Totally agree, Chris. I always point this out as the downside of either not
disclosing a diagnosis to OH or not agreeing to the issuing of a report. One
client had been referred following a period of sickness absence of six
months. The history lead me to suspect that he had AIDS. Initially he did
not wish to disclose his diagnosis to me. He changed his stance once I
explained the implications of non-disclosure and confirmed that only the
implications of his illness (not a diagnosis) would be revealed to
management
I appreciate that to some people "medical" information is very personal and
they have every right not to agree to disclosure of a report if they so
wish. As OH professionals we have to be very careful not to be seen as a
policing service.
As Car pointed out in her response to Jo's query, once an employee refuses
to engage with OH it becomes a management issue and they have to face the
consequences of that non-engagement.
Anne
Anne Harriss
Course Director - OH programmes
LONDON SOUTH BANK UNIVERSITY
On 22/06/2012 10:22, "Chris Packham" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Anne
>
> "...it may not be in the interest of the employee to withhold the report." I
> would also point out to the employee that the employer can only make
> decisions regarding the employee and his continued employment based on the
> information available to him at the time. If the employee withholds critical
> information the employer can then not be held responsible for a decision
> that might not be in the employee's favour and that would not have been
> reached had he had this information. When investigating a case of suspected
> occupational skin disease for a client I have found this usually generates
> the required response.
>
> Chris
>
> Chris Packham
> FRSPH, FIIRSM, FInstSMM, MCMI, MBICSc
> EnviroDerm Services
> Unit 10, Building 11, The Mews, Mitcheldean, GL17 0SN
> Tel: +44 1386 832 311 (office), Mobile: +44 7818 035 898
> www.enviroderm.co.uk
>
> ********************************
> Please remove this footer before replying.
>
> OCC-HEALTH ARCHIVES:
> http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/occ-health.html
>
> CONFERENCES AND STUDY DAYS:
> http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/filearea.cgi?LMGT1=OCC-HEALTH
********************************
Please remove this footer before replying.
OCC-HEALTH ARCHIVES:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/occ-health.html
CONFERENCES AND STUDY DAYS:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/filearea.cgi?LMGT1=OCC-HEALTH
|