The University has a duty to care for staff health and safety at work and recognises that having a healthy workforce enables it to achieve its overall objectives.

The OH service is delivered by a team of health professionals who specialise in the branch of medicine that deals with the relationship between work and health. Working to high professional standards, members of staff can expect the team to treat them courteously and with respect for their privacy and dignity.

The OH team will provide staff with advice and will work with them to enable them to have a safe and healthy working life.

Our aims are to:

• Prevent employees from becoming ill as a result of the work they do;
• Assist employees to achieve good health by providing health advice and support;
• Enable the rehabilitation of employees returning to work following ill health.

The OH service does not replace the service that members of staff have from their General Practitioner (GP). Your GP has overall responsibility for your health and accessing treatment for you, but the OH team will work in partnership with GPs and other health professionals, particularly in instances where work appears to be responsible for ill health or health affects your ability to work.

The OH team will also work in partnership with members of staff and their managers to resolve issues in the workplace that have an adverse effect on health. Together we aim to ensure that well-being at work is maintained and given the priority it deserves.

Services provided by Occupational Health :

• New Starter Health Assessment Questionnaires (conducted during the employment process);
• Health surveillance to meet requirements under health and safety legislation;
• Return to work assessment and rehabilitation advice;
• Advice on sickness absence management;
• Workplace assessments;
• Assessment of Genetic Modification workers and employees working with hazardous biological agents;
• Expectant & New Mothers Assessments;
• Night Worker assessments to comply with Working Time Regulations;
• Give advice about vaccinations required for work;
• Provision of policy advice and contribution to policy development;
• Assessment of work related illness and review of long term sickness;
• Medical assessments for early retirement

Clinic location

Appointments can be by telephone, TEAMS or in person.  We are based in rooms 117a, 116 and 213 in JJ Thomson Building, Whiteknights.

Should you wish to contact Occupational Health Services you can contact them by email at occupationalhealth@reading.ac.uk  

All appointments must be pre-booked.

Mission statement

To be the highest quality provider of specialist OH advice.

Confidentiality

All occupational health records are strictly confidential and stored in compliance with the relevant Data Protection Laws. No details or reports relating to an employee's occupational health records will be given to any other person outside designated officers at the University of Reading.  For further information please see the OH Privacy Policy:

Occupational Health Privacy Policy

Referral process

If you need Occupational Health advice (staff or managers) please contact your School or Service Human Resources Partner or Health and Safety Services in the first instance. Referrals to Occupational Health are made by the line manager following a discussion with the member of staff - a management referral forms is completed and sent to Occupational Health Services.

NB: Please note the Occupational Health Team do not provide first aid. First aid is provided by First Aiders/Emergency First Aiders in each building - see local notice boards for contact details. Security Services provide basic first aid cover out of hours - see Emergency Procedures and Contacts. If more than basic first aid is required, telephone 999 for an ambulance.