Sep 7th, 2020
3 mins
BFFF has received a query from the membership on the subject of health surveillance. Health surveillance is required for employees carrying out certain activities such as those operating machinery with the risk of exposure to noise or those working with ingredients with the risk of exposure to dust, there are many more such as vibration, chemicals, asbestos, radiation etc.
An organisations risk assessment will identify the need for regular health surveillance and usually completed by an occupational health provider. In many cases consultations are being completed with the employee over the telephone or even by video conferencing platforms at the moment. while this type of consultation gives some indication of an employee’s condition it does not replace the requirement for periodic face to face testing. An example of this is Spirometry, a physical test used to assess how well an employee’s lungs are functioning, this periodic testing is clearly not possible at the moment.
In raising this concern on behalf of the membership, BFFF has written to the HSE to gain their expectation at this time, HSE has informed us that revised guidance has been updated and is found at https://www.hse.gov.uk/coronavirus/health-surveillance.htm. Effectively, normal service has been resumed subject to a risk assessment (there is scope for a further 6 months delay on spirometry, if justified).
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