CASE STUDY

MILLER HEALTH MANAGEMENT

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Address - Client Services • Miller Health Management • Worton Park • Cassington • Nr OXFORD • OX29 4SX

CASE STUDY 4

Depression/Anxiety from Travelling: No Pre-employment Health Assessment

Background

	Customer Support Engineer aged 32. Salary - £48,000 pa.
	On call 24 hours (pager).
	A lot of travelling (Middle East) and confrontation with dissatisfied customers.
	Employer had no procedure in place for pre-employment assessment of a candidate’s fitness for the job.

Presenting symptoms at work

	Inability to meet required hours.
	Anxiety when travelling by airplane.
	Resulted in 7 months sickness absence due to depression and anxiety.

Employer’s Viewpoint

	After working for only 2 months, employee absent from work due to sickness.
	Employee covered by Permanent Health Insurance after 6 months sickness absence.

Occupational Health Intervention

	Occupational physician assessed employee and noted that he:
	(a) Suffered with depression and anxiety as a teenager;
	(b) Left previous job due to stress of travel to and from workplace;
	(c) Had a history of several years with anxiety related to travel.
	Referred by occupational physician to a psychiatrist for assessment with the consent of GP.

Outcome

	Employee Received Permanent Health Insurance after 9 months in employment, although having only worked for 2 months.
	Company incurred unexpected costs due to hiring an employee who was not fit for the job.
	Company continued to be at risk of employing staff who were unfit for the job by still not introducing pre-employment health assessments.