Ethics Guidance for Occupational Health Practice 9th Edition - Book - Page 54
Withdrawal of consent
3.77. Consent may be withdrawn at any stage of the process, but there are potential
consequences for both the worker and the commissioning body relating to the
withdrawal of consent for report release. It is important to be explicit with the
commissioning body that consent may be withdrawn at any time. The
occupational health professional should remind workers that if consent is
withdrawn, the employer will have to act on whatever information is available
to them and that this may not be in the best interests of the worker. Where
consent to release a report is withheld, a copy should be retained within the
occupational health record, clearly marked that consent has been withheld and
that it has not been and will not be released.
Access Rights
Access to records by worker (data subject access requests)
3.78. Data subjects have the right to access all personal and occupational health
records held about them under the Data Protection Act 2018 32. Requests can
be made orally or in writing and must normally be fulfilled within one month,
though this may be extended to three months if the request is complex.
Organisations
may
pause
the
response
time
if
clarification
or additional information is needed, without breaching the deadline. Access is
free of charge unless the request is excessive or multiple copies are requested.
3.79. Access may be withheld if disclosure would reveal information about a third
party who has not consented (unless refusal is unreasonable) or if disclosure
could cause serious harm to the physical or mental health of the data subject
or another person. References to third parties may be redacted. If reports from
another health professional are included in the record and the data controller
is not a health professional, the health professional most recently involved in
the worker’s care should be consulted before disclosure.
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