Monitor your health at work

Health monitoring involves checking the health of workers who are at ongoing risk of exposure to physical, biological or chemical hazards.

The aim is to: 

  • detect early signs of exposure 
  • assess the effectiveness of existing controls 
  • determine if new or improved controls are needed. 

Monitoring can only be initiated when a valid health monitoring procedure is available. 

Monitoring is mandatory for staff in certain roles, as determined by: 

  • a risk assessment by the organisational area 
  • a review by the Occupational Hygiene Advisor or Occupational Health Nurse. 

Monitoring may also be necessary: 

  • after acute exposure to a hazard 
  • when staff use respiratory protective equipment (RPE) for the first time. 

Common types of health monitoring at UQ include: 

  • hazardous noise 
  • chemicals and dust 
  • microorganisms 
  • coal mine, mineral mine and quarry dust 
  • lab animal allergens 
  • tuberculosis-causing bacteria 
  • acute exposure 
  • other hazards. 

Request health monitoring 

Supervisors (including HDR supervisors) request health monitoring via Workday. 

Guides on how to do this are available on the Systems Training Hub. 

The steps in making a health monitoring request are:

  1. The supervisor initiates a request in Workday
  2. The Occupational Health Nurse Advisor (or ‘nurse advisor’) reviews the request and, if more information is needed, returns the request for updates
  3. If the nurse advisor approves the monitoring, they will create a Workday certificate for the monitoring and send the request to the worker or HDR student to get their consent to the monitoring
  4. Once consent is given, the nurse advisor will action the request and notify the supervisor and the local Work Health Safety Coordinator.

Only the staff member/HDR student and the nurse advisor can view the medical information in Workday. 

Some hazards require a form 

For some hazards, Workday will prompt you to complete a health monitoring assessment form. You must complete a form for everyone who will be monitored.

For further information, see Workday Health Monitoring FAQs (PDF, 3.81 MB).