HSE Takes First Prohibition Notice Against Occupational Health Provider

The Health and Safety Executive served a Prohibition Notice and an Improvement Notice after finding that an occupational health provider was using inadequately trained and unsupervised staff to deliver health surveillance. The action highlights enforcement focus on the quality of occupational health provision and the need for competent services, clinical governance and effective processes to protect workers from preventable occupational disease.

HSE has taken landmark enforcement action by issuing its first ever Prohibition Notice against an occupational health service provider. Inspectors found health surveillance was being carried out by personnel who were inadequately trained, unqualified and unsupervised, risking failure to detect early signs of occupational asthma, dermatitis and noise induced hearing loss in workers exposed to wood dust and noise. The Prohibition Notice was issued to stop the activity because it created a risk of serious personal injury.

Following that action, HSE also served an Improvement Notice after identifying that the provider's health surveillance arrangements were fundamentally unsuitable. Inspectors found a lack of competent occupational health oversight, inadequate clinical governance, no quality assurance processes and no clear procedures for escalating adverse findings or for reviewing and improving workplace controls.

HSE’s occupational health inspector made clear that this action reflects the regulator's concern about the quality of occupational health provision and its determination to intervene where poor services put people at risk. The regulator expects providers to demonstrate genuine competence, robust clinical governance and clear processes for acting on health surveillance findings so employers and workers are properly protected.

For employers and health and safety professionals this case underlines that health surveillance is often a legal requirement and exists to identify occupational disease early so appropriate action can be taken. Employers should satisfy themselves that any occupational health provider they use is capable of delivering services that meet legal requirements, supports risk management in the workplace and helps reduce work related ill health.

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