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Occupational health referrals for managers: when to refer and what comes back
A management referral to occupational health puts your question about an employee's health in front of a clinician and gets you advice you can act on: whether they are fit for their job, and what would help them do it. You describe the role and what has prompted the referral. Once the employee agrees to the assessment, an Occupational Health Advisor or Physician from our clinical partners, acting on Opus's behalf, assesses them and reports back to you. In Great Britain, that advice is also what you weigh when you consider reasonable adjustments for a disabled employee under section 20 of the Equality Act 2010.
What an occupational health referral includes
A referral reaches a clinician by one of two routes. A manager raises a concern about an employee's health, attendance or capability, or a test in a health surveillance programme or a medical turns up a result that needs clinical review. Either way, the employee is assessed by an Occupational Health Advisor or Physician, and the report is written for the person who has to make the decision.
When a manager should refer
Refer when a decision about someone's work turns on medical advice. That covers sickness absence, short or long, and absence that keeps coming back; a health condition that seems to be affecting the job, or a significant change in someone's health; mental health concerns; a return after illness, injury or surgery; doubts about safety-critical duties; performance where health may be part of the cause; and an employee who may be disabled under the Equality Act 2010.
How a management referral works
You complete a referral setting out the employee's role, their working conditions and the specific questions you want answered. Tell the employee why you are referring them. They are briefed on the process and give informed consent before the assessment, which an Occupational Health Advisor or Physician from our clinical partners, acting on Opus's behalf, carries out, remotely in some cases.
Referrals after a test result
A referral can follow health surveillance or a medical run by our occupational health technicians: a change in someone's hearing, lung function results that need further assessment, symptoms of hand-arm vibration, signs of dermatitis, or a concern from isocyanate biological monitoring or a safety-critical, driver or fitness to work medical. The clinician reviews the technical findings and advises on fitness for the role and any restrictions.
What lands on your desk afterwards
A report you can act on. It keeps to how the employee's health affects their work, and diagnoses and clinical detail stay confidential to the clinician and the employee.
A fitness outcome
Whether the employee is fit for their current role, fit with recommended adjustments, or unfit for work for now.
Adjustments and restrictions
What may support them in the role, any restrictions or temporary changes to duties, how long each is likely to be needed, and whether a phased return may be appropriate.
Answers to your questions
The questions you set out in the referral, answered in terms a manager can use.
A review date
Whether further occupational health review is recommended, and when the employee should be seen again.
What you should be able to show
If a decision about an employee's health is ever questioned, these records show you took advice and acted on it. Could you put your hands on all six for a case you have open today?
- ✓The referral itself: the role, the working conditions, what prompted it and the questions you asked
- ✓The employee's consent to the assessment, and their permission for the report to be shared with you
- ✓The report, kept confidential and available only to people who genuinely need it, such as the line manager and HR
- ✓A note of your conversation with the employee about the report and its recommendations
- ✓Your decision on each recommended adjustment, with the reasons for it
- ✓The review date, and a record that the review took place
What an occupational health referral costs
Price depends on a number of variables, including:
The clinician the case needs
Some questions can be answered by an Occupational Health Advisor, and some need an Occupational Health Physician.
Remote or in person
Clinical appointments can be held remotely in some cases.
How complex the case is
The number of questions, and whether the clinician needs more information, for example from the employee's own doctor.
A referral and a medical are separate pieces of work. If you need to confirm that someone can do a specific job, such as a new starter after an offer has been made or an employee moving into safety-critical work, that is a fitness to work medical.
Two ways to work with Opus
Book a one-off service for a specific need, or take on a partnership for ongoing support. Either way, the work gets done by the same team.
Book a service
For a specific need - a single assessment, audit, or
on-site service with a clear deliverable.
Opus Safety Partnership
Ongoing support and consider-it-done compliance. For businesses that want compliance off their plate, not on their to-do list.
Not sure which fits? Speak to a consultant - no commitment required.
Kellaway
Why businesses bring occupational health referrals to Opus
Opus covers both halves of a referral: the clinical advice, arranged through our occupational health service and its clinical partners, and the HR work that follows it.
Referrals that follow our own tests
Where our occupational health technicians run your health surveillance medicals, a result that needs clinical review is referred on by the same provider, with the test findings already in hand.
HR support for what comes next
Our absence management service takes you through review meetings, occupational health reports, reasonable adjustments and capability, with Anna Chadwick, our HR consultant.
One provider for the whole case
You arrange the referral with Opus, and the clinician who assesses the employee is from our clinical partners, acting on Opus's behalf, so there is no separate clinic to contract with.
Occupational health referrals by sector
Builders Merchants
Yard staff lift heavy loads and drive forklifts and delivery vehicles, so a return after a back injury or surgery raises practical questions. A referral tells you which duties they can go back to, which restrictions apply and for how long.
Warehousing & Logistics
Picking, manual handling and lift-truck driving are physical work. After a musculoskeletal injury or a long absence, the report says whether a phased return suits the role, and whether the employee is fit to go back to safety-critical duties such as driving.
Manufacturing & Engineering
Health surveillance for noise, dust, fumes, vibration and skin exposure can turn up a result that needs clinical review. The referral tells you whether the employee can stay in the role, with or without restrictions, and when they should be reviewed.
Garden Centres
Seasonal peaks bring heavy lifting and long days. Where an employee is returning from injury or managing a health condition, a referral sets out which duties suit them and which adjustments would help through the busy months.
Metal Stockholders
Crane and lift-truck operation, cutting and grinding all demand fitness for the task. If a vibration screen flags symptoms, or a manager has doubts about someone's fitness for crane work, the referral gives you a clinical view on fitness and restrictions.
Childcare & Nurseries
Nursery staff lift children and work at floor level. A referral tells you which duties an employee can take on after illness or injury, so you can plan a phased return and arrange cover within your staffing ratios before they come back.
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Ready to book an occupational health referral?
Tell us about the employee's role and what has prompted the referral. We will explain the process and quote for it, and at the end you will have a clinical view on fitness and adjustments, with a date to review it.
Frequently asked questions
What is a management referral to occupational health?
What questions should I ask in an occupational health referral?
What happens at an occupational health referral appointment?
Can an employee refuse an occupational health referral?
Do I have to follow the recommendations in an occupational health report?
Do I need an occupational health referral if the employee has a fit note?
Who sees the occupational health report?
How much does an occupational health referral cost?
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