The Train’s Health and Safety Council have received enquiries lately about what is covered in periodic age medical assessments. Below is a summary of the reply we received back from Occupational Health.

The periodic medical assessments that are undertaken include the following:

Health questionnaire:

Tests: Distance vision, near vision, colour vision, blood pressure, pulse, height weight and BMI, audiogram, mobility test, urine test (glucose, blood, protein), (blood sugar if glucose in urine or known Diabetes)

Consultation (with a nurse): review of the questionnaire, review of the test results, further medical history or information sought depending on any previous conditions, new items on the questionnaire

Examination: visual fields (tested by confrontation)

There is no routine drug or alcohol test

The occupational health medical record of each employee is reviewed by the clinician before the assessment so if there are chronic health issues (eg Diabetes, Hypertension etc) attention can be paid to ensuring these conditions are stable and how the employee is coping etc.

There is also an amount of health promotion in these assessments. For example, I would expect that if an employee smokes, the nurse would talk to them about associated health risks and sign post where they could get help. I think this element is very important, having someone in the room who may not ordinarily choose to access health promotion (eg because they currently feel fit and well) is a unique opportunity to improve an individuals long-term health.

If you have any further enquiries then contact your RMT Safety Rep.