Comply

We can help you comply with health & safety legislation and, as we work across a diverse industry base, can provide the necessary health assessments and surveillance required to meet industrial standards for many sectors.

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) set standards and regulations for the required health screening and surveillance of employees. All workplaces in the UK must comply with legislation (underpinning health surveillance), and if there are known hazards or risks in your business these must be addressed by adhering to these regulations.

As part of our Health Needs Assessment service, our Clinical Governance Team will assesses your occupational health provision, processes and procedures to bench mark against all relevant legislation and best practices initiatives.

Areas for Compliance

Pre-placement & Periodic Medicals

Keeping regular checks on employee health, via pre-placement and periodic medicals, is a key requirement in certain safety critical industries and ensures compliance with the Equality Act 2010.

We understand the pressure businesses face in complying with the ever changing requirements of health and safety legislation and offer everything from basic health checks to extensive executive medicals.

Simplifying our services and making sense of the regulations for you, we offer a full range of medical assessments. Our expert advice ensures you are compliant with legislation, industry standards and good practice.

Providing a full range of pre-placement and periodic medicals, remote assessments and health surveillance screening, our team of OHPs, OHAs, nurses, pharmacists and other specialists can offer you a wide variety of services, even at short notice, in locations to suit your business needs.

Our services include:

  • Drug and Alcohol Testing
  • Audiometric Testing (hearing)
  • Lung Function Assessment (Spirometry)
  • HAVs (Hand Arm Vibration)
  • Vision Testing
  • Blood Testing & Urinalysis
  • Cardiovascular & Respiratory Fitness
  • Balance, Mobility & Co-ordination
  • Occupational Hygiene (Environmental Monitoring including noise, dust, vibration)
  • Range of Assessments (Working at Height, Confined Spaces, Cold Store, Crane Operator, Skin, etc)
  • Industry standard medicals including PTS

Contact us to see how we can save you time and money by expertly managing your medical requirements throughout the UK, providing effective, appropriate case management under strict clinical governance for your business.

Occupational Hygiene & Health Surveillance

Occupational hygiene uses experienced professionals who determine the potential for hazard and exposure risks in the workplace, giving you the means to develop a relevant health surveillance programme.

Under domestic law (the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974) employers are responsible for ensuring the safety of their employees and others. This responsibility is reinforced by regulations. Our medical professionals can help you to meet the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) standards for the required health screening of employees.

Health surveillance means having a system in place within the working environment to look for the early signs of ill health caused by substances and hazards at work. After ensuring that you have the proper exposure controls in place, specific screening will allow us to look further into the health of your employees. This in turn helps to address the impact of the working environment before it becomes a serious, and potentially expensive, health problem.

Not all industries require in depth health surveillance, but if there are known risks in your working environment you should always seek further advice and be aware of the following HSE Regulations:

  • Hand Arm Vibration
  • Noise Exposure
  • Working At Night
  • Fatigue
  • Lead Level Testing
  • Skin Assessments
  • Respiratory Screening
  • Working at Height
  • Working in Confined Spaces
  • Lone Workers

Industry Requirements

We work across a wide range of business sectors and have the appropriate industry-specific accreditations demonstrating our commitment to best practice and quality standards.

RAIL

We have an enviable track record of service for our major rail clients providing medical, health surveillance and drug and alcohol screening services. Our services are fully compliant with Competence Specific Medical Fitness Requirements and we are ‘Link-up’ approved under the Achilles Rail Industry Supplier Scheme (supplier number 094814).

We provide a full-range of specialist rail medicals including: Competence Specific Medical Fitness medicals e.g. PTS, COSS, IWA and Signallers and Cross Keepers etc., Train Driver and Train Movement, Pre-placement, Periodic and all certification is produced promptly and uploaded onto the Sentinel website or emailed/posted to you.

Under RIS-8070-TOM GE/RT 8070 Testing Railway Safety Critical Workers for Drugs & Alcohol, we work with you to determine your specific requirements for drug and alcohol testing and medication checking. We can help you meet the Group Standard requirements for random testing of the workforce. Our service includes the random selection of staff, professional specimen collection and reporting of results.

CONSTRUCTION

We provide entire health solutions for the Fitness for Task Standards (previously outlined by CBH) and can develop a bespoke offering to suit you and the size of your organisation. Services include: Health Checks, Health Surveillance, Health Promotion Programmes, Tool Box Talks and Seminars, Attendance Management, Rehabilitation and Return to Work, Drug & Alcohol Testing (inc. For Cause), First Aid and Emergency Response and On-site Treatment/Testing Service.

ENERGY AND UTILITIES

Hazards and risk associated with Energy & Utilities (Electricity, Gas, Water, Communications, Renewable Energy) can be assessed by our team of specialist practitioners qualified in occupational health via our Needs Assessment.

HAULAGE AND DISTRIBUTION

Road transport is subject to more legal issues than almost any other industry. As a result, employers have a number of clearly defined statutory duties and responsibilities towards their employees and the public. These duties and responsibilities are set out in a number of legal Regulations and Acts of Parliament:

  • The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Management Regulations 1999
  • The Road Traffic Act 1988
  • The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971

For businesses operating within a safety sensitive industry, screening and testing for drugs and alcohol use amongst the workforce is a simple and obvious way to protect their workforce and the public. This serves to address and reduce the risk of accident and injury.

PUBLIC SECTOR

Many occupations sit within the Public Sector, meaning numerous occupational and environmental hazards are faced.

MANUFACTURING

Occupational ill health and injuries can be common place within Manufacturing without proper assessment of possible hazards.  Injuries can be caused by manual handling along with slips, trips and falls. Noise induced hearing loss, dermatitis and musculoskeletal injuries are some of the main causes of ill health (Source: HSE).

RETAIL

The Retail Industry is a major employer in the UK employing around 3 million people. Injuries can be caused by manual handling, and many employees can suffer from musculoskeletal disorders (e.g. from working at checkouts or till points). Slips and trips are also common, being the most reported injury to members of the public (Source: HSE). Assessing any work-related hazards reduces risk of injury/ill health.

Designed to identify the key issues affecting your business, our Occupational Health & Wellbeing Needs Assessment provides you with an evidence-based platform upon which to plan a targeted occupational health programme tailored to your needs.

Find out how our Health Needs Assessment adds value to your organisation by contacting us today.

Drug & Alcohol testing


Drug and alcohol use can create tough challenges, impacting on communities, the workplace, families and individuals. Every day employers have to take on these challenges – often making difficult decisions that will affect the health and wellbeing of those in their employment. The missing link in the majority of cases is occupational health. By accessing our full suite of services, you can be reassured that your management programmes will meet the needs of your business.

Our nationwide network of highly trained collection officers are regularly monitored and audited in line with our clinical governance procedures. The Abbott laboratory we use is accredited to ISO 17025:2017 (accreditation numbers 1330, 2720), the laboratory specific accreditation for analysis, and is also certified to ISO 9001:2015, which specifies requirements for quality management systems.

The following drug and alcohol services are commonly performed alongside other occupational health services as part of a combined offering:

  • Emergency or 'for cause' testing – a standard or premium service which ensures the samples are taken by courier directly to our laboratory for immediate analysis whatever time of the day or night, 365 days per year.
  • Random and unannounced testing
  • Pre-placement and periodic testing
  • Medical Review Officer Service – Our specialist Medical Review Officers are available to review and interpret positive results, to validate the sample collection and analytical procedures and to explore any alternative explanations for a positive result.
  • Consultancy and expert witness services – An Expert Witness service for legal cases and operate a results-driven Consultancy Service for our clients.