What the DATA says…
What Is Your Occupational Health Data Telling You?
As businesses begin planning for 2027, occupational health can easily become another line item carried forward from one year to the next. Medical surveillance is scheduled again, the same programmes continue and the new calendar gradually fills up.
Before doing that, it is worth looking at what 2026 actually revealed.
Occupational health programmes generate valuable information throughout the year. Depending on the workplace and its risks, this may include medical surveillance outcomes, audiometry, lung function testing, biological monitoring, absenteeism information and recommendations for follow-up. The value lies not only in completing these processes, but in what employers learn from the results.
A useful starting point is to establish whether everything that should have happened during the year actually did. Employees miss appointments, follow-ups remain outstanding and changes in staffing or operations can create gaps. Identifying these before December gives the organisation an opportunity to address them rather than automatically carrying them into January.
It is also worth looking beyond individual results for patterns. A recurring issue within a particular work area, job category or exposure group may warrant closer attention. Changes in absenteeism can raise useful questions too, particularly if certain departments or periods show noticeably different patterns.
Not every trend has an occupational cause, but the information can help employers identify where further investigation may be useful.
The workplace itself should also be reviewed. New machinery, different substances, changes to production, longer shifts or a growing workforce can alter an organisation's risk profile. An occupational health programme developed around the workplace as it operated previously may need to change with it.
This is where an Occupational Medical Practitioner and occupational health team can add value. The aim is not simply to complete a schedule of tests, but to connect health surveillance with the actual risks employees face and ensure appropriate follow-up where required.
Year-end planning is an opportunity to consider what should continue, what needs closer attention and what should change.
A 2027 occupational health plan should not simply be the 2026 plan with new dates. What you learned this year should help shape the next one.