Referrals

Managing people ‘in-house’
Getting outside help
The main professional bodies
Professional bodies – contact details

Managing people ‘in-house’

For advice on managing an employee who’s suffering from contact dermatitis, see this table.

Getting outside help

Health and safety advice for small businesses and tax rules when purchasing occupational health support is available on the HSE’s website.

NHS Plus is a network of NHS occupational health departments across England, supplying quality services to employers. NHS Plus offers support to industry, commerce and the public sector, with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A similar arrangement is available in Scotland through a network of NHS occupational health departments, and through the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives who offer a free advisory service aimed at SMEs.

The Commercial Occupational Health Providers Association can help businesses to find an occupational health provider and the website of the Professional Organisations in Occupational Safety and Health lists different professionals, what they do, and how to get the most from them.

If you need a local occupational health provider, contact the Employment Medical Advisory Service. This service, part of the HSE, offers information on the availability of local occupational health services. You can find your local EMAS office in the phonebook, under ‘Health and Safety Executive’.

In its factsheet Occupational health and organisational effectiveness, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development explains what an occupational health provider should deliver.

The Case Management Society UK defines case management as ‘A collaborative process which assesses, plans, implements, co-ordinates, monitors and evaluates the options and services required to meet an individual's health, care, educational and employment needs’. For more information, click here.

Peninsula Medical School provides an evidence base for early intervention in sickness absence and discusses factors influencing referrals to return to work interventions in the literature review Avoiding long-term incapacity for work: Developing an early intervention in primary care.

The main professional bodies

The British Occupational Hygiene Society aims to reduce work-related ill health by promoting the science of occupational hygiene. It promotes public and professional awareness, and provides education and training in occupational health and hygiene, as well as information on occupational hygiene professionals
The Society of Occupational Medicine has a list of occupational physicians
The World Health Organization explains what an occupational health nurse does
You can get information on professional nursing organisations from the Association of Occupational Health Nurse Practitioners (UK) and the Royal College of Nursing

Professional bodies – contact details

British Association of Dermatologists
Willan House, 4 Fitzroy Square, London W1T 5HQ
t +44 (0)20 7383 0266
www.bad.org.uk/
admin@bad.org.uk

British Contact Dermatitis Society
www.bcds.org.uk

British Occupational Hygiene Society
5/6 Melbourne Business Court, Derby DE24 8LZ
t +44 (0)1332 298101
www.bohs.org/standardTemplate.aspx
admin@bohs.org

British Society for Allergy & Clinical Immunology
17 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2PL
www.bsaci.org
info@bsaci.org

British Society for Investigative Dermatology
www.bsid.org.uk

Case Management Society UK
PO Box 293, Sutton SM1 9BH
t +44 (0)870 850 5821
www.cmsuk.org
info@cmsuk.org

Commercial Occupational Health Providers Association
PO Box 6873, Wellingborough NN8 1ZP
t +44 (0)1933 227788
www.cohpa.co.uk
info@cohpa.co.uk

Faculty of Occupational Medicine
6 St Andrew’s Place, London NW1 4LB
t +44 (0)20 7317 5890
www.facoccmed.ac.uk
fom@facoccmed.ac.uk

Institute of Occupational Medicine
Research Avenue North, Riccarton, Edinburgh EH14 4AP
t +44 (0)870 850 5131
www.iom-world.org
info@iomhq.org.uk

Society of Occupational Medicine
6 St Andrew’s Place, London NW1 4LB
t +44 (0)20 7486 2641
www.som.org.uk