What is an occupational health visit? It is a physical exam that you may be required to have once a year for your job. Often, people mistake it for a personal health check-up, but it is not. The goal of an occupational health exam is to establish what you are safe to be on your job. Not all occupations require this type of exam. But if you work with people — like a health care worker, a schoolteacher, or someone in another profession that requires frequent social contact with people — a periodic physical exam may be mandatory. Those exams are regulated by official organizations, such as the Department of Health, and both your employer and the health care professional doing this exam for you must obey the requirements of the exam established by those officials.