Accessing health information, Part 2

Part 2: Is best practice good enough?

Summary:

How useful is pre-employment health screening? Should health enquiries be restricted to screening once a conditional job offer has been made? John Ballard concludes this two-part feature by asking a jury of OH and HR professionals for their views.

PRE-EMPLOYMENT health screening is a popular tool used by many employers to assess the fitness of prospective employees. However, health information can be used inappropriately to discriminate against disabled people before their abilities to perform a job – with reasonable adjustments, where necessary – has been considered1. In part 1,we saw how US legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 (ADA), restricts health enquiries…

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

Author: Ballard J

Tags fitness for work pre-employment screening

Occupational Health at Work December/January 2007/2008 (vol. 04/4) pp24-28

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