SURVEY: Consent to release OH reports     

An online survey of OH professionals

Summary:

Workers must give their consent before having an OH assessment, but what procedure do OH professionals adopt regarding their consent to release the OH report to the employer? John Ballard presents the findings of our latest Tea-breaker poll on this important issue. The report includes a discussion of the legal and ethical issues by OH law expert Professor Diana Kloss.

It is a well-established rule that occupational health (OH) practitioners must obtain a worker’s consent before an OH assessment, but the process varies for how to handle the reports generated. Our exclusive Tea-breaker poll finds that the vast majority (98%) of OH professionals obtain documented consent from the worker to prepare an OH report for the employer and also ask whether or not the individual wants to see a written copy before it is sent. However, where workers indicate that they wish to see the report first, there are two distinct approaches to proceeding further…

 

Dr John Ballard is editor of Occupational Health [at Work].

Professor Diana Kloss is a barrister, former part-time employment judge and author.

Author: Ballard J, Kloss D

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Occupational Health at Work February/March 2024 (vol. 20/5) pp25-34

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