Occupational Health
- Pre-Employment Examinations
These examinations should be conducted prior to employment, or at least within the first 14 days of employment. The responsibility to ensure that the examination is scheduled within the prescribed deadline rests with the Human Resources personnel.
The occupation’s inherent medical requirements should be directed by the relevant “Occupational Risk and Exposure Profile (OREP)” or according to the Construction regulations Annexure 3 which should be available to the examining doctor/nurse. This is to ensure that appropriate attention is paid to any medical condition relevant to the work requirements, or potential exposure to hazards.
- Periodic Examinations
These are to be performed annually or as prescribed by the schedule established by the Occupational Medical Practitioner.
- Exit Examinations
These are to be performed on employees that leave the service of the company, and who have been exposed to hazards during employment.
These medicals should be planned timeously, such as within a week of termination of services. The reason is that unexpected findings may require further actions (such as other tests, or referrals, or even a submission to the Compensation Commissioner, if a compensatable occupational disease is identified.
Note that this examination is not necessary if the last periodic medical was conducted within 6 months of the services being terminated.
Occuhealth Services medical surveillance services also include:
- Alcohol and drug testing. Our alcohol and drug testing programme tests for cannabis,
alcohol, and multi drugs. Our alcohol and drug testing programme may
include once-off tests or regular testing over a period of time. This
depends on your organisational requirements.
- Biological and biological effects
monitoring. Through our biological monitoring
service blood, tissue, and urine samples are analysed over a predetermined
period in order to detect an employee's exposure to hazardous substances.
This will assist your organisation with mitigating or minimising the risk
to your employees.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for more information about our occupational health services and how we can assist your company to be fully compliant with all the necessary occupational health and safety legislation.
Travel Vaccines
Occupational travel and work place specific vaccines which include yellow fever vaccinations and certificates, malaria prophylaxis as well as travel, office, site and veicle first aid kits and refills.
Occupational Health Medicals
Occuhealth Services deliver occupational medicals for employees in various
industries across South Africa. These industries include mining, construction,
automotive, industrial, and fast-moving consumer goods to name but a few. It is
important to understand what an occupational medical consists of and how it can
benefit your organisation.
Occupational medicals aim to track the vital
statistics of our client’s employees to prevent and treat work-related injuries
or illnesses caused by occupational hazards. Occuhealth Services health
practitioners are doctors and nurses who specialise in occupational medicine.
Our combined experience in the field enables us to keep your workforce safe and
healthy, and your workplace compliant.
An Occuhealth Services nurse will provide an
educated occupational health opinion on matters pertaining to employees’ work
roles and working environment, as well as issues involving his or her health.
Our advice is based on comprehensive research and insight into the industry and
the relevant workplace, as well as on comprehensive occupational medical exams
of the workers.
Occupational medicals take approximately 30 minutes
and provide a thorough report on each employee’s vital signs and bodily systems
considering the various occupational hazards that pertain to the workplace, as
well as issues that can render employees unfit for duty.
Occupational medicals are
required across various employment sectors be it for new employees or incident
specific employee cases. These include:
·
Pre-employment
·
Initial
·
Annual
·
Exit
·
Return to work medical certificate
·
Public Drivers Permit (PDP)
Occupational medicals are carried out to
ensure the fitness and general health of staff and consist of:
·
Occupational History
·
Medical History
·
Health risk and Ergonomic
Questionnaire
·
Vision Screening
·
Systematic head- to- toe
examination
·
Physical exam
o BMI
o Blood pressure
o Heart rate
o Heart and lung auscultation
o Strength, range of motion and balance
o Urine test
o Blood glucose
o Eye and ear examination
The following tests can be added
according to the risk assessment:
·
Psychologic questionnaire for
stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia for specific high risk job categories
·
Hearing test
·
Lung function
·
Drug testing
·
ECG
·
Chest X-Ray
·
Biological Monitoring
·
Heat or Cold Tolerance
·
Working at heights test
Occupational medicals are carried by our highly qualified medical teams and
occupational health practitioners, or by a doctor when required to ensure that
we provide our clients with the best possible solutions, Occuhealth Services can
travel nationwide for onsite medicals. Our dynamic medical team is registered
with the South African Nursing council.
At the end of the examination, the medical team
will provide a certificate for the worker that will make clear whether the
worker is:
·
Fit for the job assigned with no
restrictions, or
·
Fit for the job assigned with
certain restrictions/conditions, or
· Unfit for the job assigned and therefore needs to be reassigned into another job (if available)
Statutory Obligations
Case Reporting
Should an employee be found to be suffering from an
occupational disease, it is required that the attending practitioner (nurse or
doctor) notify the employee directly, the employer and the local office’s
Department of Labour (as prescribed by Section 25 in the Occupational Health
and Safety Act.
Statutory reporting requires the completion of
numerous documents, and a thorough understanding of the statutory mechanisms
that govern these submissions. It is strongly advised that an Occupational
Medical Practitioner with the necessary experience is contracted for this
component of the programme.
Case Submission
This comprises further data collection to satisfy
the requirements of the Workmen’s Compensation Commissioner, and the submission
of a claim. This includes the completion of the following documents as a
minimum:
·
“Employer’s Report of an
Occupational Disease” (WCl 1(e)), by the company
·
“First Medical Report of an
Occupational Disease” (WCl 22), by the attending medical doctor
· “Notification of an Occupational Disease” (WCl 14), by the employee with help from company.
