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Workshop proceedings on health surveillance published

The HSEs existing health surveillance (HS) guidance, Health surveillance at work HSG61, was last edited in 1999 and HSE believe it “is in need of review”.

A workshop was held in July 2009 involving key stakeholders aimed to provide a process by which key areas for improvement in HSG61 could be identified along with workable solutions.

The primary output of the workshop was a set of ideas for improvement and solutions. See Report.

Common themes that emerged across the three-syndicate groups were the need to:

• clarify the HSE definition of HS and how it will enforce on HS;
• define the streams of competency for delivering HS;
• connect HS with a risk assessment (RA) process;
• publish clear and targeted guidance;
• improve models of communication;
• develop a ‘learning cycle’;
• include ‘cost benefit’ information; and
• use and validate appropriate tools to conduct HS.

Comment

HSE state that  “the primary workshop outputs will be utilised in the selection and prioritisation of proposals for future work streams for consideration in HSE’s planning process and in further engagement with stakeholders”. Ummm watch this space!

The HSE construction webpages already contain ample information on managing occupational health risks including guidance on health surveillance in construction.

This article was posted on 28th June 2010 in ALL LATEST NEWS, OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH.
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