate manager who holds responsibility for making referrals.

In all cases, the purpose of the referral will be to obtain independent medical advice on the questions that have been raised. These questions might be about:

• How your manager can support you if you are struggling with your physical or mental health.
• Possible support or reasonable adjustments that your manager could put in place to support you with a disability.
• Whether you might have an undiagnosed health condition or disability that could be contributing to high levels of sickness absence or impacting you at work.
• How to manage your return to work following a long-term sickness absence or an injury.
• Any steps that your manager could take at work to avoid putting your health, safety or wellbeing at risk.
• Whether you are fit for work, or an estimate of when you might be.
• Whether there is potential for you to be considered for ill health retirement.

A referral could be made about any health concern where Occupational Health advice is believed to be beneficial

Your line manager should tell you about the need for any Occupational Health referral before the referral is made. You can expect to be given clear reasons for the referral and be made aware of the information that is being sought. Your line manager should also provide you with an information sheet from the Occupational Health Service.

Occupational Health will check that you have provided your consent upon receipt of the referral and will check this again with you directly, before undertaking your assessment. You do not have to provide consent; however, the absence of an Occupational Health assessment may hinder your manager’s ability to obtain appropriate medical advice on how they could best support you with work. This will also mean that your manager can only rely on the information they have available when making decisions regarding your support, or in managing issues regarding your health or absence.

HR will facilitate the referral to Occupational Health on behalf of your manager. Your information is treated confidentiality and is not shared with anyone outside of this process.

Occupational Health appointments are normally held during normal business hours. If you work part-time or work a shift pattern, you may be asked if you could attend an appointment during a time that you do not normally work. In these circumstances, your line manager can arrange for you to be given this time back.

Your Occupational Health assessment may take place online, over the phone and in exceptional cases, in person. If you have any related medical information - such as doctor or consultant letters, you can share this with the Occupational Health Adviser. Any medical information that you provide is confidential. Medical details will not be shared with anyone else without your agreement.

Once the Occupational Health report has been prepared, you will have the option of reviewing it. The Occupational Health Adviser will check that they have your permission before releasing the final report. 

Once your report has been received by your line manager, they will arrange a time to discuss the report with you. During this discussion with you, your line manager will discuss the medical advice received (including any recommendations for support) and any actions that they propose as a result of the Occupational Health advice. If you have any queries or concerns about the support or proposed actions, you can discuss this further with your line manager or HR Partner.