Occupational Health Walk-Throughs: What Are They All About?

In the UK, not every organisation offers occupational health (OH) support to its workforce. A 2022 government survey suggests that only around 35% of organisations utilise occupational health or vocational rehabilitation services. Just 3% of organisations surveyed had an in-house OH service, with a further almost 20% accessing support from an external provider (13% on an ad-hoc basis and 5% via a long-term contract).

This tells us something about the current landscape. External occupational health provision is the dominant model. There are many reasons for this, but they largely centre on how challenging it is (particularly for small and medium-sized organisations) to build and sustain an in-house OH service.

That said, outsourced OH provision brings its own challenges. One of the most significant is “distance” from the workplace.

What Do We Mean by “Distance” from the Workplace?

Distance from the workplace can be understood in two ways:

• Physical distance: where occupational health is delivered remotely or off-site.

• Metaphorical distance: the lack of day-to-day visibility of how work actually happens “on the shop floor”.

Remote OH provision can work very well for some services and in some settings. However, where organisations are primarily based on-site, in-person occupational health presence can add significant value.

Being physically present allows OH professionals to build relationships with employees, managers, and HR teams. This rapport can improve engagement and helps achieve better outcomes. It also provides access to contextual information that doesn’t always surface in policies or consultations, such as organisational culture, informal working practices, and environmental conditions. All of this matters when the goal is to optimise health and productivity at work.

Insight Workplace Health and the Value of Walk-Throughs

Insight Workplace Health has a strong regional presence in the UK, and in-person engagement is a core part of how Insight works with clients.

Director Chris Terry recently shared with me how valuable workplace walk-throughs can be, both as an assessment tool, but also as a way of building trust and understanding within organisations.

Below, Chris explains what occupational health walk-throughs are really about!

Chris Terry on Occupational Health Walk-Throughs

What happens during an OH walk-through?

An occupational health walk-through is a structured workplace visit carried out by one of our OH professionals. We take time to see the organisation in action, looking at the work environment, tasks, processes, and policies as they operate in reality. Quite often, this differs from how things are described or documented on paper. 

Is a walk-through purely observational?

Observation is a big part of it, and that can be just as valuable in a desk-based office as in a complex manufacturing environment. But it’s never just about observation. A site visit is also an opportunity to meet the people doing the work.

I always try to have brief conversations with employees and managers to understand how work is organised and where the pressure points are. It really helps when people know you’ve seen the reality of their day-to-day work. You develop a shared understanding of the work and its challenges.

Is seeing the workplace different from hearing about it in consultations?

Yes. Occupational health consultations give us rich, detailed accounts of individual experiences, and that information is invaluable. But it’s still one data point within a wider organisational context.

A walk-through allows an OH professional to step back and make a more objective assessment. It adds perspective and helps us interpret what we hear in consultations within the organisational context. 

Do walk-throughs reveal things that paperwork and meetings miss?

Almost always. Risk assessments and policies rarely capture the informal practices that develop in every workplace. Environmental factors- such as noise levels, interruptions, layout, or workflow, may not be obvious until you’re physically in the space.

From an OH perspective, walk-throughs are very high-yield. Seeing what’s actually happening on the ground often highlights risks and opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise come to light.

Do walk-throughs influence the occupational health advice you give?

Absolutely. When you understand the real working conditions, it’s much easier to give practical, workable advice. This is particularly helpful when recommending reasonable adjustments or phased returns to work.

You have a clearer sense of how tasks are structured and where there may be flexibility for modification. That strengthens the quality of OH advice and reduces unnecessary back-and-forth between employees, managers, HR, and occupational health.

How does being visible in the workplace affect how OH is perceived?

In my experience, very positively. Being physically present on the ground where work actually happens signals that occupational health is engaged and interested in making practical improvements, not just issuing reports from a distance.

It also makes OH feel more approachable, which can smooth out the referral process. And recommendations that are clearly based on direct observation tend to carry more weight with managers, because they are visibly evidence-informed and context-specific.

Interested in learning how occupational health walk-throughs could benefit your organisation?

Get in touch with Insight Workplace Health to discuss how in-person OH support can help you better understand your workplace and improve health outcomes.