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In line with the Equality Act 2010 pre-employment health assessments are not encouraged and in fact may lead, if used, to legal proceedings in the UK. All employers should now use placement questionnaires or work health assessment questionnaires. Within this article we will use the term placement assessments. The information gained from these needs to be in relation to specific work tasks or procedures and not be used to discriminate on the grounds of health conditions expressed. Placement assessments have been common practice within an occupational setting for many decades for the collection of information on the health status of an individual. This includes details of their occupational history and clinical measurement tests to identify abnormalities, which would provide a baseline at placement and assess individual fitness for a particular job. Systematic screening may help to determine if someone is fit to do the job and expands the use of this process in identifying those who poses health and/or safety risks to themselves or others, those who poses financial risks to employers, and to reduce accident compensation risks and absenteeism. The aim of a pre-placement assessment is to ensure that people are placed in suitable work and that any reasonable adjustments on the grounds of disability are able to be made. For certain specific activities there are legal duties to carry out pre-placement assessments of an individual's fitness for work. Some occupational health commentators suggests that the placement assessments appear to be unnecessary when many of the questions are also covered by legal requirements to undertake risk assessments of all staff regardless of whether they have pre-existing health conditions. I ask, is the placement questionnaire seen in some industries as the risk assessment it's self or at least a pre-requisite to the process. The role of the occupational health nurse is to identify risks to health, measure current health statue and give informed evidence-based advise to referring managers. Although responsibility for recruitment rests with the referring manager, the OH department's role is to provide specialist confidential advice to the employer and applicant. This role has to be taken forward whilst recognising that the OH professional has a
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