Night Worker Health Assessments
For employers, HR teams and recruitment agencies. With YPC Health.
Meet your duty under the Working Time Regulations 1998 without the admin. Contact us to agree the details, send us a list of your night workers, and we assess each person with an online questionnaire reviewed by our occupational health nurses. You receive a certificate for every worker, typically within three working days.*
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£45 per worker, volume rates from 10 workers
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Certificate within 3 working days*
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CQC registered, rated Good
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Anywhere in the UK
*Typical turnaround from a worker completing their questionnaire. Most certificates are issued sooner; if our nurse needs to speak to the worker, or a case needs a clinical opinion, it can take a little longer.
Please contact us before sending any staff details: email info@ypchealth.co.uk or call 0113 531 4947. We will agree numbers, timescales and how to send your list securely, then send you our list template and guide.
Do your staff need a night worker health assessment?
If anyone on your team regularly works at least three hours between 11pm and 6am, they are a night worker in law. You must offer them a free health assessment before they start night work, and at regular intervals afterwards. That covers warehouse and logistics staff, care workers, security officers, manufacturing shifts, night porters, cleaners, drivers and anyone else on a regular night pattern, whether they are employed directly or through an agency.
The rules at a glance
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Night time is 11pm to 6am, unless you and your staff have agreed in writing a different seven-hour period that includes midnight to 5am.
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A night worker is someone who works at least three hours of that period as a regular feature of their job: most of their shifts, or a rota that includes nights, such as one week in three. Occasional late finishes do not count.
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You must offer a free health assessment before someone becomes a night worker, and at regular intervals afterwards. Most employers arrange it yearly.
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A questionnaire drawn up with a health professional is an acceptable assessment. Workers can decline, but you should keep a record that it was offered.
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Keep records of assessments for two years.
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If a doctor advises that night work is affecting a worker’s health, you must move them to suitable day work where that is possible.
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Night workers whose jobs involve special hazards or heavy physical or mental strain cannot work more than eight hours in any 24-hour period.
Working Time Regulations 1998, regulations 2, 6, 7 and 9, and GOV.UK guidance on night working hours. The Health and Safety Executive and local authorities enforce these requirements.
What the assessment covers
The questionnaire asks about the things that matter when someone works nights: sleep and fatigue; existing conditions that night work can make worse, such as diabetes, epilepsy, heart or chest conditions, stomach and digestive problems and mental health; medicines that have to be taken at set times; pregnancy and recent childbirth; and the demands of the role itself, including any special hazards you have identified.
Our nurses use the answers to decide whether night work is safe for that person, whether any adjustments would help, and whether they need to speak to a nurse or doctor before a certificate is issued.
How our night worker assessment service works
Step 1: Contact us first
Call or email us before sending any staff details. We agree the numbers, roles, timescales and how you will send the list securely, and we send you our list template and guide.
Step 2: Send us your night worker list
Add one row per worker (name and email, plus mobile, job role and whether the role involves special hazards) and send it to us password-protected, as the guide shows. We never need health information from you.
Step 3: Each worker gets a private questionnaire link
We email every person on your list a link to a short online health questionnaire. It takes about ten minutes and stays open for 14 days. Their answers come to us, not to you.
Step 4: Our occupational health nurses review
Every questionnaire is checked against criteria set by our occupational health nurses. Anything that needs clinical judgement is reviewed personally by a nurse, who may phone the worker to ask a few more questions.
Step 5: Certificates within three working days*
You receive a certificate for each worker showing the outcome and any adjustments to make, typically within three working days of them completing their questionnaire. Most are issued sooner; if a nurse needs to speak to the worker, or a case needs a clinical opinion, it can take a little longer. Each worker receives their own copy, together with the information they gave us.
Step 6: Support if something is found
If a worker needs more than a questionnaire, we tell you what we recommend and what it costs before anything happens: a referral to an occupational health physician, advice to see their own GP, or an appointment with one of our in-house GPs.
What you receive
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A fitness-for-night-work certificate for every worker, showing the outcome (for example fit for night work, or fit with adjustments), their job role and any recommendations.
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A record for anyone who does not complete their questionnaire, showing that the assessment was offered, which is what the Regulations ask of you.
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A register of all your night worker assessments whenever you need one, for HR files, audits or inspections.
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Confidentiality by design. You see outcomes and adjustments, never a worker’s answers or medical details.
Night worker health assessment prices
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1 to 9 workers: £45 per completed assessment
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10 to 24 workers on one list: £40 per completed assessment
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25 to 49 workers on one list: £35 per completed assessment
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50 or more workers, or a rolling annual programme: ask us for a quote
Includes the private questionnaire link, nurse review and telephone follow-up where needed, a certificate for you and a copy for the worker, records for anyone who does not complete, and a register on request. No minimum numbers. You only pay for completed assessments.
If a worker needs further assessment (only ever with your agreement):
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Occupational health nurse assessment (telephone or video): £275
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Occupational health physician assessment: £375
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In-house GP appointment for the worker: from £90
If a worker needs more than a questionnaire
Most people are fit for night work with no changes. When a questionnaire does raise something, what happens next is where YPC Health differs from an online-only service. Our nurse phones the worker to understand it properly, which often settles the matter without any further cost to you.
Where a worker does need more, we tell you which route we recommend and what it costs before you commit. That might be a referral to one of our occupational health physicians for complex or safety-critical cases, a recommendation that the worker sees their own GP, or an appointment with a YPC Health GP, usually within days, with onward referral for tests and scans where they are needed. Faster answers mean fewer people stuck on restricted duties, or off work, while they wait.
Who we work with
HR teams and people managers, recruitment and staffing agencies that supply night staff, and business owners and operations managers who simply want it done properly. We assess night workers in warehousing and logistics, manufacturing and food production, care homes and healthcare, security, hospitality, cleaning and facilities, transport and distribution, and retail.
We are based in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, with employers in Leeds, Bradford, Harrogate, Skipton and across Yorkshire, and because the assessment is completed online, we cover night workers anywhere in the UK.
Why choose YPC Health
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CQC registered and rated Good, with occupational health nurses, in-house GPs and occupational health physicians under one roof.
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A nurse personally reviews every case that needs a clinical eye, and phones the worker rather than issuing a bare pass or fail.
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One provider for all of your occupational health: safety-critical medicals, drug and alcohol testing, hearing tests, spirometry, workplace flu vaccination and occupational health referrals.
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Clear prices, no contracts and no minimum numbers.
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Your staff’s data handled properly. YPC Health is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ZA480356), and employers only ever see outcomes and adjustments.
Get in touch to get started
Contact us before sending any staff details. Email info@ypchealth.co.uk or call 0113 531 4947, tell us roughly how many night workers you have and when you need the assessments done, and we will agree the details and send you our list template and guide. You then send us the list password-protected (the guide shows how).
Night worker health assessments: your questions answered
Who counts as a night worker?
Anyone who, as a normal part of their job, works at least three hours between 11pm and 6am, or during a different seven-hour night period that includes midnight to 5am if you have agreed one in writing. “As a normal part” means it is a regular feature of their working pattern rather than a one-off: most of their shifts, or a rota that includes nights, such as one week in three. Occasional late shifts do not make someone a night worker. If you are unsure about a particular pattern, ask us.
How often do night workers need a health assessment?
Before they start night work, and then at regular intervals. The Regulations do not fix the interval, but most employers arrange an assessment every year, with an earlier reassessment if a worker’s health, medication or role changes. Your assessment register shows when each worker was last assessed.
Do my employees have to complete the assessment?
No. Your duty is to offer it; a worker can decline. If someone does not complete their questionnaire within 14 days, we give you a record showing the assessment was offered, which is the evidence the Regulations ask you to keep.
Will I see my employees’ health information?
No. Under regulation 7(5) of the Working Time Regulations an assessment can only be disclosed to the worker, unless they give written consent or the disclosure is limited to a statement that they are fit for night work. You receive a certificate showing whether they are fit, and any adjustments we recommend, never their answers.
What happens if a worker is not fit for night work?
The certificate says so and, where possible, what would help: for example a temporary limit on nights, a change to their shift pattern, or a review after treatment. If a doctor advises that night work is affecting a worker’s health, the Regulations require you to move them to suitable day work where that is possible. Our nurses and doctors can assess the worker and help you plan the adjustments.
How long does it take?
Once we have agreed the details and received your list, we send each worker their questionnaire link. Workers have 14 days to complete it, and you typically receive each certificate within three working days of completion, often sooner. If our nurse needs to speak to the worker, or a case needs an occupational health physician’s opinion, it can take longer, and we will let you know. Results are sent during working hours, Monday to Friday.
How much does a night worker health assessment cost?
£45 per completed assessment for up to 9 workers, £40 each for 10 to 24, and £35 each for 25 or more on one list. For 50 or more, or a rolling annual programme, ask us for a quote. There is no minimum number, and you only pay for assessments that are completed.
Do agency and temporary workers need a night worker assessment?
Yes, if they meet the definition of a night worker. For agency workers the duty normally sits with whoever pays the worker, which is usually the agency rather than the client. Recruitment and staffing businesses use our service to cover the night workers they supply.
What about workers aged 16 or 17?
Young workers generally cannot work between 10pm and 6am, with limited exceptions in sectors such as hospitals, hospitality, retail and bakeries. Where an exception applies, they must be offered a health and capacities assessment before starting and regularly afterwards. Contact us and we will arrange the right assessment.
How long do I need to keep the records?
Two years. Keep the certificates and the records of assessments offered. We can send you a register of all your night worker assessments whenever you need one.
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