It is evident that company doctors are often mistakenly perceived by companies and employees as policemen whose sole role is to check that those who report sick off work are actually at home and not malingering. This is, of course, a grossly mistaken attitude, promulgated by companies that have not yet realised it would be cheaper, easier and far more logical to send a non-medical person to check whether “sick” individuals are truly at home or not, if this is all that is required, as seems to be the case with quite a number of companies.

There are human resources managers who call the sick person at home to enquire whether they need to see the company doctor or would they prefer to see their own GP.

Unfortunately, however company medics are rarely encouraged to take on the role of occupational health doctors. This attitude should be encouraged by companies themselves, even if it means that doctors will cost more, because their advice will be exclusively in favour of the well-being of the workers, who would be less likely to report in sick, genuinely or fraudulently, if conditions at work are favourable.

As Pierre Mallia, a former company doctor himself, quite correctly said, the doctor’s role should be to “report, give support and advise management on the occupational health of its staff”, even to the extent of reporting physical and/or sexual harassment to the management as, clearly, this kind of bullying and stress will inevitably lead to sick leave absences, to the company’s detriment.

Companies should realise the obvious: workers’ happiness at work is reflected by less illness, less malingering, higher productivity and a reduced risk of litigation, all of which have been shown to be true in independent scientific studies. Doctors would certainly like to see themselves as occupational health workers even if this would require a degree of training in the treatment of work-related illnesses and injuries.

In general, this would combine knowledge of general medicine with an understanding of the physical, mental and psychological hazards that workers may face at their jobs. Such medics would work closely with nurses, paramedics, such as occupational and physiotherapists, and occupational safety specialists to understand the potential risks involved at the workplace and direct diagnoses and treatments accordingly. These doctors typically operate their own practices or are employed by specific companies to monitor worksite conditions and immediately treat employees.

Preventative medicine plays an even more important role, of course, and this benefits not only the workers but also the company with reduced sick leave and less risk of litigation due to work related injuries and other problems. This would involve regular checkups with at-risk employees and walkthroughs of the work facilities, analyzing the hazards that workers may face. Examples of these include excessive noise, polluted air or dangerous machinery.

Doctors also analyse the number of hours employees are asked to work in order to consider the effects of stress and tiredness on worker’s health. By meeting with workers regularly, doctors can monitor changes in their health conditions and determine the best ways to prevent illness and injury. Such medics may obtain specific degrees, diplomas or even simply attend courses, conferences and symposia in order to acquire and maintain an expertise in this line of medicine.

These ideas and the facilities to implement them still seem to be lacking in Malta.