Health Surveillance & Workplace Medicals in Canberra

Workplace medicals and health surveillance in Canberra

Canberra’s workforce is a mix of public servants, professional services, research organisations and a busy construction and trades sector building the city’s suburbs and infrastructure. That means employers here often need two quite different kinds of health service: legally required health monitoring for workers exposed to hazards, and preventive health programs for office-based teams and leaders. Employees Health has provided both since 1996, led by Chief Medical Officer Dr Mike Shenouda, onsite at your workplace or through clinics.

WorkSafe ACT and the ACT’s WHS laws

The ACT uses the model Work Health and Safety laws through the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011. The regulator is WorkSafe ACT, an independent office headed by the Work Health and Safety Commissioner, who monitors and enforces compliance with the WHS Act and related laws.

WorkSafe ACT has been clear about health monitoring for silica. Its safety alert on the topic explains that a business must provide health monitoring to workers who are continuously working with crystalline silica where there is a significant risk to their health. Businesses must pay all expenses of that monitoring, and WorkSafe ACT notes that health monitoring is neither a diagnostic tool nor a control measure, so it sits alongside dust controls rather than replacing them. The regulator has inspected workplaces that cut and modify engineered and natural stone and has issued improvement, prohibition and infringement notices for health monitoring breaches.

The national prohibition on engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs from 1 July 2024, and the stronger rules for processing crystalline silica substances from 1 September 2024, apply in the ACT as they do across the model-law jurisdictions.

Construction and trades

New suburbs, apartment towers, roadworks and commercial fit-outs all involve cutting, grinding and drilling concrete, brick, tiles and stone. Our silica health surveillance medicals include an exposure history, a respiratory questionnaire, lung function testing and chest imaging where the program requires it.

Canberra’s older homes and government buildings also mean asbestos is a common risk for renovators, demolition crews, plumbers and electricians. We provide asbestos health surveillance before workers start removal work and at regular intervals after that.

For other trades and workshops, our health surveillance and monitoring programs cover lead (including blood lead monitoring), isocyanates used in spray painting and panel repair, solvents, welding fumes and other hazardous substances, plus audiometric testing for noise-exposed workers.

Government, corporate and professional workplaces

Many Canberra organisations want to look after the health of staff whose main risks are not chemical but lifestyle, workload and long hours at a desk. Our corporate and executive health assessments are doctor-led programs in two formats:

• Corporate health checks for broader teams, run onsite and managed end to end, with an individual results booklet for each participant and a corporate report for the organisation.
• Executive health assessments for senior leaders and key personnel, with in-depth medical assessment, targeted pathology and advanced diagnostics where clinically indicated, followed by a personalised medical action plan.

For outdoor staff such as parks, roads, utilities and landscaping crews, onsite skin cancer checks can be added to the same visit.

Canberra and the surrounding region

We work across Canberra’s town centres and industrial areas, including Fyshwick, Mitchell and Hume, and travel to Queanbeyan and the surrounding NSW region, including Yass, Goulburn, Cooma and the Snowy Mountains. Employers with staff on both sides of the border can run one consistent program, keeping in mind that sites in NSW are regulated by SafeWork NSW rather than WorkSafe ACT. Sessions can be scheduled around shift work, site start times and office calendars, and larger organisations can spread appointments across several days so service delivery is not interrupted.

Results you can rely on

Every assessment is reviewed by a doctor. For health monitoring, you receive a report for each worker and a workforce summary that helps you check whether controls are working. For corporate programs, each participant receives their own results booklet and your organisation receives a corporate report on the program. Workers receive their own results and are referred to their GP or a specialist where appropriate.

Get a free quote

Call 1300 880 804, email our team or send us an enquiry.