Ethics Guidance for Occupational Health Practice 9th Edition - Book - Page 68
3.134. According to the ICO guidelines, it is unlikely that the employer will be able to
justify covert monitoring in most usual circumstances, apart from preventing or
detecting suspected criminal activity or gross misconduct. The Regulation of
Investigatory Powers Act 2000 46 is not likely to apply to such surveillance where
it is undertaken by an employer investigating a case of sickness absence or an
application for an ill-health retirement pension.
3.135. According to the GMC guideline, covert recordings should be undertaken in a
healthcare setting only where there is no other way of obtaining information
which is necessary to investigate or prosecute a serious crime, or to protect
someone from serious harm. In most circumstances, such covert recordings
should be carried out by the Police. Unlike the GMC, neither the HCPC nor the
NMC offer explicit provisions for covert surveillance, and such activity may fall
outside their approved scope of practice.
3.136. Given that such a situation is likely to be outside the remit of occupational
health, generally occupational health professionals should not be involved in
the commissioning of or commenting on covert surveillance. However, if the
worker has provided their consent, an occupational health professional can
comment on such a surveillance record and follow the usual consent process
to disclose such information.
3.137. Occupational health professionals who undertake medico-legal work may be
asked to provide an independent expert view on the covert surveillance. It is
outside the scope of this ethics guidance to cover ethical or legal aspects of
such medico-legal work. The occupational health professional should seek
advice from their professional or indemnity body before undertaking this type
of work.
Recording consultations
3.138. Audio-visual recordings may be made in certain situations in occupational
health practice, and consent should always be sought in advance. They are
primarily for teaching and training purposes. It should be made explicit why the
recording is being made, what will happen to the data, including who will have
access to it, and how it will be stored.
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