Occupational Health at South Kensington undertakes health assessments for Imperial College employees, most can be cleared on the basis of their questionnaire alone, some may need to attend the Occupational Health Clinic to complete their health assessment.

Roles for which a health assessment is required

• Contact with patients or young children
• Contact with laboratory animals or insects, or other work requiring periodic health surveillance
• Handling of hazardous chemicals
• Operating workshop machinery
• Handling of human pathogens or genetically modified micro-organisms
• Regular driving (excluding commuting)
• Other work for example plumbers or electricians where sudden illness or accident may pose a significant risk of harm e.g. work at height, electro magnetic fields in excess of 0.5mT generated by laboratory equipment
• Overseas travel
• Work requiring accurate colour vision – this will include electricians’
• Food handling

If you have any questions regarding an employment health assessment or would like further clarification on the questionnaire please contact us on 020 7594 9401 or via email.

Research Passport 

Researchers employed by Imperial College University, and who have no contractual agreement with the NHS, may be required to apply for a research passport if they wish to undertake research within the NHS. If you have been notified that you require health clearance for your research passport you will need to complete the research passport questionnaire

This form will be screened by Occupational Health and you will be advised if you require an appointment for vaccines or serology. Please make sure you submit serology reports if you have them. This will save you from having to repeat serology tests. Once you have been cleared, health clearance and the research passport will be issued.

Process

• Information on specific aspects of a role requiring health assessment for safety reasons or to meet statutory requirements is shared with Occupational Health.

• The Hiring Manager will receive an email from their Recruitment Administrator when the offer of employment has been accepted by the Candidate. This email will contain:
  
  • A simple form that needs to be completed to confirm if a post requires health assessment. This information will be recorded in Talent link, so HR can track number of posts that require OH assessment
  • A link to the New Starter Health Assessment SharePoint form to communicate new starter’s work activities (if required)
  • A link to view and check completion of the new starter’s work health assessment
  • A copy of a New Starter’s contract: this will contain employee CID number and employment start date which is required to complete the Work Activities Questionnaire

• Occupational Health will contact new starters by email on commencement to offer the most appropriate health assessment for their role or supply information on the most suitable time to access services to help protect their health at work. For work with laboratory animals, pathogens or overseas travel, health assessment will be deferred until the person is due to commence the specific activity as details of the work relevant to the health assessment may be unknown at commencement.

• Questionnaire screening is the foundation of all assessments, some roles may require 2 or more separate assessments e.g. clinicians who also undertake laboratory-based research work.  Many staff will be health cleared on the basis of their questionnaire alone; some staff may need to attend the OH Clinic to complete their assessment.

• Line Managers should ensure that where required, new staff completes health clearance on commencement as required under College Health and Safety policies. Clearance for work with laboratory animals, Biological Agents or for overseas travel is notified directly to the person and to their line manager by email.
  
  

Recommendations to accomodate a health problem or disability

Where a person discloses a health problem which may impact their fitness to undertake specific tasks, or require some adjustment to duties or specific support measure to protect their health, or which may significantly affect attendance the OH Advisor will advise the person’s line manager of this. Recommendations on measures to accommodate a health problem or disability should be implemented whenever it is reasonably practical to do so.

Employment health assessment is not a universal requirement, new starters who have a disability or long term health problem who will be undertaking other types of role may also benefit from support or adjustments and are encouraged to declare this on the Personal Details form.   Some adjustments can be easily accommodated without the need for advice, however if further information and support is required they can be referred to Occupational Health for advice on workplace adjustments for active health problems or to The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Centre for advice to support functional disabilities.

Confidentiality

All information on health provided by a member of staff to the College OH Service is held in medical confidence. Recommendations on workplace adjustments will include information on the effects of a health problem or disability without disclosure of the underlying medical condition. Any information provided should be treated as sensitive and only disclosed to others if necessary for them to assist in the effective implementation of adjustments.