The Association

The Association was established in 1978 with the objectives of:

• Promoting and maintaining the health and safety of people at work
• The Exchange of information
• Promoting Quality Management Systems for Occupational Health Services
• Representing the Providers to Medical, Nursing, Government and Other Organisations
• Promoting the expansion of Group Occupational Health Services

The Association Companies

The Association companies largely consist of Local Independent Occupational Health Services, who work to a common set of auditable professional standards, enabling consistent services to be provided both locally and on a wider geographical area.

By working to these standards we can assure you of a system that is robust in defence of claims, protective of employers and representative of employee rights and conditions. Having this behind your service provision will give you peace of mind that your legislative and duty of care obligations are met.

By having a common set of standards we are also able to work together with other Association members to provide services in various locations in the Country, where appropriate.

Occupational Health

Everything you ever wanted to know about Occupational Health but were afraid to ask! What is it, why do I need it, how can I benefit, what should I expect?

Occupational Health has a variety of functions, principally these can be summarised into:

"Ensuring that the workforce is fit for the job they are employed to do; that the workplace is fit for its purpose and neither has a negative impact on the other."

Fitness relates to both the mental and physical fitness of an individual and the retention of this fitness requires Occupational Health to be proactive, preventative, monitoring, adaptive and advisory. So you should expect a practitioner to monitor the health of the employees, monitor the environment in which they work, advise on the adaptation of work to the capabilities of the worker and advise management on all aspects of employee health in relation to their work.

It is apparent from this description that Occupational Health does not work in isolation, nor is one practitioner likely to have all the answers. So, Occupational Health should always work as an integral part of organisational policy and procedures, there should be strong consultation and association with the HR function and obviously, the Health and Safety practitioners. It is a joint responsibility getting to the position where all these functions work in a common framework and you as an employer have evidence of your duty of care, whilst the employee has a clear view of their own responsibilities to themselves and others.