Sickness Absence Case
Mr X is an employee with company Y, where he works as a labourer. He is currently absent from work, and this has been the case for the last 4 weeks. He has been diagnosed with ‘tennis elbow’ (pain and tenderness around his elbow joint) that prevents him from performing any heavy lifting and repetitive elbow movements. He has seen his General Practitioner who has provided Mr X with a sick note, and referred him for physiotherapy. Mr X has been told that he will need to wait at least another 6 weeks before he can access physiotherapy, and will therefore be absent from work at least for this period of time.
Company Y contacts Healthwork for Occupational Health advice. He is seen at the Healthwork offices that week. The Healthwork occupational physician agrees with the diagnosis and treatment plan. The Healthwork physician provides a report indicating that although Mr X is not fit to perform his usual duties as a labourer, he is fit to perform modified duties avoiding heavy manual handling and repetitive elbow movements. The report also recommends physiotherapy, should Company Y wish to fund it.
Company Y have alternative duties available, with Mr X working as a driver, and agree to fund physiotherapy for him. He returns to work the week after seeing the Healthwork occupational physician, and also starts physiotherapy. After 4 weeks he is able to return to his normal duties.
As a result of Healthwork’s advice, Mr X makes an early return to productive work, avoiding prolonged sickness absence costs for Company Y, and avoiding the health detriment of prolonged sickness absence. He also makes a return to his normal duties significantly earlier than otherwise would have been the case.
Health Surveillance Case
Mr M works as a spray painter of cars for company N. He has performed this job for the past 12 months. When he is busy he does not always change the filters on his face mask. Up until 8 weeks ago he had been well, however he had recently noticed that whenever he went into work, he would develop a running nose. More recently he had been noticed that his chest felt tight at the end of the day, particularly if he had a lot of car panels to spray. He recalled from his last health surveillance performed by Healthwork, that he should report any nasal or chest symptoms, as this would need to be investigated further because of the risk of occupational asthma.
He is referred to Healthwork and seen by the nurse. She performs some breathing tests and asks Mr M to perform serial breathing tests whilst at work and to record them in a diary. The results of this show that Mr M’s breathing function is significantly worse whilst at work, and he is referred to an occupational physician. The doctor diagnoses Mr M with occupational asthma, and arranges for him to be seen by a breathing specialist. The Healthwork doctor recommends that Mr M is removed from his paint spraying duties and the company move Mr M to a new role in a different building. His breathing symptoms subsequently improve.
With the advice of Healthwork, a case of occupational asthma is diagnosed at an early stage which has significant health benefits for Mr M. Company N review their risk assessments relating to the spray painters of cars, and reinforce the importance of regular changes of the face mask filters, decreasing the likelihood of further cases of occupational asthma.
Fitness for work
Miss A is a clerical worker for company B. She enjoys her job, however she has found it increasingly difficult to complete her work, as she is worried about her elderly mother who has recently become ill. She is finding it difficult to balance her work and home life responsibilities. Her manager has noticed that she is not performing as well as normal at work, and discusses the situation with Miss A. As a result, the manager refers Miss A to Healthwork for Occupational Health advice.
She is seen by an occupational health doctor who advises counselling for Miss A and recommends that management perform a stress risk assessment in the work place to ensure that Miss A can cope with her workplace responsibilities. Miss A is keen to remain in work, and the occupational physician agrees that she is medically fit to do so.
As a result of the stress risk assessment, Miss A and her manager agree to greater flexibility in Miss A’s hours so that she can tend to her mother’s needs, together with a temporary reduction in her workload. Miss A finds the counselling, together with the greater flexibility in her work pattern, to be very helpful. She therefore remains in work, and feels well supported by her manager, and a period of sickness absence is avoided. The manager applies the same stress risk assessment principles to other members of staff. The manager is perceived to be supportive, the employees are happier, and productivity increases.