Fit to work medicals for all safety critical construction roles
Safety critical worker medical
OH3 provides the full remit of services to the construction industry to comply with health and safety legislation and promote equality, health and well-being in the workforce.
Our construction industry safety critical worker and fit to work medicals are available for both private individuals wishing to book a medical for themselves as well as larger construction businesses booking medicals for their employees. We can look after the employee health of large multi-site organisations or provide smaller sub-contractors with the services they require in order to work for the larger organisations.
The construction industry is continuing to improve medical standards for site safety. Many large organisations now require their employees and subcontractors employees to undergo a safety critical medical when performing certain types of work on a construction site. OH3 can provide these assessments as well as the necessary fitness certificates. We are your trusted SEQOHS safety critical medical provider at our clinics in Newcastle, Edinburgh or onsite with clients further afield, such as in Livingston in Scotland or Teesside in the North East of England for those with larger numbers of safety critical workers.
Book your safety critical medical
A safety critical or fit to work medical is essential when working in potentially hazardous environments and high risk settings. These are roles such as; plant operators, scaffolding worker, road worker (particularly motorways), traffic marshals, slinger, banksman, signallers, employees working at height, mechanical handling equipment workers and fork lift truck drivers as well as tunnel and confined space workers. In these roles a safety critical medical is important as the ill health of a worker can impact their ability to carry out a task safely and could pose a risk to not only the safety of the worker but the safety of their colleagues also.
OH3 is a SEQOHS Accredited clinic, SEQOHS (Safe Effective Quality Occupational Health Service) is run by the Faculty of Occupational Medicine and ensures a high quality occupational health service and rigorous clinical governance in our practice when conducting our SEQOHS safety critical worker and other medicals. We are a trusted provider of safety critical worker medicals for many construction companies in industrial areas of the UK, such as Teesside in the North East of England and Livingston in Scotland. In these areas and further afield, we have built up a reputation for providing an excellent, reliable service, as recognised with our SEQOHS Accreditation.
Typically a safety critical worker medical is necessary for private individuals who need to prove that they are fit to work before gaining a contract to work on, for example; a construction site for a larger company, but who are not directly employed by that organisation and remain self-employed during their work in the safety critical setting.
Below you can see what is involved with our safety critical worker and fit to work medicals:
Fit for Task – Safety Critical Worker Medicals consist of the following tests:
– A baseline Safety Critical Worker health questionnaire to establish any current or previous medical/psychological health history
– Blood pressure measurement
– Height, Weight & Body Mass
– Audiometry, hearing test, Industrial standard Audiometry
– Spirometry, full Lung function test
– Visual Acuity, colour vision and peripheral vision screen
– Urinalysis for diabetes or other health issues
– Muscular skeletal assessment
– Mental health assessment
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Health questionnaire
An OH3 SEQOHS safety critical medical is initially carried out with a health questionnaire to determine any current or previous medical history. This is to ascertain if there is any evidence of ill health reported and if evidence of ill health is indeed reported, then these conditions should be stable or controlled and should not pose a threat to safety performing safety critical work.
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Medical screening
Following on from this initial questionnaire a blood pressure, hearing, respiratory, visual acuity and colour perception, mental health, mobility and coordination assessment will be carried out, with reporting of musculoskeletal or neurological disorders and if requested a drug and alcohol screen (if applicable). In addition to this a check for evidence of over the counter medication that would be likely to cause symptoms that would pose a risk in a safety critical role would also be undertaken.
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Further information
The medical will be conducted by one of our OH3 Occupational Health Nurses at our clinic and may be referred onto our Occupational Health Physician if there are doubts about a person’s fitness to carry out safety critical work. It is recommended that safety critical and fit to work medicals are carried out every three years, but reviews can be conducted sooner if directed by the OH Nurse. Consent both to complete the medical and return the fitness certificate, as well as consent for advice about adjustments or restrictions if necessary will also be obtained.
Construction industry medicals for companies
As well as safety critical medicals carried out for private individuals, OH3 can also arrange safety critical and fit to work medicals for companies that require these medicals for their workforce. Employers have a duty of care to safeguard the ill health of their employees under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It is essential that employers determine whether the ill health of an employee could jeopardise their safety and the safety of others whilst at work in a safety critical role. Employers in the construction industry must ensure that their employees do not currently have medical conditions that could result in poor balance and coordination, potential loss of consciousness or impairment of mobility, as this could put themselves and other employees in danger whilst working in a potentially hazardous construction environment.
OH3 provides the full remit of services to the construction industry so they can comply with health and safety legislation and deliver safety critical medical assessments for their employees. We will work closely with your organisation to identify health risks, ensuring that employees remain fit to carry out safety critical tasks. We can look after the employee health of large multi-site organisations or provide smaller sub-contractors with the services they require in order to work for the larger organisations.
The services that we can provide for employers in the construction industry can be tailored to the specific needs of your organisation and can include the medicals below and well as others that may be required:
Confined space medical
Employees working in confined spaces should undergo a medical assessment to ascertain medical fitness for this specific type of safety critical work.
Height worker medicals
Workers such as scaffolders, riggers and other construction workers carrying out tasks at height workers should undergo regular medicals to assess their fitness to work at heights.
Plant operator medicals
These assessments ensure employees operating fork lift trucks or plant machinery are medically fit to operate these safely and that there are no precluding medical conditions or that any precluding medical conditions are well controlled and do not preclude driving.
Employee drug and alcohol testing
We provide employee drug and alcohol testing for those who require safety critical medicals. These are not carried out routinely and are only undertaken at the request of the employer. This service is at additional cost to a standard safety critical medical.
Request a quote for a safety critical worker medical
You can use the form below to request a quotation and more information regarding our safety critical and fit to work medicals
Safety critical worker medical, frequently asked questions
Below we have prepared some of the answers to our most frequently asked questions on our SEQOHS safety critical medical assessments at our occupational health clinics.
What is a safety critical worker medical?
Answer: Safety critical worker medicals are for employees who work in an environment where their safety, or the safety of others, could be put at risk. A worker who causes this risk is suffering from a medical condition or undergoing medical treatment, which may compromise their ability to undertake a task defined as safety critical. The risks can include ill health that the worker is either aware of or potentially unaware of, with a condition such as high or low blood pressure, which may cause dizziness or fainting. Episodes of fainting or dizziness, or other conditions can be hazardous when working on a construction site where employee injury opportunities are high. A safety critical medical will help determine if an individual is fit to work in a safety critical setting, thereby raising the safety standards of the construction site. They also ensure that the company protects their employees’ health by early detection of adverse changes of medical conditions.
Why do construction workers require a safety critical medical for employment?
Answer: Health and safety is a top priority in safety critical environments, such as on construction sites. Under the current UK Health & Safety Legislation, employers have a legal duty of care to their employees, requiring them to prevent any injuries or ill health to their staff. For a work environment such as a motorway repair road worker, their colleagues and the employer need to know that they will not suffer any issues with their consciousness or awareness, such as epilepsy. Suppose a worker is suffering from coordination or hearing issues. In that case, this means they are unlikely to hear dangers as they arise, such as heavy construction vehicles reversing, balance, or conditions that affect mobility and movement in avoiding risks.
What are the different types of job roles that require a safety critical worker medical?
Answer: Job roles deemed as safety critical and would therefore require employees to undergo a medical would include; all types of construction site employees, plant machinery operators,
scaffolders and roof workers operating at height, banksmen, crane operator, working in confined spaces, tunnelling, electrician, steel structure workers.
Will a fitness to work certificate be issued at the end of the medical?
Answer: If the employee passes this medical, then a fitness to work certificate will be issued. However, our nurse will explain the decision and reasons if the employee does not pass and is deemed temporarily unfit or unsuitable for critical safety work.
What happens during a safety critical worker medical?
Answer: OH3’s SEQOHS Safety critical worker medicals will be carried out at either our Newcastle or Edinburgh occupational health clinics or possibly at your site if many medicals are required. The medical assessment will take around 45 -60 minutes. The employee will fill a health questionnaire during this time and then undertake a full medical screening. The evaluation involves a health questionnaire for current or previous physical and psychological health, blood pressure, BMI index, audiometry hearing test, spirometry lung function test, skin assessment visual acuity, colour vision, urinalysis and muscular-skeletal review. Additions can include night worker assessment, HAVS and Drug & Alcohol; please request these additional medical tests at the time of booking.
Why should I choose an occupational health provider that is SEQOHS approved?
Answer: SEQOHS, is a professionally led occupational health provider accreditation based around setting standards that providers must adhere to in the delivery of occupational health services. It means “Safe, Effective, Quality Occupational Health Service” and sets standards around business probity, information governance, people, facilities, equipment and relationships with purchasers and workers. By choosing a provider like OH3 who is SEQOHS accredited, you can be confident in the standard of occupational health service you and your employees will receive.
How will my firm know what our occupational health requirements are?
Answer: OH3 works with both large and small firms that require occupational health services. Some of our clients already have Health and Safety Managers or Human Resources departments well-versed in their occupational health requirements. However, we also work with much smaller firms, where the owner/Director is the Manager and is responsible for health and safety and HR. As these individuals have to wear ‘many hats’ in their role, they understandably do not always know their occupational health requirements. We provide our occupational health needs assessment to educate and guide employers on the provision they must have in place by law, as best practice, and what is nice to have in place for employee well-being and health support.
What are the different types of Medicals that OH3 provide?
Answer: We carry out a wide range of occupational assessments for employees in a diverse range of roles. These include health surveillance to include audiometry, skin, respiratory, night work assessments, HAVS Tier 1 to Tier 4 medicals, licenced and non-licenced asbestos medicals, and lead worker medicals. We also carry out return to work absence management medicals if your organisation has a staff member on long term/frequent sick leave or returning to work after a period of illness. OH3 can also provide online medication assessments, which are used when employees start new medication, for which an employer needs to know if an employee is still safe to work in a safety critical role.
Occupational health service testimonials
Below is feedback from our occupational health clients:
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Clinic Feedback:
“Always use OH3 the staff are great can’t fault them”
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Clinic Feedback:
“Great friendly professional service, puts you at ease”
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Clinic Feedback:
“I cant’ thank you and your staff enough for the help, assistance and resolution of my predicament”
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Clinic Feedback:
“I have referred a client for your occupational health services on a few occasions now, and both my client and I have been really impressed with the level of service we have received”