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Taking health to the forefront
»»THE BRITISH SAFETY COUNCIL’S
Annual Conference ‘Health and work in a
changing world’, held on 5th October 2016
at The King’s Fund in London, provided
a platform for sharing evidence, best
practice and experience of managing
employee health and wellbeing and
centred on four main issues:
1. WHY SHOULD HEALTH BE
CONSIDERED AS A KEY BUSINESS
PRIORITY FOR A COMPANY?
Professor Dame Carol Black said, “Lack
of motivation and sub-optimal health
causes British workers to work below
peak productivity, holding back potential
growth. A healthy worker is a safer worker
and a more productive worker.”
Hugh Robertson, TUC, commented,
“Employers need to make the link
between sickness absence and their
health management strategies.”
2. WHO SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE
FOR COMPANY’S HEALTH AND
WELLBEING? WHAT IS THE ROLE
OF LINE MANAGERS IN IT?
Professor Dame Carol Black said, “To
embed health and wellbeing into the
workplace you must start with leaders,
boards and managers. Then you can provide
the fruit and bicycle schemes. They are
good to have but if this all what you provide,
you’re putting a plaster over the cracks.”
Professor Stephen Bevan commented,
“Around 30% of businesses still think
health is a personal issue for workers, not
employers.”
3. HOW CAN YOU MAKE
WORKPLACES HEALTHIER, AS
WELL AS HELPING EMPLOYEES
TO MANAGE THEIR OWN HEALTH
THROUGHOUT THEIR WORKING LIFE?
Hugh Robertson, TUC, said, “We look
at the worker and we see them as being
almost the problem. What we should
be doing is saying: it’s the workplace
that’s the issue, so how do we change the
workplace?”
Clare Forshaw, HSL Solutions,
commented, “Young workers need to be
educated about the health problems they
could develop over their working lives.”
Lynda Armstrong, Dame Carol Black and Mike Robinson at the Annual Conference HR
4. WHAT IS THE BEST WAY
OF DEALING WITH MENTAL
HEALTH ISSUES?
Beth Taylor, PwC, said, “If you can’t
talk openly about how you are feeling
and what’s going in your life, you can
have some of the best policies and
interventions in the world, but you won’t
be able to access them or they won’t make
a blind bit of difference.”
Peter Kelly, HSE, commented, “Most of
the interventions and situations you face
are not going to cost you £100,000. Having
a conversation with your staff today is
relatively cheap and they’ll come out with
suggestions and ideas. So it’s about talking
to your workers…”
SIGNIFICANCE OF HEALTH ISSUES
Opening the conference, the British
Safety Council’s Chair Lynda Armstrong
remembered the charity’s founder,
James Tye. “His vision in establishing the
organisation in 1957 was to campaign
towards a very simple objective – that
no-one should be injured or made ill at
work – and he worked tirelessly towards
this aspiration throughout his life. His
campaigning was instrumental in the
creation of the Health and Safety at Work
Act in 1974.
“Now, there are far fewer deaths and
serious injuries at work. This is due in
part to the increased awareness of risk
management, but is also a result of the
changing nature of work. Britain is now a
LOCKSMITHJOURNAL.CO.UK | NOV/DEC 2016
professional and service-based economy.
As the number of accidents has decreased,
we have become increasingly aware of the
significance of health issues.”
Mike Robinson, Chief Executive of the
British Safety Council, added, “The true
cost of not managing health conditions,
especially ‘less traditional’ ones such
as musculo-skeletal disorders (MSDs)
and mental health issues, is becoming
increasingly visible. For every one working
day lost due to injury, over five days are
lost due to health issues. Of the days lost
due to poor health, 46% are stress related
and 21% are MSD related.
“Even more challenging is the fact that
some of the less traditional health issues
may not be directly linked to the workplace,
but may impact the ability of a worker to do
their job competently and safely.
“Mental health issues can be extremely
complex and they are very common! It
is estimated that each year one in four
people in the UK will experience either
stress, anxiety or depression. In many
cases, the symptoms are mild, often to the
point where the person doesn’t actually
recognise them. However, in extreme
cases, these issues can result in someone
taking their own life.
“The Samaritans recently reported that
suicide kills six times as many construction
workers as accidents do. This is shocking.
However, what is even more shocking is that
we believe this is an under-estimate; the real
number could be ten times higher!”