Faculty urges caution on reopening, and advises on vaccination and testing – Personnel Today

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As occupational health practitioners brace themselves for the easing of Covid restrictions next week, the Faculty of Occupational Medicine (FOM) has published new guidance on vaccination and testing.

The guidance, Covid-19 Guidance on Vaccination and Testing, emphasises that occupational health professionals should continue to encourage vaccine take-up on a voluntary basis.

Any vaccination programme, whether voluntary or mandatory, should include and comply with a range of ethical and legal considerations, the faculty has reiterated, including (among others) being consistent with national regulatory guidelines, informed by consent, with proper and accurate record-keeping, and where people have the opportunity to discuss any concerns.

For testing programmes, employers were likely to turn to OH for support in setting up programmes around access to the workplace, fitness to work, remote working, contact tracing, prevalence, research and international travel, FOM suggested.

Again, such programmes needed to be underpinned by clear and well-communicated ethics guidance, it emphasised.

Dr Steve Nimmo, FOM president, said: “Throughout the pandemic occupational health professionals have provided critical support to businesses and organisations in managing risk and protecting workers.

“Occupational health professionals should continue to encourage the uptake of Covid19 vaccine on a voluntary basis to protect individuals and populations. We fully understand the difficult policy decisions the government has to make in protecting the population. There is a live debate about whether NHS staff should be vaccinated as a condition of employment. It is our professional advice that a voluntary system is the correct ethical approach and would resu