As an employer, you must send your employees who are exposed to certain occupational hazards for pre-placement and regular medical examinations.
Medical examinations
These medical examinations aren’t general checkups. They are specific tests for the types of hazard involved.
The tests allow early detection of occupational disease and ensure that employees remain fit for such work. They also help you gauge whether existing control measures are effective.
Relevant regulations: Workplace Safety and Health (Medical Examinations) Regulations
Who is covered
Your employees are required to undergo pre-placement and regular medical examinations if they are exposed to any of these occupational hazards:
- Arsenic or any of its compounds
- Asbestos
- Benzene
- Bitumen
- Cadmium or any of its compounds
- Compressed air environment
- Creosote
- Excessive noise
- Lead or any of its compounds
- Manganese or any of its compounds
- Mercury or any of its compounds
- Organophosphates
- Perchloroethylene
- Pitch
- Raw cotton
- Silica
- Tar
- Trichloroethylene
- Vinyl chloride monomer
Who can conduct medical examinations
You must engage a designated workplace doctor (DWD) to conduct the specified medical examinations for your employees.
You should prepare a list of your employees who are exposed to the hazard and give this to the DWD.
You can download the template for register of employees after logging in to the eService.
The DWD will:
- Conduct the necessary examinations and tests.
- Ensure that:
- Hearing tests (audiometric examinations) are conducted by audiometric technicians who have been trained in audiometric screening.
- Toxicological laboratories have a quality assurance scheme for the test being done.
- Certify that the employees are fit to work or continue to work in the hazardous occupation.
- Compile the results of the medical examinations in the summary report.
- Update the test results of your employees in the register of employees.
- Provide you with a copy of the summary report and register of employees as well as the test results.
How often should medical examinations be done
If your employees are exposed to occupational hazards, for pre-emplacement, they should have their medical examination done within 3 months of starting work.
Thereafter, medical examinations should be done periodically:
| Exposed to |
Do medical exam |
| Arsenic or any of its compounds |
Once a year |
| Asbestos |
Once in every 3 years |
| Benzene |
Once a year |
| Bitumen |
Once a year |
| Cadmium or any of its compounds |
Once a year |
| Compressed air environment |
Once a year |
| Creosote |
Once a year |
| Excessive noise |
Once a year |
| Lead or any of its compounds |
Once in every 6 months |
| Manganese or any of its compounds |
Once a year |
| Mercury or any of its compounds |
Once a year |
| Organophosphates |
Once in every 6 months |
| Perchloroethylene |
Once a year |
| Pitch |
Once a year |
| Raw cotton |
Once a year |
| Silica |
Once in every 3 years |
| Tar |
Once a year |
| Trichloroethylene |
Once a year |
| Vinyl chloride monomer |
Once a year |
For details on the frequency and types of tests, refer to the Schedule of the Workplace Safety and Health (Medical Examinations) Regulations.
What reports to submit
You must submit the following reports based on the reports provided by DWD:
- Summary report of examinations – an overview of the medical findings and abnormal results, if applicable.
- Register of employees exposed to a hazard – employees whose work puts them in contact with the specified hazards, and their ongoing test results.