SECTION III

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Health surveillance
Article 8
1
Without prejudice to Article 14 of Directive 89/391/EEC, Member States shall adopt provisions to ensure the appropriate health surveillance of workers with reference to the outcome of the risk assessment provided for in Article 4(1) of this Directive where it indicates a risk to their health. Those provisions, including the requirements specified for health records and their availability, shall be introduced in accordance with national laws and/or practice.
Health surveillance, the results of which are taken into account in the application of preventive measures at a specific workplace, shall be intended to prevent and diagnose rapidly any disorder linked with exposure to mechanical vibration. Such surveillance shall be appropriate where:
- the exposure of workers to vibration is such that a link can be established between that exposure and an identifiable illness or harmful effects on health,
- it is probable that the illness or the effects occur in a worker's particular working conditions, and
- there are tested techniques for the detection of the illness or the harmful effects on health.
In any event, workers exposed to mechanical vibration in excess of the values stated in Article 3(1)(b) and (2)(b) shall be entitled to appropriate health surveillance.
2
Member States shall establish arrangements to ensure that, for each worker who undergoes health surveillance in accordance with paragraph 1, individual health records are made and kept up-to-date. Health records shall contain a summary of the results of the health surveillance carried out. They shall be kept in a suitable form so as to permit any consultation at a later date, taking into account any confidentiality.
Copies of the appropriate records shall be supplied to the competent authority on request. The individual worker shall, at his request, have access to the health records relating to him personally.
3
Where, as a result of health surveillance, a worker is found to have an identifiable disease or adverse health effect which is considered by a doctor or occupational health-care professional to be the result of exposure to mechanical vibration at work:
a
the worker shall be informed by the doctor or other suitably qualified person of the result which relates to him personally. He shall, in particular, receive information and advice regarding any health surveillance which he should undergo following the end of exposure;
b
the employer shall be informed of any significant findings from the health surveillance, taking into account any medical confidentiality;
c
the employer shall:
- review the risk assessment carried out pursuant to Article 4,
- review the measures provided for to eliminate or reduce risks pursuant to Article 5,
- take into account the advice of the occupational health-care professional or other suitably qualified person or the competent authority in implementing any measures required to eliminate or reduce risk in accordance with Article 5, including the possibility of assigning the worker to alternative work where there is no risk of further exposure, and
- arrange continued health surveillance and provide for a review of the health status of any other worker who has been similarly exposed. In such cases, the competent doctor or occupational health care professional or the competent authority may propose that exposed persons undergo a medical examination.