role of oreps

Commentary on the role of

Occupational Risk Exposure

Profiles (OREPs) in

Occupational Health and

Enterprise Risk Management

First Publication: 10 April 2012

Author: Dr Greg Kew

Registered Specialist in Occupational Medicine

EOH Health

health information systems

Role of OREPs in OH and Enterprise Risk Management

Introduction

Occupational Health’s value proposition to industry embraces three key contributions:

Risk Management and Legal Compliance (fundamental to Corporate Governance, as prescribed by the

Companies Act and recommended by the King III report)

Maximised productivity through optimized maintenance of the company’s human capital

Favourable employee relations and stakeholder esteem (employer of choice)

The first contribution aims to minimize the risk of critical events that pose a potential legal risk, or a financial

claim against the company or its leadership. There is little doubt that this is the most powerful driving force

for the growth of occupational health as a discipline, worldwide. In South Africa, the onerous obligations

placed on the captains of industry by the new Companies Act, prescribing increased vigilance on risk

management (including human risks), place this contribution firmly on the radar screen of every boardroom.

The second contribution aims to maximize productivity through appropriate employee deployment (“fit for

purpose”), and, importantly, to maintain them that way. This is an imperative of any business that seeks to

be sustainable through tough economic times, and of those that seek to be leaders in times of abundance.

The third contribution aims to draw the best possible people into the business, so as to ensure an

intellectual and skills capital that provides the best platform for excellence and long term success.



How do OREPs make all this

possible?

OREPs provide a legally acceptable and

scientifically defendable mechanism by which the

value proposition described above may be

implemented.

Value proposition 1: Risk Management &

Legal Compliance

OREPs play a central role in linking job

positions to:

The inherent requirements of the positions,

thereby enabling the formulation of

defendable minimum medical standards of

fitness.

The hazards present in the workplace, in a

quantifiable and systematic way.

The importance of this should not be

underestimated.

By establishing the inherent requirements of the

jobs, optimal employee placement is no longer

“unfair discrimination”, and actions taken for

incapacity are no longer unfair labour practice;

they are processes built into a framework that is

legal, transparent and morally sound.

This framework is required by the Employee

Equity Act, and the Labour Relations Act, with

their codes of practice. It is also required by

legislation that prescribes a process of

certification of fitness, such as the Mines Health

and Safety Act, and certain the regulations of the

Occupational Health Safety Act (Construction

Regs, Environmental Regs for Workplaces), and

the Hazardous Substances Act (certification of

radiation workers).

By establishing the hazards to which employees

are exposed, OREPs drive the processes by

which exposure risks are addressed, enabling

successful implementation of hazard education,

medical surveillance and risk control.

This framework is required by legislation driving

the control of hazards, such as the Mines Health

and Safety Act, and many regulations under the

Occupational Health and Safety Act (lead regs,

HCS regs, HBA regs, asbestos regs, NIHL regs,

etc.).

Notice how the structures described above aim to

assure the company’s leadership that the human

risks are being addressed, and that legal

compliance is maintained.

Value proposition 2: Maximised productivity

The wave of chronic disease (communicable and

non-communicable) is placing an increasing

burden on companies, and only those that are

able to contain this are likely to survive. These

conditions impact particularly on occupations for

which a prerequisite of fitness to work is the

absence (or control) of these conditions.

OREPs play a key role in clarifying these

prerequisites, so that pre-emptive steps can be

taken to identify and manage them, before they

impact adversely on productivity.

Value proposition 3: Stakeholder esteem and

employee relations.

One of the most frequent causes for strained

employee relations is the presence of a stigma

that the employer is discriminating against certain

employee groups unfairly. Where large

companies are involved, this conflict often

escalates to reach the national press, creating



additional adverse impacts on the company’s

image.

These conflicts may often be stemmed by having

a robust, transparent and defendable system of

OREPs in place that removes possible allegations

of unfair discrimination.

Concluding remarks

This article summarises the key value

contributions of OREPs; much more can be said

to further amplify the principles provided above.

However, it should be clear from the material

presented that OREPs are indeed the

cornerstone upon which most occupational health

initiatives are built, and a core element of good

Corporate Governance.

The role of OREPs in the “Value Chain” of Occupational Health

role of oreps

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