Health Monitoring - Duty to Advise WorkSafe
  • Bruce Tollan
    32
    "Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016
    41 Duty to give health monitoring report to regulator
    (1) A PCBU for whom any worker is carrying out work for which health monitoring is required must, as soon as practicable after obtaining a health monitoring report, ensure that a copy of the report is provided to the regulator if the report contains—
    (a) any advice that test results indicate that the worker may have contracted a disease or an illness or suffered an injury as a result of carrying out work that involves a health hazard that triggered the requirement for health monitoring; or
    (b) any recommendation that the PCBU take remedial measures, including a recommendation as to whether the worker is able to continue to carry out work that involves a health hazard that triggered the requirement for health monitoring."

    Has anyone advised WorkSafe under this regulation for Welding Fumes causing Disease or illness?
    Bruce Tollan Options
  • Jo Prigmore
    49
    Great question. I haven't checked up on this but we've tended to notify once the injury / damage / disease has been confirmed as work related; usually via the ACC claims process. We're tertiary AEP accredited though so that link might be easier because of that?
    Jo Prigmore Options
  • MattD2
    339
    The simple answer to this is (as far as I know) since there are currently no hazardous substances that are defined in a safe work instruments to require health monitoring there is no requirements to provide WorkSafe NZ with any health monitoring reports (as per the regulations).
    Note: Seems like there is at least one SWI going through the process that will require health monitoring for ethanedinitrile (EDN)
    MattD2 Options
  • Don Ramsay
    147
    ↪Bruce Tollan
    A simple answer to your question is No we have not but we do biannual health checks and they have not shown any drastic changes that can be directly related to welding fumes.
    Don Ramsay Options
  • John Easton
    20
    Not specifically for welding fumes but I presume this also applies to noise induced hearing loss?
    We carry out annual health checks for Lung Function, Eyesight, Blood Pressure and Hearing.
    John Easton Options
  • robert p
    19
    the regulation defines health monitoring in relation to individual (i.e. it is not exposure monitoring) and this doesn't relate to SWI's so far as I can tell.
    The situation being covered is if an occ health nurse, during the course of monitoring a worker's health in relation to the risks they were exposed to, informed the boss that the worker had been harmed as a result of those risks or made a recommendation that the boss changed how work is carried out.

    I have never received a recommendation that we change our welding practices from an occ health nurse under any situation (including as a result of workers' health monitoring) or information that they believe the worker's ill health is related to welding fumes at work. Therefore I've not informed WorkSafe
    robert p Options
  • MattD2
    339
    the regulation defines health monitoring in relation to individual (i.e. it is not exposure monitoring) and this doesn't relate to SWI's so far as I can tell.
    The situation being covered is if an occ health nurse, during the course of monitoring a worker's health in relation to the risks they were exposed to, informed the boss that the worker had been harmed as a result of those risks or made a recommendat boss changed how work is carried out.     — robert p
    That is not the situation that is being covered by the regulation - R41 states:
    A PCBU for whom any worker is carrying out work for which health monitoring is required must, as soon as practicable after obtaining a health monitoring report, ensure that a copy of the report is provided to the regulator if the report contains... — Reg 41
    Therefore R41 only applies to health monitoring reports that the PCBU receives for work that they are required by the regulations to conduct health monitoring for, i.e. work where there is a risk to a workers health due to exposure to a substance that is defined in a SWI as requiring health monitoring - R31
    This point is further strengthened by R31 including that the health monitoring that is required under that regulation must comply with R33-42.
    MattD2 Options
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