---
title: "Health surveillance"
url: "https://docs.4hse.com/health-surveillance"
description: "How health surveillance is organised in 4HSE: prescriptions, medical examinations and fitness certificates."
---

# Health surveillance

Health surveillance keeps track of the medical examinations prescribed to workers and of the fitness they certify.

It is a [prevention and protection action](/prevention-and-protection/), so it follows the common cycle. What changes is the vocabulary — prescriptions and examinations — and the certificate, which attests fitness for the job.

## Prescriptions and visits

[Section titled “Prescriptions and visits”](#prescriptions-and-visits)

-   A **prescription** defines the health surveillance need: this protocol applies to these workers, it must be repeated at this interval.
-   A **visit** is one medical examination on a date, with the workers enrolled in it.

![The Health surveillance menu, with prescriptions and visits](/_astro/health-surveillance-management-1.B5gMO8FL_Z2hItgp.webp)

The prescription usually comes from the risk assessment: a worker exposed to a given hazard is subject to a given protocol. Linking the prescription to the work phase or the substance that requires it keeps that chain visible — see [Link the resources that require an action](/prevention-and-protection/link-resources).

## The certificate

[Section titled “The certificate”](#the-certificate)

The certificate attests **fitness for the task**, with the expiry from which the next examination is calculated. It is the most sensitive document of the [five types](/prevention-and-protection/terminology-by-action-type): it concerns health data, and who can see it is governed by the permissions of the health surveillance area of the office.

## What to do here

[Section titled “What to do here”](#what-to-do-here)

The procedures are the common ones: [create the prescription](/prevention-and-protection/create-an-action) · [add the recipients](/prevention-and-protection/add-recipients) · [schedule a visit](/prevention-and-protection/schedule-a-session) · [enrol the workers](/prevention-and-protection/enrol-recipients) · [record the outcome](/prevention-and-protection/record-the-outcome) · [issue the certificates](/prevention-and-protection/issue-a-certificate).

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