IOSH played to host to a cross-party gathering of MPs last night at a parliamentary dinner to discuss the Government’s progress on implementing its response to Dame Carol Black’s review of the health of Britain’s working-age population, and hear its future plans for occupational health.
The dinner, which was attended by Dame Carol (pictured) was hosted by Harry Cohen MP on behalf of IOSH and was addressed by Safety minister, Lord McKenzie of Luton; the Conservative spokesperson for Work and Pensions in the Lords, Lord Skelmersdale; Norman Lamb MP, Liberal Democrat shadow secretary of state for health; and IOSH president, Nattasha Freeman.
Speaking before the event, Nattasha said: “We know that ‘good work’ is good for health, with evidence to suggest a link between positive workplace perceptions and higher productivity, profitability and staff retention, so workplaces really should be used to promote health and well-being.
“Healthier workplaces will benefit individuals, business and society, and IOSH believes health and safety professionals can play a crucial role, working within multi-disciplinary teams, to help bring a new, more inclusive approach to managing workplace health.”
The dinner guests heard how IOSH is working with the DWP on a pilot course to upskill health and safety practitioners to take a more active part in health matters, so that they can advise and support managers to prevent work-related ill health from developing in the first place, get help early, and assist those who have been ill to return to work safely for the long term.
“Many issues getting in the way of return-to-work are not clinical but organisational, and health and safety practitioners are ideally placed to help,” explained Nattasha.
Later this year the Institution will invite leading business representatives to a round-table discussion on IOSH’s work on health issues and the Dame Carol Black review.
In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, ‘Burnout, stress and being human’, Heather Beach is joined by Stacy Thomson to discuss burnout, perfectionism and how to deal with burnout as an individual, as management and as an organisation.
We provide an insight on how to tackle burnout and why mental health is such a taboo subject, particularly in the workplace.
