Health screening is concerned with establishing the status of a person’s health before they become involved in a particular task or exposed to a specific hazard. Simply put, it has to do with the effect of an employee’s health on their work.
Examples of health screening include:
- eyesight tests under the Health And Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992
- fitness for work health assessments offered to night workers under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (see EEF guidance/assessment form);
- drivers of large goods vehicles (LGV);
- an assessment of someone's fitness to drive or operate cranes or forklift trucks;
- pre-employment assessments; these can help you determine the suitability and/or fitness of an applicant for a position as well as providing you with an indication of ‘baseline’ data for future reference;
It can also apply to:
- arduous working;
- security;
- travel medical; and
- working at heights.
The following describes two areas in more detail that often trouble managers: eyesight testing and pre-employment screening.
Eyesight testing
Eyesight testing should be available:
- at users’ request under the Health And Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992(see Note below and risk assessments);
- as part of providing prescription eyewear protection for employees working in areas where eye protection is required and protective goggles cannot be worn over the employee’s own spectacles; and
- to determine whether an employee is colour blind in circumstances where such a condition could result in an unsafe situation or circumstance through the selection of a wrong item or component because of its colour, e.g. cable wiring or electronic component (resistors, capacitors, etc.).
Note - although you may provide vision testing, under the DSE regulations, an employee can still request to see an optician.
If you offer vision screening for DSE users, the screening instrument or other test method used should be capable of testing vision at the distances appropriate to the user's display screen work (normally 50-60 cm). Where test results indicate that vision is defective at the relevant distances, the user should be informed and referred to an optometrist for a full sight test.