Work medical

magpies79

So had my work medical the other day been put on restricted duties due to high blood pressure about to start taking tablets for it.

But just want to know I’m I being petty here I’m coloured blind have been from birth so it’s not something that’s typically gonna worse or better lol as I know you can develop coloured blindness and that can get worse over time.

I’ve worked on the railway for 16 years and I always have to do a Ishihara Test.

It’s on my file it’s on my PTS card I’m coloured blind so why I’m I doing a test every medical normally was just a few pages on this one she went through 45 pages of me not seeing anything to the point at the end she said right so you are indeed coloured blind!!!

Said wow you’re kidding it wasn’t until the drive home i thought it kinda annoyed me as I should have probably asked why I’m I doing the test.

Marcon

magpies79 said:

So had my work medical the other day been put on restricted duties due to high blood pressure about to start taking tablets for it.

But just want to know I’m I being petty here I’m coloured blind have been from birth so it’s not something that’s typically gonna worse or better lol as I know you can develop coloured blindness and that can get worse over time.

I’ve worked on the railway for 16 years and I always have to do a Ishihara Test.

It’s on my file it’s on my PTS card I’m coloured blind so why I’m I doing a test every medical normally was just a few pages on this one she went through 45 pages of me not seeing anything to the point at the end she said right so you are indeed coloured blind!!!

Said wow you’re kidding it wasn’t until the drive home i thought it kinda annoyed me as I should have probably asked why I’m I doing the test.

Yes, you're being...well, not petty, but perhaps getting annoyed about something which is a standard medical test and really doesn't matter much in the grand scale of things.

Surely what matters is that a potentially serious issue was picked up and treatment is being started. Thank her for that and let her off the colour blindness test!

Grumpy_chap

I assume the test is employer funded and within employer time.

The OH nurse has a standard test to follow which does sometimes identify medical conditions for which the individual was unaware / symptom-free (such as your high blood pressure).  Sometimes, the early identification of medical conditions might be live-saving.

Parts of the test are probably there for the employer's benefit as much, if not more than, for the employee's benefit.  The colour blindness test might be one of those factors, particularly for the railway industry.  Everyone has to do the test even if the colour blindness is not a factor in the individual's current role.

While I understand the annoyance at having to do a test to confirm what is already known, I probably do not see this as a concern worth raising or challenging.  The test will probably still need to be done and it will just take longer.  This seems like a battle not worth having.

magpies79

Appreciate the replies the high blood pressure was picked up from my gp I was then put on medication rampril 2.5mg so It’s my responsibility to inform them and requested a medical which I then obviously had.

I appreciate she has a job to do my complaint isn’t necessary with her as I’ve always had to do it I just felt stupid trying to answers questions about what lines of colour I can see and numbers when I can’t see any at all well maybe 2 lol.

my role is not safety critical so being colour blind has no effect for my role I don’t know just seemed silly to me and makes you feel a bit stupid like what you can’t see any and well I can you tell your coloured blind as trivial as it seems struggle at school because of it remember them bringing out the test when I was in a science class at school and had us do it and I hadn’t told anyone I was colour blind lied and said I was ill just to get out of it hahaha.

This is a very extreme example but if someone who’s blind goes to a medical they aren’t going to show them pictures and ask them what they can see are they? Or if someone was paralysed from the waist down ask them to stand up and touch there nose and stand on one leg when they were have been working for the company for 20 years 

I personally just think it’s silly it’s on my file it’s on my PTS card it’s on my medical records me going through 45 pages of colour serves no purpose for someone who was born colourblind and has done the test 15 times but I see what your both saying.

When she took my blood pressure she was like I don’t think I’d even send you back to work lol 179/110 but hopefully these tablets start to work soon 
 

Grumpy_chap

magpies79 said:

This is a very extreme example but if someone who’s blind goes to a medical they aren’t going to show them pictures and ask them what they can see are they? 

Well, they might do some extent of the sight test.  There are many grades of blindness, even those with a white stick can have some level of vision - maybe basic shapes, maybe tones of light / dark.  The employer might wish to record any level of ability and changes in that level of ability to ensure that appropriate reasonable adjustments can be made and continue to be made.  As an example, there is an individual at our local gym who is registered blind but still able to use the treadmill and also runs spinning classes.

magpies79 said:

Or if someone was paralysed from the waist down ask them to stand up and touch there nose and stand on one leg when they were have been working for the company for 20 years 

The medical might well still cover these outcomes.  An experienced Nurse might do so in a less obvious way, so general conversational discussion about the level of ability and then note down the outcomes against the appropriate questions on the record form.  I would like to think that an experienced Nurse knows enough that not everyone in a wheelchair is necessarily wholly immobile and would have the tact to be able to assess the individual's level of mobility without causing offence.

magpies79

I think that’s a good point you make to have the tack to be Able to Assess the individual ie someone who can’t walk at all wouldn’t be asked to try and walk.

And definitely good points I was kinda going off the point of can’t walk at all and can’t see anything at all from birth so would be pointless to ask to look at pictures in a book or stand up and walk and I get these are extreme examples.

Going through 45 pages of numbers in colour I can’t see 0/45 and will always be 0/45 lol which I couldn’t see last year and the year before and won’t see well til I’m no longer doing it lol but appreciate your input I’ve got to go back in 4 weeks time so maybe it’s something I could try talking to them about going forward.

thanks for taking the time to reply