ABSTRACT
Most issues in occupational health do not require any sophisticated ethical analysis. The problems are easy to recognise and the solutions often uncontroversial. But some problems give rise to so-called 'ethical conflicts'; that is, situations in which occupational health professionals might feel obliged to take two or more incompatible actions.1 Occupational health professionals have at least three forms of contact with employees. They are involved in a traditional health professional-patient relationship, are impartial medical examiners reporting to a third party (commonly the employer) and are also research workers. In some situations, there might be conflicts of interest between two or all three roles. Under practical circumstances, however, it is usually not possible to fulfil more than one of these roles at one time. But under all conditions, it is vitally important to make unmistakably clear the particular role assumed by all the stakeholders involved.
