Occupational health
Strategies, services and advice to help keep your employees healthy and your workspaces safe.
Why Occupational Health matters
Peter leads a team of talented Technicians and Nurses all working to improve the health of employees and in turn, helping them achieve longer and more fulfilling lives. Here, he details how Occupational Health can make a difference.
Peter Mathieson
Occupational Health allows employers to maintain a safe and healthy work environment for their employees. However, many times, we are unable to see its benefits or why it is necessary for organisations today.
At RPS, a Tetra Tech Company, we are passionate about demonstrating the positive impact of Occupational Health. We are making a difference every day by preventing exposure to harmful substances and the advent of short - and long-term health conditions, helping employees have longer and more fulfilling lives.
An important part of occupational health is concerned with how work and the work environment can impact on workers’ health, both physical and mental. It also includes how workers’ health can affect their ability to do their job. Put simply this means the effect of work on health and that of health on work. –
Health and Safety Executive - Occupational health - Overview
How we view Occupational Health
Occupational Health is here to improve the mental and physical well-being of employees by monitoring the health of each worker. Occupational Health provides services that will help to keep employees healthy and safe whilst at work and manage any risks in the workplace that are likely to give rise to work-related ill health.
With the fast pace and challenges of managing a company, Occupational Health can become less of a priority for companies. There are several reasons for this, primarily the need for upfront investment. However, this is a common misunderstanding as health and safety can save you money in the long term.
This can be broken down into multiple aspects.
- Costs - At times, some can feel Occupational Health to be an added expenditure rather than an investment. At times, they can fail to see the benefits of short-term financial gains over long-term benefits associated with a safe work environment.
- Resistance to Change - As with most changes in health and safety, we often face resistance from management and employees alike who are apprehensive to changing old ways.
- Awareness - Often employers may not fully understand or appreciate the importance of Occupational Health and fail to see the benefits of a strong health and safety culture, such as improved employee morale, improved productivity, and reduced absenteeism.
- Communication - A lack of clear communication from employers to the employee on what we are here to do and why, can lead to misunderstandings, resulting in poor engagement from the employee.
Ramifications of neglecting occupational health can be extensive and far-reaching, including legal action, increased absenteeism, reduced productivity, poor staff retention and significant enforced penalties from regulatory bodies. Not to mention, the mental health ramifications it can have on employees.
How Occupational Health makes a difference
At RPS, we are committed to improving the health and well-being of every worker. We all take great pride in our work, striving to ensure that every employee seen receives the utmost care and consideration from the initial screening medical to the final. We provide expert advice and guidance to employers to provide them with the right information and clinical guidance to ensure that all staff members are afforded a safe working environment.
The services we offer include Face Fit Testing, Safety Critical Fit for Work Medicals, Health Surveillance Medicals, Spirometry, Audiology, Drug & Alcohol testing, HAVS screening & Skin Assessments.
By utilising the vast experience and robust procedures within the team we are helping each individual we assess, improving their health and lifestyle. We have had many examples of people whom we have previously seen approach the technician and thank them for the advice that helped them to be diagnosed in time and prevent serious life-changing conditions that could have drastically reduced their quality of life.
The quality of our service
At RPS, we believe in carrying out the best possible service for all our clients. We all take pride in our work and make great efforts to ensure that the client receives the correct service needed for each employee that we see. We take pride in providing a “gold” standard in health care focusing on the quality of service provided.
All the team are self-motivated and have a passion for people’s safety and wellbeing. We must be approachable with a friendly demure as often you will need to relax the person you are screening. Utilising an empathetic approach to our clients helps put them at easy and receive the best possible service.
Our passion for Occupational Health
Occupational health should aim at the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations; the prevention amongst workers of departures from health caused by their working conditions; the protection of workers in their employment from risks resulting from factors adverse to health; the placing and maintenance of the worker in an occupational environment adapted to his physiological and psychological capabilities and; to summarise: the adaptation of work to man and of each man to his job.
Joint ILO/WHO Committee on Occupational Health, 1st Session (1950)
One of the best lessons I have learned within this occupation is trusting the team around me. They are there to support me when I need advice and assistance. We have an amazing relationship between the technicians and nurses, and we are always willing and eager to support each other in any way we can.
We each have a vast wealth of knowledge to draw on and we use this daily for the betterment of the employee and to help our department be efficient and ultimately provide an exceptional service for clients.
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