What is a Post-Offer Medical?
A post-offer medical is used to assess your suitability for the position and the physical work environment for which you are being considered. This ensures you are not at increased risk of injury to yourself or other employees in this position. A post-employment medical can either be paper-based or face to face based depending on the client.
The paper-based medical is an in-depth questionnaire completed by the employee, once completed and returned a nurse would review the questionnaire. If required the nurse may need a phone consultation with the employee to confirm some details, if there is a concern on the paperwork a further face to face medical with a nurse will be required. If there are no concerns the results will be signed off and sent via email, password protected.
The face to face based medical can either be conducted on-site or at a local clinic dependant on how many employees require this and where the employee is based. New employees receive different types of surveillance depending on their job role e.g. an office worker may require DSE and Vision whereas a welder may require lungs, skin and possibly more depending on each employee’s hazard exposures.
This medical can also help prevent ill health in the future.
What happens to my records?
Details of an individual’s medical assessments and the information given within an individual’s questionnaire will be treated in confidence and are fully compliant with the Data Protection Act. Read more about this here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/data-protection-act-2018
Why are Post-offer medicals important?
- Ensuring your employees have Post-offer medicals can reduce sickness absence significantly within your company.
- Post-offer medicals provide your company with a baseline health status. This can be useful if you need to provide evidence during or after employment.
- Knowing you are keeping your employees safe when working is important.
- Making you aware of any risk that can occur for each individual.
- Post-offer medicals can give individuals the chance to raise any concerns about how work affects their health.
- It can detect ill health at an early stage, this allows you to get better controls and help prevent it from getting worse.
- Helps Identify the correct action needed.
Are Post-offer medicals required at my workplace?
Below are a few examples of which your employees could be exposed to in which would require your employees to receive a post-offer medical:
- Loud Noises or vibrations
- Dusts
- Working a height
- Ionising Radiation
- Biological agents
- Carrying Loads
- Solvents
- Hammering
- Fumes
- Asbestos
- Chemicals
- Lead
- Welding
- Lifting
Can I go to my GP for a post-employment medical?
Yes, a GP report will give you some information based on your Post-offer Medical regarding the medical condition and any ongoing or planned treatment. However, the information you receive will be similar to what your employee has already told you. The report may advise light duties or a phased return and this is often because the employee requests the GP to add this, not always because it is needed.
The report will cost you anywhere between £75 and £150 and you will probably have to wait for a couple of months before it arrives. In contrast, if you seek an Occupational Health Nurse consultation and report, you will receive the following information within 48 hours for a similar cost.
- Proactive rehabilitation/phased return to work advice.
- Implications of the Equality Act. (Maybe likely/not likely to apply)
- Ergonomic factors.
- Functional limitations.
- Likelihood of future absences.
- Prognosis of condition.
- Assessment of fitness to attend a disciplinary hearing.
- If the condition is work-related.
- What reasonable adjustments are indicated.
- If a stress risk assessment is required.
- Case conference with OH/Manager/HR recommended.
- Is frequent short-term absence due to a medical condition or not.
Source: https://www.theohbusiness.com/difference-gp-occupational-health-report/
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