Health surveillance compliance is under the spotlight after the UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issued its first-ever Prohibition Notice against an occupational health service provider. The regulator found that health surveillance was carried out by staff who were inadequately trained, unqualified, and unsupervised, leaving workers exposed to wood dust and noise at risk of undetected occupational disease such as asthma, dermatitis, and hearing loss.

A follow-up Improvement Notice pointed to a deeper problem: no clinical governance, no quality assurance, and no clear route for escalating concerns. Health surveillance is a legal requirement under COSHH and noise regulations, yet it’s often outsourced and then quietly forgotten about until something goes wrong.

The real issue isn’t just one provider’s failings. It’s how easily compliance responsibility slips through the cracks when organisations lack a system for verifying and re-checking the competency of every third party they rely on.

This is where a structured compliance platform earns its keep. FlexManager’s Contractor Manager and Contractor Pre-Qual tools help organisations vet and monitor contractors and service providers on an ongoing basis, not just at onboarding. Training Manager keeps qualification records current, giving you an audit trail the moment an inspector asks for one.

So, how sure are you that every provider working on your behalf today is properly qualified and monitored? Book a demo and see how one unified platform gives you full visibility over contractors, training, and compliance records, in one place.