Occupational Medicine prophylactic examination. This is an examination of the employee to assess his/her individual predispositions to work at a specific workstation in specific conditions, taking into account the harmful and nuisance factors present in the working environment which may affect the employee’s health status. The employer is legally obliged to maintain an agreement with a selected medical centre to provide prophylactic care for its employees. The term of such an agreement should not be shorter than one year.
Types of prophylactic examinations
Preliminary health check – The employer refers to Medicover:
- new employees before they commence work
- employees who have moved from one workstation to another
- if the nature of the workstation changes/new risks appear.
Periodic health check - The employer refers to Medicover:
- persons already working at a given workstation before the expiry of the validity of the previous medical certificate.
Follow-up health check – The employer refers to Medicover:
- each employee who has been on sick leave for more than 30 days; the employee should undergo medical examinations in order to obtain a medical certificate before recommencing work.
Course of prophylactic examinations
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The employer issues a letter of referral for prophylactic examinations to the Medicover Centre.
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The employee makes an appointment to visit the Medicover Centre over the phone (while making the appointment, the employee should already have the completed referral form; the information on the form will facilitate the arrangement of all diagnostic tests during one day).
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On the day of the examination, the employee reports to the Medicover Centre with the completed original referral form.
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Following the completion of the previously-ordered cycle of examinations, the Occupational Medicine specialist issues two copies of a medical certificate. One copy of the certificate is sent to the employer by registered mail.
The second copy should be collected by the Employee personally from the reception desk of the Medicover Centre where the examination was performed.
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The employer/employee can appeal against the contents of the certificate within seven days of receipt.
Referral to prophylactic examinations
The Occupational Medicine specialist performs the examination on the basis of the original letter of referral issued by the employer. This document is kept in the patient’s medical files, and contains information on hazards and harmful factors existing at the workstation.
The correctly completed letter of referral should:
- be exact and legible
- contain all indispensable data and information on the workstation
- bear all required stamps (the company’s stamp including REGON number) and the signature of the person authorised to issue the letter of referral (OSH officer or a person that is familiar with the work environment, e.g. the manager of the specific department)
- be completed in Polish, including job title.
When coming to the examination, the employee should have the letter of referral valid for three months from the date it was issued.
The letter of referral to an Occupational Medicine examination is an official document, and therefore it is important that the information contained in it is up-to-date. The employer is responsible for the contents of this document.
The letter of referral may be an important document in litigation, e.g. if the employee develops an occupational disorder.
Occupational Medicine specialists are under a legal obligation to include the following in the medical records:
- identification data of the patient’s workplace (name, address and REGON identification number)
- the employee’s NIP (Taxpayer Identification Number).
Legal basis:
Journal of Laws No. 69 of 25 June 1996, item 332;
Journal of Laws No. 37 of 4 March 2003, item 328.
Model form of the letter of referral for downloading