How to Manage Worker Health Records

What is this?

Health Records Management allows authorized personnel to securely store and track sensitive health documents such as medical certificates, drug & alcohol test results, fit-for-duty assessments, and injury histories.

When to use this?

Use this workflow when you receive a medical certificate or health assessment result that needs to be securely recorded against a worker’s profile, while ensuring the correct data retention policies are applied.

Why this works this way

Health monitoring records generally need to be kept for a long statutory period (WHS Regulations r.378 — 30 years from when the record was made) precisely because health effects from workplace exposures can take decades to appear. Privacy law (the Australian Privacy Principles) requires personal information to be destroyed or de-identified once it’s no longer needed — but a legal retention requirement like r.378 is exactly the exception that lets these records be kept. That’s why access here is restricted to elevated roles rather than general org membership.

This is general information, not legal advice — confirm specific requirements with your WHS advisor or the current legislation for your jurisdiction.

Prerequisites

• Role: You must have the Admin, Safety Manager, or Owner role.
• Privacy: Ensure you handle this information in accordance with privacy laws and organizational policies.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Navigate to the Health Records section.
2. Select Add Record to log a new document.
3. Fill in the worker’s name, record type (e.g., Medical Certificate, Fit for Duty), record date, and any relevant notes or document URLs.
4. Click Create Record to securely save the health record.
5. View details of an existing record by clicking the Eye icon, which will show retention expiry dates and recorded notes.
6. Delete a record if it was added in error by clicking the Trash icon.

Troubleshooting & FAQs

• Q: What is a Retention Expiry? A: Some health record categories have a legally mandated retention period, and the system tracks the resulting expiry date so you know when a record can be safely archived or destroyed. Note: retention-category tracking currently only ships for Victoria-specific record types, which are outside NSW/QLD MVP scope — for most NSW/QLD records no retention category will be shown yet.
• Q: Who can see these records? A: Health records contain sensitive information and are restricted only to users with the Admin, Safety Manager, or Owner roles. Workers cannot see other workers’ health records.