Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

14.10 
Health surveillance and personal 
hygiene
Health surveillance enables the identifi cation of those 
employees most at risk from occupational ill-health. It 
should not be confused with health monitoring proced-
ures such as pre-employment health checks or drugs 
and alcohol testing, but it covers a wide range of situ-
ations, from a responsible person looking for skin 
damage on hands to medical surveillance by a medical 
doctor. Health surveillance detects the start of an ill-health 
problem and collects data on ill-health occurrences. 
It also gives an indication of the effectiveness of the 
control procedures. Health surveillance is needed to 
protect workers, identify as early as possible any health 
changes related to exposure and warn of any lapses in 
control arrangements.
Simple health surveillance is normally suffi cient for 
skin problems and takes the form of skin inspections 
by a ‘responsible person’. A ‘responsible person’ is a 
person who has been trained by a competent medical 
practitioner.
It is required when there appears to be a reasonable 
chance that ill-health effects are occurring in a particu-
lar workplace as a result of reviewing sickness records or 
when a substance listed in Schedule 6 under Regulation 
11 of the COSHH Regulations is being used. Schedule 
6 lists the substances and the processes in which they 
are used. There is a limited number of such substances. 
Figure 14.13
Variety of eye protection goggles.

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Chemical and biological health hazards and control
243
The health surveillance includes medical surveillance by 
an employment medical adviser or appointed doctor at 
intervals not exceeding 12 months. Records of the health 
surveillance must contain approved particulars and be 
kept for 40 years. The need for health surveillance is not 
common and further advice on the necessary procedures 
is available from the Employment Medical Advisory 
Service.
Personal hygiene has already been covered under 
supervisory controls. It is very important for workers 
exposed to hazardous substances to wash their hands 
thoroughly before eating, drinking or smoking. Protection 
against biological hazards can be increased signifi cantly 
by vaccination (e.g. tetanus). Finally, contaminated 
clothing and overalls need to be removed and cleaned 
on a regular basis.