Health surveillance is a system of ongoing health checks. These health checks may be required by law for employees who are exposed to noise or vibration, ionising radiation, solvents, fumes, dusts, biological agents and other substances hazardous to health, or work in compressed air.

Health surveillance is important for:

• detecting ill-health effects at an early stage, so employers can introduce better controls to prevent them getting worse
• providing data to help employers evaluate health risks
• enabling employees to raise concerns about how work affects their health
• highlighting lapses in workplace control measures, therefore providing invaluable feedback to the risk assessment
• providing an opportunity to reinforce training and education of employees (eg on the impact of health effects and the use of protective equipment

We can help you with the risk assessment to identify the hazards/roles that need health surveillance.  A pro-active surveillance regime can identify where more needs to be done to control risks and where early signs of work-related ill health are detected, employers should take action to prevent further harm and protect employees. 

When putting in place a health surveillance programme, avoid blanket coverage for all employees as it can provide misleading results and waste money.

When reading this guidance remember that health surveillance is a particular legal requirement and should not be confused with:

• • activities to monitor health where the effects from work are strongly suspected but cannot be established
  • workplace wellbeing checks, such as promoting healthy living fitness to work examinations eg fitness to dive, operate cranes, forklift trucks or health assessments requested by night employees

                                                        (further information can be referenced at HSE.gov)