Hi
I'm just curious as to how people deal with Night Workers Health
Assessments. My understanding has always been that an employer, under the
Working Time Directive, must make provision for a health assessment for any
employees considered to be Night Workers. In my experience, this
requirement has been interpreted in any number of ways, from insisting that all
night workers come in and have a face to face Health Assessment, to a simple
paperscreen offered to anyone who meets the nightworker criteria and who
actually wants the assessment. Over the years I've also found that the
health assessment itself has been different. Some OH departments ask every
question under the sun, and include tests such as BP, Pulse, Urinalysis, Height
and Weight, and others are more specific in trying to ask questions that could
actually have a bearing on someone's ability to carry out work at night.
Then there is the issue of follow-up, especially when sometimes a decent HR
policy isn't even in place. If someone comes along for a health assessment,
perhaps not really understanding why, and health issues are found which could
have a bearing on their fitness to work nights, then that person (and not their
colleague who may have exactly the same health issues but has chosen not
to have the assessment) could find their position under scrutiny.
I've worked in industry and the NHS and have found that every department
deal with it differently. Has anyone come up with a system that doesn't just
pay lip-service to the Working Time Directing requirement, but that works? Or
is it just not seen as that much of a concern, when statutory health
surveillance programmes, health monitoring, or managing sickness absence is
the priority in many OH depts?
As I said, I'm just curious, and would like to hear what folk have to say.
Connie
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