Employee health screenings are tests and measures that organizations follow to help identify and reduce disease risk in the workplace. Health screening is beneficial to both employees and employers as it aids in detecting health conditions or issues early.
As organizations reopen after lockdown due to the pandemic, they must introduce a raft of measures to ensure safety in the workplace.
Health screening is one of the measures that every company must embrace to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But what are the human resource and legal considerations you should make before introducing health screening in the workplace?
Let us review the main considerations you must make before you introduce health screening in the workplace.
Considerations to make when conducting employee health screening
To reduce the risk of exposing their employees, employers must identify measures and policies to follow to prevent the spread of disease. Health screening is one of the measures in place to reign in COVID and other diseases. Here are considerations you should make before implementing the health screening in the workplace.
Applications to ensure data safety
Before implementation, a health screening policy in your organization establishes best practices for data collection and storage. Data collected after screening is considered medical information and should be kept private and safe.
You can customize your human capital management software to be able to store such data. It will reduce the liability that comes with storing personal data.
What the law states in regards to health screening in your state
It would be best if you familiarized yourself with what the law says about screening. Some states have laws that prohibit storing employing health records. They allow keeping records indicating whether an employee undertook the screening and the results. You should indicate whether the employee passed the screening or not.
HR must develop policies stating how long the organization will retain screening information. Organizations should not retain the data longer than they require it, as that poses a risk.
Recommendations on where and who should take the health screening test
Different states have specific guidance on where screening should happen. Some states recommend onsite testing with no-touch equipment as the best practice. Although at-home screening is acceptable in other states, it’s considered a minimal practice as credibility issues may be.
Temperature screening works best on the days when the employee is going to the office. Mandatory screening of employees working from home is likely to result in legal issues for the employer.
Cost of health screening
Employees Health screening will cost the employer, especially if there is a high number of workers. It would help if you considered the cost of health and wellness professionals. You also need to assess whether you need to employ or hire health and wellness professionals based on how they charge. Consider whether it’s effective to have in-house health personnel or have one on call.
Space and equipment required for the screening process
Choose a suitable place for the health screening. Ensure there is enough space and equipment needed during the screening process. It will be easier if the space and supplies are available, motivating the employees to take the screening test.
In addition, you have to uphold privacy during the collection and review of the data.
Depending on the number of employees, make sure there are enough personnel to screen your employees. Prioritize an optimal ratio of the screening personnel.
Methods of communicating results
Before the health screening of employees, communicate the following
- Where the health screening will take place and how the employees will access the results.
- Results that require further attention by a physician
- How to track the progress of employees who need further medical attention
Integrating your health screening process with your human capital management system will make it easy to communicate.
Health screening reduces the chances of spreading disease among employees and reduces the risk of liability for employees. The Human resource department is vital to a smooth health screening policy for the organization. Integrating the screening process with the human capital management system makes it easy to manage the process.
Contact us if you are looking for a human capital management system to help you manage the health screening process. Our HCM software is easily customizable and cloud-based to make the management of the health screening process effective and efficient.
