MFOM Written key terms

A structured account of all jobs a person has held, including tasks, exposures, protective equipment and the timing of symptoms relative to work, used to link ill health to employment.

Planned, repeated health checks for workers exposed to defined hazards, aimed at detecting early signs of work-related ill health and prompting action to control exposure.

A health evaluation done before a person starts a job to establish baseline health, identify any need for adjustments and confirm fitness; it should not be used to screen out applicants unfairly.

A single case of injury or disease that points to a workplace hazard or failing control measures, prompting investigation of the wider workforce and the work environment.

Asthma caused or made worse by inhaling a sensitiser or irritant at work, often improving when away from work; early recognition and removal from exposure improve outcome.

Vascular, sensory and musculoskeletal damage from prolonged hand-transmitted vibration, causing attacks of finger blanching and reduced sensation; prevention relies on limiting exposure time.

Harmful psychological and physical response when job demands exceed a worker's capacity and support; assessed in the UK using the HSE Management Standards for demands, control, support, relationships, role and change.

Inflammation of the skin caused by workplace contact with irritants or allergens, often affecting the hands; prevention depends on exposure control, gloves and early skin surveillance.

Features of work design, organisation and management, such as high demands, low control, poor support or unfair treatment, that can damage mental and physical health.

Measurement of a chemical, its metabolite or a biological effect in body tissues or fluids to estimate total uptake by all routes, complementing air monitoring.

A UK occupational standard giving a maximum concentration of an airborne substance averaged over a long shift or a short reference period, which should not normally be exceeded.

A risk assessment method that assigns substances or tasks to bands of similar hazard and applies a matching package of control measures, useful when exposure measurements are unavailable.

An immune change following exposure to an allergen so that later contact, even at very low levels, triggers an allergic response; once established, further exposure should be avoided.

Illnesses including asbestosis, mesothelioma, lung cancer and pleural disease caused by inhaled asbestos fibres; they have long latency and no safe exposure threshold is assumed.

Permanent sensorineural hearing loss from prolonged exposure to loud noise, typically showing a notch around 3-6 kHz; prevented by noise control and correct use of hearing protection.

Hand-transmitted or whole-body vibration measured as a daily exposure value, compared with an exposure action value that triggers action and an exposure limit value that must not be exceeded.

Uptake of lead by inhalation or ingestion, causing anaemia, nerve, kidney and reproductive toxicity; blood lead monitoring and statutory medical surveillance guide removal from further exposure.

A statutory assessment of the risks from hazardous substances at work, recording exposure routes, control measures, monitoring needs and emergency arrangements, and reviewed when the work changes.

UK regulations requiring employers to report specified workplace injuries, cases of occupational disease and dangerous occurrences to the health and safety enforcing authority.

A doctor's statement of fitness for work recording whether a patient is fit, may be fit with adjustments, or is not fit, with advice to help the employer support return to work.

Changes to work, the workplace or employment practices that an employer must consider to remove disadvantage experienced by a disabled worker under the Equality Act 2010.

A physical or mental impairment with a substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities, giving protection from discrimination and a right to reasonable adjustments.

Coordinated, work-focused support that helps people with health conditions or injuries to remain in, return to, or find suitable employment, often involving the employer and treating team.

A structured assessment of a person's physical and cognitive abilities compared with the demands of a job, used to inform fitness decisions and plan workplace adjustments.

Roles where impaired performance could cause serious harm, such as driving, flying or operating machinery; fitness standards are stricter and may need periodic medical assessment.

A judgement that a person's health allows them to perform the essential tasks of a job safely and effectively, with or without adjustments, without unacceptable risk to themselves or others.

The duty to keep workers' health information private, sharing only with consent or a recognised legal or ethical exception; reports to managers should be limited to fitness conclusions.

Voluntary and informed agreement to examination, testing or disclosure of health information; it must be obtained before occupational health assessment and can be withdrawn.

Occupational health professionals owe duties to both worker and employer and must give objective, medically defensible advice unaffected by commercial pressure or conflicts of interest.

A UK accreditation scheme for occupational health services that assesses standards covering leadership, service delivery, information management and quality improvement.

A condition listed in social security regulations as caused by work, qualifying for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit without the claimant having to prove employer negligence.

The number of new cases of a disease arising in a defined population over a stated period divided by the population at risk; it measures the risk of developing disease.

The proportion of a population that has a disease at one point in time or during a period; it depends on both incidence and how long cases last.

The ratio of disease risk in an exposed group to the risk in an unexposed group; a value above one suggests increased risk and it is calculated from cohort studies.

Distortion of an exposure-outcome association by a third factor that is related to both exposure and outcome; controlled by study design, stratified analysis or multivariable modelling.

Lower morbidity or mortality in employed groups because people who are ill are less likely to be in work; it biases comparisons between occupational cohorts and the general population.

Sensitivity is the proportion of people with disease whom a test correctly identifies; specificity is the proportion of people without disease whom it correctly classifies as negative.

Considerations used to judge whether an observed association is likely causal, including strength, consistency, temporality, biological gradient, plausibility, coherence, experiment and analogy.

The number of deaths observed in a study population divided by the number expected from reference age- and sex-specific rates, usually multiplied by 100.