OPRA

Occupational Physicians Reporting Activity

OPRA comprises approximately 200 occupational physicians (OPs) and gives a broad picture of occupational disease nationwide.

The scheme incorporates all categories of work-related ill-health including respiratory, skin, musculoskeletal, hearing and mental ill-health. OPRA has been operating at the COEH in The University of Manchester since 1996.

Reported diseases

OPRA reported diseases pie chartBetween 2010 and 2019, a total of 6,543 cases of work-related diseases were reported to OPRA:

  • Mental ill health – 59%
  • Musculoskeletal – 29%
  • Skin – 6%
  • Respiratory – 3%
  • Other occupational disease – 2%
  • Audiological – 1%

Who can join OPRA?

You must be an occupational physician with AFOM/MFOM or higher qualifications, and be based in the UK.

Trainee physicians are also able to report, provided they are supervised by an occupational physician with AFOM/MFOM or higher qualifications. 

“I feel it is my duty as a diligent and conscientious occupational physician to report to OPRA as accurately and as consistently as possible.”

Dr T Hussain / Consultant Occupational Physician
 

Your reporting options

Once you become an OPRA reporter, you will have a choice between core reporting and sample reporting.

Core reporters report throughout the year, reporting cases for each month. Sample reporters report for just one randomly allocated month per year.

Online reporting of occupational cases is done via a secure web form. You will have your own account for completing this form.

You will receive a reporting email, which includes your username and password, at the beginning of every month (core reporters) or at the beginning of your randomly allocated month (sample reporters).

There is currently also an option to report by card, which is sent by post to reporters every month (core reporters) or once a year (sample reporters). 

Blogs by our reporters

You can read blog posts by current OPRA reporters about their experiences on the THOR blog.

Join OPRA now

To join us as an OPRA reporter, please complete our recruitment form.

Contact us

If you have any questions about OPRA, please contact George McHale:

Email: georgia.mchale@manchester.ac.uk

Current reporters

If you have already joined this scheme, you can access your reporting form by logging into the THOR Reporting Site.