We carry out this medical review according to OGUK/OEUK's latest guidance to ensure the highest standard of health and care for workers in the UK Sector of the North Sea. The Norwegian Sector accepts UK certification. We follow the guidance issued by OGUK/OEUK.
All assessments are carried out under UK law by docotrs approved by OEUK.
You can find confirmation that Norwegian and Netherlands medical certificates are accepted in the UK sector at the foot of this OGUK/OEUK webpage: https://oilandgasstg2.wpengine.com/doctors/. That link in turn takes you to this Norwegian webpage: https://www.statsforvalteren.no/en/Rogaland/Health-and-care-services/Offshore-health-services/Helseerklaring/Acceptance-of-British-and-Dutch-medical-certificates/ which confirms OGUK/OEUK certificates are accepted in the Norwegian sector.
The purpose of the OGUK/OEUK medical assessment is to help clients to remain healthy in the offshore environment. The industry strives to maintain a safe system of work with a routine certificate assuring the industry that the general system is appropriate for that worker. Where additional input from the worker is required, it may be necessary to review certification more often then two yearly and, occasionally, it may be necessary to adjust the work system (in discussion with the Operator's Medical Officer) to ensure that it is safe for the individual being assessed.
The process relies on four stages:
Assessment by Regulated Health Professional
Booking
Assessment
Certification
Assessment by Regulated Health Professional
You must first print the assessment form - print the form here.
The form should be completed by the medic, nurse or other regulated health professional. It is reasonable for them to charge a fee for which you are responsible.
Once complete it must be uploaded as part of the booking process which will not progress until the form is uploaded. We will not reimburse if uploading a blank or incomplete form leads to inability to certify (the OEUK registered doctor will rely on the information during the assessment).
Booking
You will have clicked on a suitable timeslot. Please note that, to avoid double booking, each clicked slot is reserved for 60 minutes and so if you leave it you will not be able to return to it for an hour - reserving the slot does not constitute making a booking.
Our process has three elements.
1. Personal details are completed. At this stage you will be asked to enter a mobile number so that we can contact you via WhatsApp which is a secure system for confidential calls. We also need your email address. Please take care to check that these have been entered correctly. We need in particular to have details of your offshore occupation so that job specific requirements can be met (for example in a safety critical role such as Crane Operator we will need you to upload an assessment of eyesight by an optician).
2. Confidential medical questionnaire is completed. You may be reassured that the data is held on secure servers to a high standard and that we do not give access to confidential data without your specific consent (for example another OGUK/OEUK doctor may wish to see your old notes). This questionnaire forms the basis of the conversation with the OGUK/OEUK doctor making an assessment of your health. Where you have an ongoing medical condition it is helpful to upload a GP summary document and to obtain the last letter to your GP from the specialist (it is often easier to obtain this from the Consultant's secretary rather than your GP). You will be asked to tick a box as an electronic signature to verify the information as a true record.
3. Payment is via credit card. Though PayPal acts as the bank in this matter with the transaction being in accordance with their Terms and Conditions of Service, their credit card system appears better integrated than paying from a PayPal account which may require approval by your bank. Please ensure that the postcode used for the payment matches the record of the bill payer (Company Credit Cards and recent house moves may cause difficulty). Your receipt will be sent immediately from Paypal by email: if you do not receive it, it may have gone to junk or the booking may not have completed.
Assessment
There are two main elements to the assessment.
1. First, the OGUK/OEUK registered doctor will check your identity against your passport or driving licence. Any pre-existing conditions and medication that you may take will be considered so that we can ensure that appropriate care is delivered in the offshore environment: this part of the assessment relies heavily on what you tell us in your health declaration and may require further information from you such as specialist reports (these can be uploaded to the 'myfiles' area of the portal). Sometimes we need to ensure that installations you visit can accommodate your needs and we may then discuss your case with the doctor responsible for the installation.
2. Next the OGUK/OEUK approved doctor will carry out an interview to consider pre-existing conditions with you. This interview, which includes a visual examination is conducted by video (we use WhatsApp because it is encrypted and phones have better quality cameras than do computers). In order to permit us to carry out an appropriate examination clients undertake to be available at a suitable location at the time of the appointment. Clients should bear in mind that they will be required to answer personal questions and to undress to the waist (female clients should wear bra or bikini top). Where clients are not available in a suitable location on their registered WhatsApp number at the booked time of their appointment we will consider the appointment missed and will be unable to reimburse the charge.
Certification
The doctor will consider your case and will discuss any issues that have arisen. In all cases you will receive advice on good occupational medical hygiene. Certification will be made accordingly (sometimes after additional information has been provided by you or after discussion with the installation's doctor). Your certificate will be sent by email immediately on completion of the medical (some email providers eg Hotmail may send the email to Spam so please check your junk folder) and it can also be downloaded from your portal which is password protected - if you forget the password associated with your email address, you can reset it.
Occasionally you may be asked to provide additional information before certification or take additional action following it. For example the doctor may require information from a hospital specialist prior to certification or may ask you to keep records of Blood Pressure and then discuss them with your doctor. Where certification has been delayed by the need for further information you will not be charged for the subsequent consultation to discuss it.
OGUK/OEUK has a review process for clients to use when they disagree with the outcome of their assessment but we recommend that the client first seeks details be email of the doctor's reasons for the decision.
Clients new to the industry
A baseline assessment of
eyesight and hearing is required. In UK opticians will carry out a free assessment of your eyesight which includes
further examination that can detect signs of serious disease: we encourage all clients to have regular eyesight
checks with a qualified optometrist: please ask for a document that includes visual acuity as a Snellen equivalent
and upload the document to myfiles. Audiometric screening is also provided by audiologists including Specsavers at
no charge: please request a copy of the audiogram and upload it to myfiles. We are currently developing an online
audiometric assessment but new workers should start their careers with a conventional audiogram.
'Fit to Train' assessments
The Health and Safety Executive have concerns that Helicopter Escape Training using compressed gas equipment constitutes diving at work. Accordingly to maintain the safe system of work they require screening for conditions that may lead to problems. The main risk is of getting an air bubble into a blood vessel that may block it, as it would a hydraulic line, leading to Heart Attack or Stroke. This assessment can be carried out (at additional charge) remotely but you should be reassured that being 'unfit' does not interfere with the majority of training which, in that case, is carried out without compressed gas and does not affect safety certification.
Remote Chester Step Test
We are able to carry out Chester Step Tests Remotely. These take about 30 minutes and should be booked sparely to the OGUK/OEUK medical.
You will need:
The process is carried out using WhatsApp video. Bluetooth headphones/earbuds are helpful but not essential. The process involves verification of identity, a short health questionnaire, and rythmical stepping defined by the doctor. If the process cannot be completed because of a lack of equipment, we regret that we cannot make a refund.
In all cases, if you are
unhappy about the process or can suggest improvements then please let us know by emailing
info@offshore-medicals.co.uk.
