Occupational health is a type of medical service.
An employer might use occupational health to help them make decisions about:
- a worker who is struggling with their physical or mental health
- the right reasonable adjustments for someone who is disabled
- someone who has been off sick for a long time or is returning to work after sickness absence
- how to reduce the amount of time people need to take off sick
- keeping to other health and safety regulations
- managing risks to mental health, such as too much pressure at work or bullying
Occupational health could be through the employer's own occupational health service or an outside agency.
Checking if your work uses occupational health
It's a good idea to check if your organisation has an occupational health policy.
This should say:
- when an occupational health referral or assessment can be made
- how an occupational health assessment is carried out
- what both the employer and worker need to do
- what the next steps are after the occupational health assessment – for example, review whether the adjustments have helped
Smaller organisations might not have an occupational health policy or scheme. In this case, the employer should communicate with both the worker and their doctor. The employer must get permission before contacting the worker's doctor.
Find out more about getting a doctor's report about a worker's health
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