Health Surveillance

If there are identified significant hazards within the workplace based on Risk Assessments, Health Surveillance may be required. This could be a clinical questionnaire sent to the employees at risk and reviewed by an Occupational Health professional. It may involve a more detailed medical examination and a series of tests carried out on a regular basis. For example office workers using a computer on a regular basis will require regular eye tests and training; other positions that require the employee to be assessed on a regular basis, forklift truck drivers, working at heights, confined space entry, working with hazardous chemicals.

The purpose of health surveillance is to determine the occupational exposure of individuals to industrial illness or disease. The need to carry out health surveillance, monitoring or screening should be determined by a rigorous risk assessment process under the terms of the Safety, Health & Welfare at Work Act, 2005. Records and data is compiled and maintained. They are subject to review by the Health and Safety Authority, Ireland.

Other health surveillance programmes include:

Hearing tests
VDU Screening
Lung function tests - Respiratory
Blood analysis
Skin surveillance