Occupational health nurse

Occupational health nurses ensure that people are healthy and safe at work. They assess workplaces for hazards such as chemicals and noise, working with employers to reduce these hazards. They educate and train staff, helping them to avoid accidents, prevent illnesses and keep generally healthy. They deal with mental health issues like stress, as well as physical health.

Work activities

Occupational health nurses work with employers and staff to promote the health, welfare and safety of people at work. A part of their work involves assessing the workplace for risks from things such as dangerous equipment, chemicals, noise or other types of pollution. They work closely with employers, ensuring that they follow health and safety regulations. Occupational health nurses also help employers to design and put into practice policies to improve health and safety at work. For example, this could mean ensuring that staff wear protective clothing when working with a potentially dangerous chemical. Occupational health nurses regularly see staff to ensure they are healthy. Depending on the type of workplace, they could be monitoring closely for contamination by a chemical or type of dust. This might involve taking blood or urine samples, for example.

Depending on the industrial or occupational area, screening could also include testing and measuring hearing, vision and breathing, and collecting samples to test for drug or alcohol content. They might also monitor people as they go about their work. For example, they will notice if bad posture or poorly positioned equipment is causing back injuries. Again, nurses work with employers to improve the situation, for example, changing the position or angles of computer screens. Occupational health nurses deliver health and safety training in areas such as how to store dangerous chemicals or lift things properly to avoid back injury. They give first aid training and might also give more general health education and training, such as highlighting the need for a good diet and plenty of exercise. As well as physical health, they deal with mental health issues such as stress. They might provide counselling or arrange for an experienced counsellor to visit the workplace, to help staff manage stress. The nurse might teach relaxation techniques or exercises to do at work.

Occupational health nurses help with the selection of new staff by doing medical tests. They might also work with members of staff who are returning to work after a long-term illness or injury. This involves training returning staff to keep healthy and safe at work, and advising the employer on how to manage their workload so staff can ease themselves back to work gradually. Rehabilitation work could include teaching exercises that improve posture to someone coming back to work after a back injury. Occupational health nurses have to keep careful notes of everything they observe, including accident reports. They might also keep standard employee health records. They need to be able to study their information to spot patterns. For example, they might notice that people working in a particular department are becoming ill or suffering from stress. They would then recommend solutions to the employer and might also need to get advice from a doctor or another medical professional.

Day-to-day work could include giving first aid. Occupational health nurses have to maintain first aid and other equipment stocks, ordering replacements when needed and making sure everything works properly. Some nurses carry out immunisation programmes. Occupational health nurses must keep up to date with changes in health and safety laws and regulations, and with new types of medical technology.

Personal qualities and skills

To be an occupational health nurse, you’ll need:

• The ability to get on well with employers and staff.
• Communication skills, for example, to discuss health concerns and give clear information and advice.
• Confidence to give health and safety training to groups.
• The ability to develop an understanding of the organisation you are working in.
• Observational skills to spot hazards, and analytical skills to notice patterns of ill health.
• To be able to keep up to date with new procedures, policies and treatments.
• The ability to think quickly and act calmly in an emergency.
• Initiative and decision-making skills, particularly when you are unable to get advice immediately from another medical professional.
• Organisational and time-management skills to plan things such as assessment programmes and training schedules.
• Willingness and the ability to keep up to date with the latest medical developments and health and safety legislation.
• The ability to keep accurate notes.

Pay and opportunities

Salaries for occupational health nurses vary widely depending on the employer and qualifications held. The pay rates given are approximate. Qualified nurses begin on band 5 at £28,407, rising to band 7 at £50,056 (pay rates as of November 2023).

Working hours are normally 38-40 hours a week. You might need to do shift work, evening and weekend work.

Employers include the NHS, universities and firms throughout industry, for example, manufacturing firms and retail businesses.

Where are vacancies advertised?

Vacancies are advertised on the NHS Jobs website, in local/national newspapers, on the Government’s Find a Job service, and on job boards.

Entry routes and training

To become an occupational health nurse, you must first qualify as a registered nurse. Having post-registration occupational health nurse training will enhance your career prospects. For some posts, post-registration training is essential. To qualify as a nurse, you must usually complete a pre-registration degree course in nursing. Nursing degrees usually take three years to complete (four in Scotland).

From the second year of your nursing degree onwards, you would specialise in one of four branches of nursing. Please note that some employers of occupational health nurses only accept people who have registered as nurses through the adult/general branch. Some courses have a general title, such as “nursing”, while others tell you which branch you will follow in the title, such as “nursing (adult)”. Completing the degree will lead to registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (a requirement to practise in the UK).

Alternatively, you could begin a level 7 (degree) apprenticeship in the role of specialist community public health nurses. On this pathway, you would spend much of your time training in the workplace, with some time on block or day release studying towards a degree at university.

In a large organisation employing several nurses, you could progress to a team manager position. You could also enter a research or teaching post.

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act: This career is an exception to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. This means that you must supply information to an employer about any spent or unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings, if they ask you to. This is different from other careers, where you only have to reveal information on unspent convictions if you are asked to.

Qualifications

For a degree in nursing, the usual entry requirement is:

• Three A-levels. Some universities ask for at least one science subject. Psychology and sociology can be other preferred subjects.
• GCSEs at grades 9-4 in your A-level subjects.

A further two to three GCSEs at grades 9-4. English and maths might be specified. Some universities specify biology or science, especially if you don’t have biology at A-level. Entry might also be possible with alternative qualifications such as a relevant NVQ level 3, Edexcel (BTEC) level 3 National, or the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma. Please check prospectuses carefully.

To do a degree apprenticeship, you will need:

• Two relevant A-levels.
• GCSEs in English and maths.

Adult opportunities

Age limits: It is illegal for organisations to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits.

Some employers enable experienced staff in relevant positions (such as senior healthcare assistants or assistant practitioners) to take a pre-registration degree course part-time on full salary, as long as they meet the usual entry requirements.

If you don’t have the qualifications that are usually needed to enter a nursing degree course, you might be able to start one after completing a college or university Access course, for example, Access to Nursing. You don’t usually need any qualifications to start an Access course, but you should check individual course details. It can be possible to enter a nursing degree course after completing an Advanced Level Apprenticeship.

Related careers

• Health and safety inspector
• Health promotion practitioner
• Health visitor
• Nurse
• Nurse – adult/general
• Safety advisor