Events

FREE for ALL. 

Summary: 
This webinar is aimed at primary care respiratory clinicians. The aim is to provide knowledge of work-related causes and exacerbators of respiratory conditions within working environments. Alongside this will be an awareness of the responsibilities of employers and employees in these working environments. This will enable clinicians to ask the right questions and provide education and advice to patients whose work may be a contributor. 

The webinar will be delivered by Dr David Fishwick, Chief Medical Advisor HSE and Honorary Professor of Occupational and Environmental Respiratory Medicine, University of Sheffield; and Susan Donnelly, HSE specialist Occupational Health nurse inspector. The webinar will be facilitated by OH Nurse specialists, Janet O’Neill of the National School of Occupational Health and Emma Karagkevrekis representing Society of Occupational Medicine.
 

Chair: Janet O'Neill

FREE for ALL. You will then be sent the link to join via Teams.

FREE for ALL (please log in on the SOM website first). 

Webinar Summary - A New Era of Assessing Driver Health

1934     First licence for a lorry driver was issued;
1967     The Road Safety Act paved the way for lorry drivers testing and licensing;
1988     The Road Traffic Act developed this further with the concept of fitness to drive;
1990     The DVLA was formed;
2025    Why are we are still using the DVLA D4 form to assess medical fitness...?

The UK has changed a lot since the DVLA was formed: our population has gone from 57.25M to 69.55M, with obesity in adults doubling between 1990 and 2022. As the needs (and disease prevalence) of drivers has changed over the years so our approach to assessing driver physical and mental health, and thus safety, must also evolve while legislation catches up. 

Speaker Bio:
 
Dr. Grant Charlesworth-Jones, Chairman of the D4Group is uniquely qualified as both a GP and a Barrister, bringing a wealth of experience from the medical, legal, and occupational health fields. His diverse background inspired him to create D4Drivers, now the UK's largest provider of driver health assessments and D4Health, specialists in Occupational Health for the transport and logistics sector.
 
Driven by a passion for improving road safety, he also spearheaded the Driving Better Health charity, which has garnered widespread industry support. In collaboration with Loughborough University, the charity is leading groundbreaking research into how occupational driving impacts the health of professional drivers. Through these efforts, Dr. Charlesworth-Jones is dedicated to advocating for more proactive and regular driver health interventions, making a strong case for improved safety regulations on the road.
 

Chair: Lucy Smith, Head of Occupational Health & Wellbeing, Mitie

FREE for ALL. You will then be sent the joining link.

For the MFOM Part 1, DOccMed and DipOHPrac*, The Occupational Health Academy with SOM presents... MCQ Weekend

THIS IS NOT A LIVE SESSION; THIS IS A RECORDING OF THE 2023 MCQ WEEKEND.

Access to the purchased recording will expire on Monday 10th November 2025

Finding the vast amount of information from your CPD course a lot to take in? Never done occupational health and wondering how you will understand the concepts and pass the exam? Busy with your own personal life and work, and wanting to know the core information to help pass the MCQ exams? If you have any of these queries then why not purchase the very popular MCQ Weekend at The Occupational Health Academy.

Over two days, The Occupational Health Academy will cover the key principles and information for the exam with OH Ethics and Law, Occupational Hygiene, Occupational Medicine and Exam Tips/Past Topics and help you grasp the key concepts to improve your knowledge for the more difficult MCQ exam. Check out some of the reviews on The Occupational Health Academy website to see it's definitely worth it - the Academy boasts some high scoring previous attendees!

Access to the purchased recording will expire on Monday 10th November 2025

Full SOM members receive a 20% discount on the course fee. To receive the discount, please log in to your SOM account before registering and the discount will automatically apply at checkout. To upgrade to full membership from associate/student categories, please email membership@som.org.uk

Non SOM-members can sign up as a full SOM member first and then access the 20% course discount. Join SOM here. If you have any queries, please email membership@som.org.uk

*Could also be utilised for LFOM exam preparation although not specific.

The four courses aim to help delegates understand the facts about drug & alcohol misuse in the workplace including legal considerations, how to compile a substance misuse policy and interpretation of reports generated by the laboratory.

Collection Officer Training
Who should attend: Anyone who undertakes Chain of Custody collections; OHA / OHNAs; Occupational Health Physicians; GPs; HR Managers; Health & Safety Officers; trade union members
Course content:
- Preparing a site for collection
- Mechanics of a urine collection, troubleshooting and common errors
- Collection demonstration for back-to-lab and Point of Collection [POC] devices
- Breathalyser selection, calibration and verification with demonstration
- What happens to the samples in the laboratory
- Oral fluid and hair collections
Cost: £285 per delegate

MRO Training, part 1
Who should attend: OHA / OHNAs; Occupational Health Physicians; GPs
Course content:
- The role of the Medical Review Officer [MRO] including the Medical Review
- Laboratory process
- Adulteration checks and how donors try and mislead the testing
- Drug metabolism looking at the fact and fiction behind positive samples
- Evaluation and debate of Chain of Custody cases through result interpretation
Cost: £285 per delegate

MRO Training, part 2
Who should attend: OHA / OHNAs; Occupational Health Physicians; GPs
Course content:
- Use of alternative biological samples such as hair, oral fluid, sweat and sweat vapour
- Pros and cons of Point of Collection [POC] devices, how to develop protocols consistent with the principles of Chain of Custody
- Quality and accreditation, UK Guidelines for Workplace Drugs Testing, minimum service level to expect
- Alcohol including biomarkers such as EtG/EtS, FAEE
- Evaluation via MCQs
Cost: £285 per delegate

Policy Workshop
Who should attend: HR Managers; Health & Safety Officers; Occupational Health professionals; trade union members
Course content:
- Drawing up a draft substance misuse policy
- Timelines for policy introduction and educational requirements
Cost: £175 per delegate for a half-day

On-site courses can be tailored to your requirements. Please call for further information and details of costs

Venues and dates available throughout 2025:

Policy, afternoon

Collection Officer

MRO1

MRO2

Zoom UK/GMT

03-Feb

04-Feb

05-Feb

06-Feb

Zoom UK/BST

04-Aug

05-Aug

06-Aug

07-Aug

Zoom UAE BST-3hrs

27-Apr

28-Apr

29-Apr

30-Apr

Zoom UAE BST-3hrs

05-Oct

06-Oct

07-Oct

08-Oct

Dates and start times can be adapted to your time zone. Please contact Helen Vangikar for further details.

All delegates will receive an information pack and certificate(s), and MRO1 and MRO2 are accredited and qualify for CPD hours from the Faculty of Occupational Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians [UK].

To view further course details please click here.

For more information please email: helen@helenvangikar.com or visit www.helenvangikar.com.