B1 Flashcards
Jan 20
Individuals with a health or disability condition often find barriers to staying in or returning to work.
The bio- psychosocial model is used to classify these barriers to work.
(a) With specific reference to this model, outline what these barriers are, for a person with a health or disability condition. (3)
(b) Outline what benefits these individuals can gain from being in work, having overcome these barriers. (3)
(c) Identify national schemes and/or organisations that may support these individuals to stay in or return to work. (4)
(a)
The model involves 3 elements – Biological, Psychological and Social Biological barriers
Biological barriers
Many organisations and jobs have Fitness to work standards – establishing minimum levels of fitness required to carry out certain jobs or tasks and not put themselves or others at risk. People with disabilities may struggle to meet these standards due to issues such as eyesight, Musculoskeletal disorders, impaired mobility
Psychological barriers
Workers may be afraid that returning to work or being in work may worsen their condition. They may feel that colleagues will think less of them because they are unable to work to their full extent. They may also be anxious that their future career prospects may be adversely affected.
Social barriers
They may be unable to access certain areas as well as other workers and therefore may feel excluded from interaction with work colleagues
(b)Benefits from being in work include:
• Better physical health by the activities and movements involved in working – assuming tasks have been matched to suit the individual’s capabilities
• Better mental health brought about by improved self esteem and a sense of worth from having a role and also the social interaction that takes place in the working environment.
• Increased financial security as a result of receiving a wage and the opportunity for career
advancement.
(c)National schemes/organisations include:•
Primary care – NHS advise and support.
•Job Centre Plus (DWP) – help people of working age find employment. Part of DWP. Schemes and services to assist employees and employers.
•Access to Work – Helps disabled people get jobs.
•Occupational Therapists – help resolve issues following a period of illness and medical treatment.
•Fit for Work – government funded initiative to assist GP’s, employers and employees.
Jan 19 a+b See Jul 12 below
An employer has an occupational health department that carries out vocational rehabilitation.
(a) Outline the meaning of the term ‘vocational rehabilitation’. (2)
(b) Outline the benefits of vocational rehabilitation to:
(i) the employer; (4)
(ii) an employee. (4)
(c) An employee is required to take 12 months away from their work to receive treatment for a long-term medical condition.
Outline what the employer can do to assist the employee BOTH during the absence and at the time of their return to work. (10)
(a) VR = the provision of help / support (via counselling, reasonable adjustments to work procedures, systems, activities, layout etc) to someone remaining in work / accessing work / preparing to return / returning to work following either injury or illness.
(b) (i) benefits to employers include reduced sickness absence costs, improved staff morale, improved productivity, reduced staff turnover and therefore costs and compliance with the Equality Act 2010.
(ii) Employees benefit as they return to a full salary as well as gaining from social interaction in the workplace, an increased feeling of self-worth and feel assured that their employer cares.
(c) An employer can do a lot to assist an employee including
During absence
• accurately records the reasons for the absence;
• make arrangements to have the sick pay entitlement paid to the employee;
• keep the employee informed of changes and developments in the workplace and with
colleagues;
• check in regularly to ensure their rehabilitation is going well;
• invite the employee to ‘social days’ to reduce the stigma of returning;
On their return to work
• carrying out a return to work interview;
• carry out a risk assessment;
• plan a phased return to work;
• make reasonable adjustments in the workplace
• make reasonable adjustments to the work pattern;
• hold regular meeting to ensure the return is going well (adjust as necessary);
Jan 18
(a) Give the meaning of the term ‘occupational health’. (2)
(b) A large organisation is outsourcing its occupational health service to a contractor. It has been advised
to choose a contractor that carries the SEQOHS logo.
(i) Identify what SEQOHS stands for. (1)
(ii) Outline how SEQOHS operates. (5)
(c) Outline TWO benefits to an employee of having access to an occupational health service at work. (2)
(a) OH= the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations by preventing departures from health, controlling risks, and adapting work to people and people to their jobs. (ILO)
(b)
(i) Safe, Effective, Quality Occupational Health Services
(ii) SEQOHS operates. (5)
• enables services to identify the standards of practice to which they should aspire;
• credit good work being done by high quality occupational health services;
• provide independent validation;
• raise standards where they need to be raised;
• help purchasers differentiate occupational health services that attain the desired standards from those that do not.
(c) TWO benefits to an employee of having access to an occupational health service at work. (2)
• to identify early signs of ill-heath issues;
• assure the employee that they have a caring employer;
• providing an opportunity to raise concerns about the effects of work on their health;
Jul 17
(a) Outline benefits for employers and employees of carrying out health surveillance. (5)
(b) Regulation 11 of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) indicates that health surveillance is appropriate in certain circumstances.
Outline these circumstances. (4)
(c) Outline the requirements for keeping health surveillance records in accordance with the COSHH regulations. (5)
(d) Identify information that should be contained in a health surveillance record. (4)
(e) Other than COSHH, identify TWO pieces of legislation that require health surveillance AND, for EACH piece of legislation, identify the type of health surveillance that could be appropriate. (2)
(a)Benefits to employers (5)
1 Protects and promotes the health and well-being of the working population, creating a healthier workplace and a healthier workforce which will also protect and enhance your image and reputation as a good employer.
2 Provides early intervention to help prevent staff being absent for health-related reasons, and improved opportunities for people to recover from illness while at work.
3 Provides critical support to the process of effective absence management and increase the number of staff returning to work earlier;
4 fulfils any national legal requirements (for example, in the UK employers are required to have access to ‘competent’ occupational health advice as part of the organisational arrangements to ensure that the health of staff and others are not adversely affected by their work).
5 Helps maximise the productivity of workers by building a healthier workforce; encourages the workforce to stay longer in active life
(b)The employee is notified and advised about further health surveillance;
the risk assessment is reviewed;
the measures taken under Regulation 7 are reviewed;
consideration is given to assigning the employee other work; and the health of any other employees who may have been similarly exposed should be reviewed e.g. another medical examination is required.
(c)Req for keeping H/S recordsRegulation 11(4) details the requirements regarding health records. Employees should have access to their health records, as should HSE. lf an employer ceases trading, HSE should be notified and the health records should be made available.
(d)information that should be contained in a health surveillance record
Providing advice, information, training, and education, on occupational health, safety and hygiene and on ergonomics and protective equipment.
(e)TWO pieces of legislation that require health surveillance AND, for EACH piece of legislation
HASAWA 1974 – Act considers personal injury to include disease or impairment of a persons physical or mental health condition, so the risk of damage to mental health is included in the employers duty of care to prevent injury.
MHSWR 1999 – Employer must conduct a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to their employees, this would include workplace stress.
Jan 17
In a particular department of a large manufacturing organisation managers are concerned that a fall in productivity in the last 12 months is linked to an increase in sickness absence among the workforce. The management team want the occupational health department to assist them in reducing sickness absence and increasing productivity.
(a) Identify specific information the occupational health department could review to determine possible reasons for the increase in sickness absence. (4)
(b) Outline how the occupational health department can:
(i) help to prevent or reduce instances of sickness absence from work in the future; (3)
(ii) reduce the duration of sickness absence from work. (3)
(a)
Accident reports;
• Return to work interviews;
• Treatment records (occupational health departments often provide treatment);
• Records relating to the attendance with occupational health for treatment;
• Fit notes - information on the health conditions a person has been affected by during their
recent absence;
(b)(i)Provides early intervention to help prevent staff being absent for health-related reasons, and improved opportunities for people to recover from illness while at work.
Provides critical support to the process of effective absence management and increase the number of staff returning to work earlier; fulfils any national legal requirements (for example, in the UK employers are required to have access to ‘competent’ occupational health advice as part of the organisational arrangements to ensure that the health of staff and others are not adversely affected by their work).
Helps maximise the productivity of workers by building a healthier workforce; encourages the workforce to stay longer in active life; enhances employees’ commitment to the business.
(ii)
Provide treatment for minor injuries (may avoid an initial absence to attend a GP);
• If follow up treatments can also be offered, for example re-dressing a wound, then again, the
time of the absence from work can be minimised;
• Counselling service which provide an opportunity for employees starting to suffer with stress
to talk about before it escalates;
• Use NICE PH19 strategy – initial enquiries, detailed assessment and interventions and
services;
• Use bio-psychosocial model to assess the barriers to returning to work;
July 16 (a) Outline circumstances in which health surveillance would be appropriate according to Regulation 11 of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002(COSHH). (4)
(b) Identify FOUR types of hazardous substance for which health surveillance could be required under the COSHH Regulations AND, in EACH case, outline the nature of the health surveillance to be carried out. (4)
(c) Outline arrangements that an organisation should put in place if they are to carry out health surveillance in accordance with the COSHH Regulations. (12)
(a)
Health surveillance is a way of monitoring any possible ill health effects that could be related to work exposures (for example: noise surveillance for those exposed to noise at work;
The employee is exposed to one of the substances specified in Column 1 of Schedule 6 and is engaged in a process specified in Column 2 of that Schedule;
• there is a reasonable likelihood that an identifiable disease or adverse health effect will result from that exposure;
• an identifiable disease or adverse health effect may be related to the exposure;
• there is a reasonable likelihood that the disease or effect may occur under the particular
conditions of his work;
• there are valid techniques for detecting indications of the disease or effect,
(c)
Physical arrangements
• Suitable room - private;
• Toilet and hand washing facilities;
Personnel arrangements
• Suitably qualified person such as an occupational health nurse;
Administrative arrangements
• Facility to keep confidential records for up to 40 years;
• Carrying out of medical surveillance for Schedule 6 substances by an appointed doctor on an
annual basis;
• The completion of other health surveillance by a suitably qualified person such as an
occupational health nurse or other responsible person under the supervision of a registered
medical practitioner;
• Informing an employee if an adverse health effect or disease is identified during the
surveillance;
• The maintenance of up to date health records which should be confidential, securely kept and
retained for a period of forty years;
• Arrangements for employees to view their own health records.
• The treatment and management of any samples taken as part of health surveillance activities;
• Remember remote or shift workers or absent workers or staff on holiday;
• Procedure to pass records to HSE local office if they stop trading;
• Procedures for assuring the integrity of any samples taken and their submission to an
accredited laboratory;
• Informing an employee if an adverse health effect or disease is identified during the
surveillance;
Jul 14 Jan 12
Manual handling risk assessments should consider a range of risk factors including those concerning the task, the load, the environment and the individual.
(a) Explain how risk factors, within these headings relate to nursing staff who carry out manual handling activities when assisting hospital patients with limited mobility.
Give a relevant example for this situation for each risk factor. (14)
(b) Outline specific activities that the occupational health department at the hospital could carry out in order to minimise the risk to nursing staff who carry out manual handling (6)
(a) TILE
TASK – distance from the body, twisting, stooping, reaching upwards, lifting or lowering, distance, pushing pulling, sudden movement, effort to move, rest periods, work rate imposed by the process etc.
INDIVIDUAL – stamina, size, strength, pregnant, young person, existing back injuries, PPE effect the task?
LOAD – heavy, bulky, unwieldy, unstable, sharp hot or hazardous
ENVIRONMENT – space, floor, floor level, light, temperature and humidity
(b)
occupational health department at the hospital could carry out in order to minimise the risk to nursing staff who carry out manual handlingassisting in the assessment of manual handling tasks;
• assisting with pre-employment and return to work examinations;
• Assessing the physical capabilities of those expected to be involved in manual handling
activities;
• Treat any staff suffering injuries and provide a rehabilitation programme to prepare them for
return to work;
• play a part in the investigation of accidents involving manual handling;
• play part in monitoring and recording the absences resulting from this type of incident;
• proactive part to play by carrying out manual handling training;
• advising on safe lifting techniques and the use of mechanical aids;
Jul 12
(a) Outline the meaning of vocational rehabilitation. (2)
(b) Outline the benefits of vocational rehabilitation. (5)
(c) Identify three types of health practitioner who may be involved in vocational rehabilitation. (3)
a) VR = the provision of help / support (via counselling, reasonable adjustments to work procedures, systems, activities, layout etc) to someone remaining in work / accessing work / preparing to return / returning to work following either injury or illness.
(b) benefits include reduced sickness absence costs, improved productivity, retention of skilled employees, improved staff morale, compliance with the Equality Act 2010.
(c) health care practitioners involved in VR: Occupational health physician; • Occupational health nurse; • Occupational health advisor; • Occupational health technician. • GP; • Ergonomist; • Physiotherapist;
Jan 10 Jan 06 (a)
a) Identify the possible range of specialists involved in Occupational Health provision in a large manufacturing company. (5)
(b) Outline the specific activities that occupational health specialists could undertake as part of a programme to reduce accidents and absences relating to manual handling. For each activity identify the most appropriate occupational specialist to undertake the activity. (5)
a) See Jan 06(a) -
Occupational health nurse; occupational physician / doctor; occupational hygienist; ergonomist; psychologist / counsellor; physiotherapist.
Comment: answer must be specialists - not generic terms eg occupational health adviser
(b) Roles in relation to manual handling manual handling assessments - ergonomist and / or physiotherapist
- Assessment of manual handling tasks – the ergonomist or physiotherapist;
- Assessment of the physical capabilities of the employees to carry out a task either pre-employment or for a return to work – the physician or nurse;
- Treatment of or referral for treatment of manual handling injuries – the physician or nurse;
- Drawing up a rehabilitation programme for return to work – the physiotherapist or nurse;
- Monitoring and recording sickness absence – the occupational health nurse;
- Provision of manual handling training – the ergonomist or physiotherapist;
- Advice to management on controls for manual handling tasks – the physician or nurse;
- Investigation of manual handling injuries – the physician, nurse or ergonomist.
Comment: answer must relate to MH and link to specific specialist(s)
Jan 13 Jul 11 Jan 08
A catalogue distribution company has a workforce of 300 employed as drivers, warehouse operatives and office staff, processing telephone and internet orders.
(a) Identify the possible functions of this company’s occupational health department:
(i) when new employees commence employment; (5)
(ii) when an employee returns to work after ill-health. (5)
(b) Outline additional functions the occupational health department can undertake. (10)
a) (i) medical examination / fitness for work assessment - eye sight (drivers and office staff - VDUs), drug / alcohol screening etc.; “baseline” health surveillance - lung function tests; audiometry; providing induction training / information re health issues - raising awareness of company procedures / legal requirements; disability assessment; liaison with GP; confidential guidance.
(ii) return to work interviews; reviewing / revising risk assessments re ill-health / disability; making reasonable adjustments; liaison with GP / specialists; rehabilitation / counselling / support/respond to fit note requirements
(b
• Maintain health records/Health surveillance data;
• Sickness absence management - improve attendance and performance of the workforce;
• Provide first aid treatment and training;
• Education and promotion - exercise and smoking cessation;
• Health surveillance;
• Manual handling training;
• Stress management training;
• Skilled input into policies and procedures (Smoking, substance abuse);
• Participate in management team meetings;
• Participate in meetings of the health and safety committee;
• Recommend appropriate adjustments in the workplace to help people stay in work;
• Making RIDDOR reports for cases of ill health;
• Vaccinations (Hepatitis, Malaria if working abroad?);
Jul 08
(a) Outline the four stages in occupational health and hygiene practice. (4)
(b) An organisation is concerned about the level of absence arising from work related injuries and ill-health. Suggest practical ways in which the organisation’s occupational health department could assist in the management of this problem. (6)
(a)
• Identification of hazard – factors which may cause harm in the workplace;
• Measurement of the hazard - who is affected and to what extent;
• Evaluate the level of risk – using WELs;
• Control - reduce or eliminate the risk.
(b)
Using pre-employment health screening to identify potential employees who would be at a greater risk of suffering ill-health resulting in absence;
• carrying out regular health surveillance of existing employees engaged in activities with known health hazards;
• collecting data on sickness absence and analysing it to identify trends in or reasons for absence;
• liaising with general practitioners and providing rapid access to treatments such as physiotherapy and counselling which will aid return to work;
• assisting managers to arrange phased return to work in certain circumstances and providing practical advice on adaptations to work practice to minimise risk of repeat injury;
• taking an active part in carrying out risk assessments at the workplace;
• Encouraging and advising employees on healthy life styles such as smoking cessation and the importance of nutrition and exercise.
A soft drinks manufacturer employs 400 people undertaking a range of different jobs including production, warehousing, delivery and administration. It has been noted that there are significant risks to staff from noise, manual handling / ergonomic issues and pressures of work and also high levels of sickness absence.
(a) Outline the benefits, composition, role and possible functions of an Occupational Health Service within this organisation. (12)
(b) Describe the contribution an OH specialist could make in addressing the risks to staff from stress, manual handling / ergonomic issues and noise? (8)
(a) Benefits = legal / moral / financial; legal compliance - less likelihood of enforcement / “protection” from civil claims / reduced insurance / improved staff morale / reinforces H&S culture / reduced sickness absence etc
Composition - occ health nurse / doctor / hygienist / ergonomist / counsellor / epidemiologist / physiotherapist;
Role =Pre-employment health screening – (Fit – Physical, mentally);
• Advice – (to workers & line managers, via telephone or ‘drop in’ for minor queries or in
writing).
• RTW rehab programme – (After a work-related illness or injury);
• Counselling – (listening ear for stress);
• Risk assessment – (DSE for admin, Ergonomic for warehouse)
• Sickness absence management – (fit note >7 days, Self cert <7 days, contact w/ employee)
b, • In all cases the specialist could contribute to training, monitoring and managing sickness absence. Stress • Rehabilitation; • Counselling; • Carrying out risk assessment and ensuring control measures are reasonable. Manual handling / ergonomic issues • Assessment and control; • Physical competency of workers; • Rehabilitation. Noise • Noise assessment, control; • Training hearing protection PPE; • Audiometry testing.
Define the meanings
Health
Health: “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” (as defined by the World Health Organisation).
Define the meaning
Occupational Health
Occupational health should aim to promote and maintain the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations; to prevent amongst workers the departure from health caused by their working conditions; to protect workers in their employment from risks resulting from factors adverse to health; to place and maintain workers in an occupational environment adapted to their physiological and psychological capabilities; in summary, to adapt work to the workers and each worker to his or her job.” (joint ILO/WHO definition).
Define the meaning
Occupational Health Services
The term ‘occupational health services’ means services entrusted with essentially preventive functions and responsible for advising the employer, the workers and their representatives in the undertaking, on the requirements for establishing and maintaining a safe and healthy working environment which will facilitate optimal physical and mental health in relation to work, the adaptation of work to the capabilities of workers in the light of their state of physical and mental health”.(from The ILO Convention on Occupational Health Services No. 161 and the ILO Recommendations on Occupational Health Services No. 171).
