Health and safety practitioners took a step up to the table of key decision-makers at the IOSH 07 Conference in Telford.
John Hutton MP, the secretary of state for work and pensions, announced at the conference that he was inviting IOSH to work with Bill Gunnyeon, the DWP’s chief medical adviser, to consider “how to maximise the contribution that health and safety practitioners can make”.
Mr Hutton said: “We need to ensure that the government provides you with the right support and encourages a real cross-cutting partnership between all those with an interest in public and occupational health.
“Health and safety practitioners have a crucial role to play in mentoring and supporting those joining or rejoining the workforce. IOSH is playing a critical role in leading from the front.
“The first stage of the IOSH toolkit, on work-related stress and musculoskeletal disorders being launched today, is another step forward in giving health and safety practitioners easy access to the information and guidance that will help them play a greater role in tackling illness and absence caused by occupational health issues.”
Professor Dame Carol Black, the national director for work and health, also called on IOSH and its members to do more to help tackle occupational ill health: “Diseases like cardio-obstructive airways disorder, caused largely by smoking, is a preventable condition and is something that you and other professionals should be getting more involved in.
“I hope very much that the DWP will work with IOSH to prepare a report for the Secretary of State and I hope you all play a role in helping people stay and return to work. This is an opportunity that really shouldn’t be missed.”
It was an invitation that IOSH president Lisa Fowlie was only too ready to accept: “There are only a few thousand specialist occupational health doctors and nurses in the UK, which is woefully inadequate to deal with the potential numbers who may return to or join the workforce.
“We’re positive about our relationship with government and know that working together we can make a real difference. We look forward to working with the DWP on the Health, Work and Well Being Strategy.”
Mr Hutton also commented on the portrayal of workplace health and safety issues by the media, and said there was a need to change the negative images being put out: “We can’t seem to escape from the media headlines with the latest thinking on the impact of certain foods and diets on our health and the public appear to have an insatiable appetite for such information. By contrast, issues around work and health often draw very negative media coverage.”
And this was a point that Geoffrey Podger, the HSE’s chief executive, also grasped and he reiterated his previous calls for a sensible approach to health and safety, praising IOSH’s efforts in publicly rebutting crazy health and safety stories.
Mr Podger also warned however that fatality rates in the construction industry were showing signs of creeping up by “10 or 15 per cent” on last year’s lowest ever figures. But he praised the commitment of the industry: “There’s been good progress on meeting the targets in Revitalising and the industry is taking ownership of health and safety performance. We don’t see any sign of the commitment to health and safety in construction dropping.”
