Audit of a pre-employment risk identification form

A risk identification form was introduced as part of Southmead Health Services NHS Trust's pre-employment procedure. Its purpose was to allow occupational health nurses to identify employees with specific occupational health needs. One hundred employees' risk identification forms were studied and a comparison made between the manager's assessment and that of an independent occupational health nurse's assessment based on job title alone. The actual risks involved in the post were identified by the employee after 1 month employment, together with an occupational health nurse from Southmead NHS Trust. There was a greater agreement between the managers' assessments and the actual risks identified (range 83-100%), than between the independent nurse's assessments and the actual risks identified (range 59-100%), in all categories other than driving. The sensitivity of the managers' risk assessments were higher than that of the independent nurse in all categories and the positive predictive value of the managers' risk assessments were higher than that of the independent nurse in all but two categories.