Over a quarter of the UK’s workforce have a health problem that’s lasted more than a year, according to the new Health at Work Index from the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
With almost one in six of these health problems relating to the heart and circulation, the BHF is calling on employers to prioritise the health of their workers.
The charity says that the risk of developing many problems picked up in the report, including coronary heart disease, can be greatly reduced by losing weight, increasing physical activity and eating a balanced diet.
The Health at Work Index was launched to give the most up-to-date picture of the health problems affecting the nation’s workforce based on the physical health, mental wellbeing and working hours of more than 185,000 UK employees.
The research is based on official UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) labour force survey data collected between Q2 2012 and Q1 2013.
It shows that one in ten workers — approximately 3.5 million people — say their ability to do their job is limited by poor health. This figure includes over half of diabetes sufferers (58 per cent) and the same proportion of people suffering from depression, mental illness, or panic attacks (58 per cent).
According to the index, which takes into account results for physical health, mental wellbeing and working habits, the five UK industries in which employees report the highest level of ill health are:
1. Transport and storage (e.g. public transport and warehouse work)
2. Primary (e.g. agriculture and mining)
3. Administrative and support (e.g. security and facilities management)
4. Wholesale and retail trade (e.g. supermarkets and high street retailers)
5. Hotels and catering (e.g. restaurants, pubs, hotels)
Production and manufacturing came in at number seven, while construction featured at number nine.
Lisa Purcell, project manager for the BHF’s Health at Work programme, said: “By shining a light on the health of workers in a range of industries, we hope to inspire employers to champion the wellbeing of their workers. This will ultimately benefit the health of their business in the long-run.”
The full Health at Work index is available on request from the BHF.
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Over a quarter of the UK’s workforce have a health problem that’s lasted more than a year, according to the new Health at Work Index from the British Heart Foundation (BHF). 