What is Covered?

There is a general legal requirement to ensure that an employer does not put any prospective or existing employee’s health at risk and to make any reasonable adjustments under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).  Essentially, any pre-existing health conditions at pre-employment must not be made worse or aggravated by the requirements of the job.  Hence a sensible precaution would be for all prospective employees to have a pre-employment medical or health related paper screen prior to starting work or as soon as possible thereafter.

The pre-employment (& base-line) medical will provide a documented record of the state of the employee’s health on entering the company. The Pre-employment health screen will also identify any illnesses, both physical and psychological, that may affect the prospective employee’s ability to do the job and helps to highlight conditions that are covered under the DDA.  This will allow you to protect your employees from situations that may cause harm.  The record can also assist in countering any would be ill health claims subsequently made by the employee.

Additionally there are some statutory health surveillance, HSE and COSHH requirements that recommend a pre-employment base-line assessment (i.e. The Noise at Work regulations, CLAW regulations, etc..)

The exact composition of a medical can be flexed to match the job role and possible exposures to be encountered.  Therefore a pre-employment health screen can include all or some parts of the following:

• Comprehensive Medical History
• Height, Weight & Body Index
• Blood Pressure & Pulse
• Urinalysis.
• Lifestyle Evaluation
• Hand Arm Vibration (HAVS) Screen
• Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) Screen
• Eyesight Evaluation
• Colour Vision
• Muscular-skeletal Assessment
• Spirometry (lung-function) Test
• Audiometry (Hearing) Test
• Skin Check
• Food Handlers Medical
• Driver Medical
• Suitably for Night Working
• Blood Tests (i.e. Blood leads)
• Vaccination Status
• Drug & Alcohol Screening