Occupational health management: an audit tool

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health and Safety
• Risk Management
• Workplace Health

Background:

• Organizations face challenges in managing workplace occupational health risks.
• The UK Health & Safety Executive (HSE) provides guidance for effective health and safety management.
• Legal frameworks in the UK mandate health risk management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a method for auditing occupational health and safety management at organizational and service provider levels.
• To develop and utilize a tool for qualitatively assessing occupational health service provision.
• To examine the legal framework governing health risk management in the UK.

Main Methods:

• Development of a qualitative audit tool based on HSE guidance.
• Application of the audit tool at organizational and occupational health service provider levels.
• Presentation of the audit tool as a question set for evaluating efficiency, effectiveness, and reliability.

Main Results:

• The paper outlines the legal context for health risk management in the UK.
• A new audit tool for occupational health services is presented.
• The strengths and weaknesses of the audit tool are discussed.

Conclusions:

• The developed audit tool provides a structured approach to evaluating occupational health service provision.
• Recommendations for the use of the audit tool are provided.
• The study contributes to improving the management of occupational health and safety.