Questionnaires are usually used to identify whether there is a problem which needs to be followed up. For most employers, the decision as to how far to investigate a potential employee's health will be taken by an occupational physician. This surveillance is designed to protect employees from workplace hazards and to comply with health and safety law. An employer may wish to exclude someone from employment where a pre-employment medical examination indicates they are unfit for the post because their existing ill health might make the performance of the proposed job unsafe for the individual or for third parties. However, if the employee or potential employee is defined as disabled in the DDA any employer with 15 or more employees would have to be able to justify doing so and show that no reasonable adjustment could remove or make acceptable any such risk.
Some employers arrange for employees to be offered health advice.
Occupational health services can also advise and help with health lifestyle issues, e.g. diet, exercise and addictions. Some employers also offer some forms of general health checks such as cholesterol, blood pressure and breast cancer screening, usually as part of a benefits package. These company policies may require information about the health of key personnel or the general work force. An employer may wish to seek to detect any pre-existing disorder before an employee commences work, in order to reduce their liability in the event of a future claim of work related disease. In a competitive climate, employers will naturally be concerned to manage the cost of employment efficiently.