Selling OH by the pound

Summary:

Should we have sympathy with employers that fall foul of health-surveillance requirements because their OH provider isn’t up to the task?

The prosecution by the HSE of a construction company after seven workers contracted hand–arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) (this issue p.13) is sadly unremarkable, given the frequency of cases where workers are exposed to vibration at work without proper risk assessment, control measures or health surveillance¹. But what is notable is that the diagnoses came to light only when the company changed its OH provider.

I asked the HSE if the previous provider had failed to carry out suitable health surveillance, which might have led to it facing prosecution. ‘A general absence of records from this period makes this difficult to assess,’² it said. The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 place a duty on employers to implement ‘suitable health surveillance’ (reg.7)…

Author: Ballard J

Tags seqohs - safe effective quality occupational health service

Occupational Health at Work October/November 2021 (vol. 18/3) pp03

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