Occupational health for logistics: practical referral planning

Occupational health for logistics works best when the advice reflects the job: a warehouse picker, a transport planner and a delivery driver face different demands. A useful referral explains those demands and asks a clear work question. It should lead to a practical decision, an agreed action and a review.

Describe the work before arranging a referral

Write a short role summary with the employee and supervisor. Include the actual shift pattern, overtime, driving or equipment operation, time spent standing and the loads or movements involved. Explain any changes already tried. “Warehouse duties” gives an adviser much less to work with than a description of picking heights, handling frequency and available equipment.

Ask what you need to understand: whether the person can undertake the specified tasks, whether temporary changes could help and when to review the arrangements. Avoid asking a clinician to decide disciplinary outcomes. Discuss the referral and the arrangements for sharing the resulting report with the employee beforehand.

Look at fatigue as an operational issue

HSE identifies long working hours and poorly designed shifts as potential causes of fatigue. That can affect attention and performance. Review the work pattern alongside the individual concern: repeated overtime, last-minute cover and demanding tasks near the end of a shift can matter.

A practical weekly check is to compare planned hours with actual hours, identify repeated overruns and give a named manager responsibility for reviewing them. Occupational health advice about an individual does not replace managing the risks in the shift system. Where driving duties are involved, check the applicable driving and working-time requirements separately.

Turn recommendations into specific duties

“Light duties” is too vague for a busy loading operation. Agree which tasks are suitable, which are temporarily excluded, what assistance or equipment is needed and who can approve a change. Do not invent a safe lifting limit: use the relevant assessment and professional advice.

For example, a return plan might identify an agreed work area and a review date rather than leaving each supervisor to decide what the employee can do. This is an illustrative management approach, not a clinical recommendation or a client case study.

Keep the next shift informed appropriately

A shift supervisor may need to know an agreed work restriction and the review contact. A team-wide handover does not need the employee’s diagnosis. Keep clinical documents separate from ordinary operational notes and restrict access to those who need it.

Use an action record for the owner, agreed next step and due date. Before adding health information to any software, confirm the purpose, access controls and retention arrangements. More recorded detail is not automatically more useful.

A logistics manager’s referral checklist

• Describe the real tasks and working pattern.
• Explain the work question and support already considered.
• Agree the referral process with the employee.
• Translate advice into clear, assessed work arrangements.
• Name the manager who will check the plan on each relevant shift.
• Set a review date and a route for reporting difficulties sooner.

Does an occupational health report replace a risk assessment?

No. It helps you understand the relationship between health and the work described. The employer still needs to assess and control workplace risks, consider the advice and discuss a workable plan with the employee. A generic wellbeing check also serves a different purpose from any hazard-specific health surveillance required for the work.

Connect the support around your logistics team

Our logistics support brings together occupational health, HR advice, health and safety support and employee management software. Talk to us about the assessment or specialist referral your situation needs.

We support employers from Chester across North Wales, Manchester and the North West and our wider service areas. Explore our published case studies for examples of wider workplace support.

Sources and scope

This article concerns employers in Great Britain. Read Acas guidance on occupational health assessments, HSE guidance on fatigue and HSE warehousing guidance. Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have separate legal frameworks.