Third Party Pre Employment Medicals
Railway Medicals
In 2003 there was a train accident in Waterfall, New South Wales. It claimed the lives of seven people. When investigations revealed that the driver suffered a sudden heart attack and lost control of the train, the question arose whether this would have been a predictable and preventable incident. When further investigations revealed that the driver had been at high risk of having a heart attack the entire system whereby train driver's health was assessed underwent a complete overall. The system now in place was designed to assess the health of train drivers in order to prevent further incidents like this. The National Standard for the Health Assessment of Rail Safety Workers places a heavy emphasis on two aspects of a train driver's health. Firstly, if their current health status has any issues which would represent a safety risk, secondly there is a predictive element within the system of assessment which looks at whether of any future heath issues could represent a safety risk. An example of the latter is that the assessment includes a probability calculation of a person's risk of having a heart attack or stroke. If that risk is high further tests are undertaken to quantify that risk.
In order for the system to be effective the doctors who are undertaking the assessments must have a thorough grounding in the standards and their application to safety critical rail workers such as train drivers. As such, doctors undertaking these assessments are required to undergo training on a regular basis in order to ensure that they are applying these safety standards in a manner which ensures the safety both of the worker and the public. Both Doctor Madden and Doctor O’Regan have been accredited as Authorized Health Providers (AHPs) under this scheme for many years and an employer can be confident that the service provided under this scheme by these Doctors is to the highest professional standard.
Aviation Medicals
CASA, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority is an extremely important part of ensuring aviation safety in Australia. It doesn't just undertake investigations of plane crashes and advise on safety matters with regards the planes themselves but also supervises a programme of regular health assessments of the pilots who fly these planes. In order to undertake these assessments a Doctor must complete a two week course of training by the Australasian Society of Aerospace Medicine conducted by the Aviation Medicine Unit at Monash University. Dr O’Regan completed his course in 2017 and as the Dux of the course was awarded the Westerman Prize. Thus a pilot having an aviation medical at The Health Advantage can rest assured that not only will all the equipment used in the assessment be accredited to the current applicable Australian Standard and calibrated regularly but also that the Doctor performing the assessment understands and applies the appropriate standards to the assessment of that pilot, thus ensuring the safety not just of the pilot but any passengers and the community as a whole.
Safer Together
Many employers who are working in the Surat Basin area would be aware of the Safer Together initiative instituted by the Surat Basin Oil and Gas Employer Community. This assessment is designed to ensure that people working in the oil and gas fields are fit to do the jobs required of them, for example, driving, using tight fit respirators, etc. It also combines health surveillance for hearing in the form of an audiometry and an assessment of the person's cardiovascular risk, that is their risk of having a heart attack or a stroke in the near future. This is a significant development in the health surveillance of workers in this industry and will contribute greatly to their safe deployment, particularly in areas isolated from medical care such as the Surat Basin.
The assessment is conducted on a regular basis, every two to three years depending on company requirements. The Health Advantage offers a product that combines as required, a Pre employment Medical, a Safer Together Assessment and Commercial Drivers Assessment. By having one product that covers all these three assessments significantly reduces the cost to the employer. These assessments are of no benefit if the employer only requires a Pre-employment Medical, or only a Safer Together or only a Commercial Vehicle assessment, but it does significantly reduce the cost of doing two of these together and massively reduces the cost of doing all three.
