Occupational Health Law

Since the last edition was published, more European legislation has been incorporated into the law of the United Kingdom, and the third edition contains a full account of the 1992 regulations implementing European directives. The Treaty of Amsterdam will lead the way to further legislation from Europe. The Data Protection Act is to be updated in line with the European Directive, and the Working Time Directive will have to be incorporated into UK law. Actions for damages for work-related ill-health continue to increase, including actions for psychiatric and stress-related illness, and further developments in the law of equal opportunities, including changes with respect to pregnant employees and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 are fully covered. Disasters have led to other important developments, including the increase in criminal penalties and the imprisonment of senior managers for breaches of health and safety legislation. For the first time the High Court has held that an occupational physician owes a duty of care to a job applicant undergoing pre-employment screening.
Beverley Allitt and Amanda Jenkinson have highlighted the dilemma facing the OH professional whose ethical duty is to preserve the worker's confidence, and the spread of HIV, AIDS and hepatitis B and C has produced many new problems, especially relating to health care workers.