First UK Standards For Occupational Health Services Launched

For the first time in the UK, there are now standards of performance for occupational health services. 

These standards, which have been developed by the Faculty of Occupational Medicine in partnership with a multidisciplinary, multi-agency stakeholder group, and were launched by Dame Carol Black, National Director for Health and Work, on 13th January 2010.

The Faculty will then, in conjunction with the stakeholder partners, be encouraging all occupational health services – in both the NHS and the private sector – to familiarise  themselves with the standards, and to work towards complying with them during 2010.

Over the next twelve months, the Faculty will be developing an accreditation system to underpin the standards.  The plan is for accreditation to be piloted later in 2010 and operational in early 2011.

‘This is an important development for occupational health,’ said Faculty President, Professor David Coggon.  ‘We have worked hard to make sure the standards are practical and proportionate and we believe that they have the potential to improve occupational health services significantly in the UK.’

The purpose of the project is to define the standards and minimum requirements that will apply to occupational health services that participate in the UK voluntary accreditation scheme and to provide occupational health services with a framework for quality assurance.  They are organised in six categories: Business probity; Information governance; People; Facilities and equipment; Relationships with purchasers; and Relationships with workers.

The standards are available from the E-Library Database here

Source: Faculty Of Medicine

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