HSE takes ‘landmark’ enforcement against OH provider
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued its first-ever prohibition notice against an occupational health service provider, in what it has described as ‘landmark’ enforcement action.
The move follows findings that “inadequate health surveillance” by the provider, which has not been named, was putting workers “at risk of serious and irreversible harm”.
The executive said the action marked “a significant milestone in HSE’s regulation of occupational health provision and is evidence of the regulator’s focus on the prevention of ill-health”.
This enforcement sent “a clear signal” that substandard occupational health services would not be tolerated where they created real risks to workers’ health, the HSE added.
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HSE inspectors found that the provider was delivering health surveillance through personnel who were inadequately trained, unqualified, and unsupervised.
This ineffective surveillance meant early signs of a range of serious occupational diseases – including occupational asthma, dermatitis, and noise-induced hearing loss – were at risk of going undetected, leaving workers exposed to wood dust and noise without appropriate intervention.
A prohibition notice was therefore issued to stop this activity on the grounds that it created a risk of serious personal injury.
HSE then subsequently issued an improvement notice after finding that the provider’s health surveillance arrangements were “fundamentally unsuitable”.
Inspectors identified a lack of competent occupational health oversight, inadequate clinical governance, no quality assurance processes, and no clear procedures for escalating adverse findings or reviewing workplace controls, the HSE said.
HSE occupational health inspector Julie Wood said: “This is the first time HSE has taken enforcement action of this kind against an occupational health service provider, and we have not done so lightly.
“It reflects the seriousness with which we view the quality of occupational health provision and our determination to act where substandard services are putting people in harm’s way.
“Health surveillance exists to protect workers from work-related health conditions that can cause permanent, life-changing harm. When it is carried out poorly, employers are given false assurance, and workers are left unknowingly at risk.
“We expect occupational health providers to demonstrate genuine competence, proper clinical governance, and clear processes for acting on what they find. Anything less is a failure of the workers these services are meant to protect,” Wood added.
Health surveillance, the HSE pointed out, is a legal requirement for many employers and exists to identify occupational diseases early so that appropriate action can then be taken to protect the affected worker and their colleagues.
This case, it argued, underlined the importance of occupational health services being delivered by competent, appropriately qualified professionals with robust clinical governance in place.
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