By Tendai Dhliwayo
THE City of Johannesburg has given the green light to a medical examination policy for its employees.
The policy, which excludes HIV/Aids tests, is meant to benefit council employees who will go for free regular check-ups. "Employee wellness will form the foundation of sound local government and effective service delivery," says a document by the occupational health and safety department.
Some of the tests to be conducted on employees include those for diabetes, high blood pressure, eye tests, epileptic, hearing and hypertension tests. If an employee is found to have any ailment, he or she will be advised to seek treatment.
Prospective employees will be tested for various ailments. Before leaving the council after terminating service, an employee is further tested to see if he or she incurred any sickness that will warrant compensation.
According to Willy Dormehl, manager: occupational health and safety, "we are trying to avoid a situation where someone comes with an ailment from somewhere else and the council ends up compensating for something that was incurred somewhere else".
Dormehl adds that it has been council protocol to do pre-employment examination.
"It is important that we know the ailments our employees have. If one has epilepsy, for example, we do not allow him to operate a machine," says Dormehl.
The medical examination policy, he says, has been necessitated by the fact that the council "should comply with the legal prescription" that requires employees to go for medical tests to see if they have any sicknesses.
Further, the council must observe the Occupational and Health Safety Act (85/1993), "which provides for the health of all employees," especially those employed in high-risk occupations like those exposed to asbestos and hazardous chemical substances.
"The Occupational Health and safety department is now in full control in trying to safeguard employees. There should be compliance from all departments. If departments do not comply and don't bring employees, they will get the full might of the law as disciplinary measures will be taken against them," warns Dormehl.
"We are concerned about people's health. If we have sick employees, they can't work," adds the manager.
He says a comprehensive medical database of all council employees has been compiled to help the department ascertain if there are people with certain illnesses and wanting further medical checks.
