Occupational Health is clearly moving up the political agenda, with the publication of a report into the health of Britain’s working age population by the Governments National Director for Health & Work, Dame Carol Black.

Despite increases in life expectancy levels, improved workplace safety, and relatively high overall levels of employment, employers continue to experience levels of prolonged absence from work through ill-health. Costing an estimated £13bn¹ a year, not only does this absence have an effect on the national economy, it also impacts on the affected individuals and their families, since work which is well-organised has positive benefits for employee health and well-being.

By promoting healthy workplaces and providing greater support to those developing health problems, the report proposes increasing access to Occupational Health services to help prevent illness at work, and swift rehabilitation for those out of work due to ill-health, through:

• Better integration of occupational health into mainstream healthcare;
• Expansion and reorganisation of occupational health services, extending to all people of working age;
• Increasing the recruitment of trainees into occupational medicine;
• Increasing the awareness and understanding of occupational health among GP’s; and
• Introducing recognised standards for occupational health providers, to help employers when contracting for occupational health services

RPS is working with the Faculty of Occupational Medicine to develop some of the recommendations of the report, and are helping clients to maximise the opportunities to improve employee health in their workplaces.

To discuss how RPS can help your organisation, call us on 08000 85 83 84 or visit our website www.rpsgroup.com/occupationalhealth

For more information please contact:
RPS Nottingham - HSED
T: +44 (0) 1623 657 446

¹ The CBI Annual Absence and Labour Turnover Survey published in April 2007