Black report – good start, but more needed
April 10th 2008

Health and safety professionals' body, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), has said that there are many positives in Dame Carol Black's report, but also that more is needed on prevention.

Welcoming Dame Carol Black's Working for a healthier tomorrow report, Ray Hurst, president of IOSH, said:

"Dame Carol's report shines a much-needed light on the long-standing failure of healthcare and employment support to meet the real needs of working age people in this country. It recommends piloting improved access to early treatment, but doesn’t really focus on preventing work-related ill health from happening in the first place."

IOSH believes a further six steps are needed to help actually reduce work-related illness and improve the health of the workforce. These are:

1. A replacement for the Workplace Health Connect pilot, providing free health and safety and return to work advice and workplace visits to small firms across the country. This would be in addition to the 'Fit for Work' service that Dame Carol suggests.

2. Improved understanding by employers, workers and policy-makers that safety and health are intrinsically linked and of the valuable role that safety and health practitioners can play as part of multidisciplinary teams.

3. More good quality health and safety training for directors and line managers.

4. Better preparation of young people before they start work, using resources like the free Workplace Hazard Awareness Course (WHAC).

5. Improved national monitoring and data capture of exposure to work-related health hazards, such as carcinogens and better knowledge-sharing about effective controls.

6. Improved training on enforcing and advising on occupational health issues for HSE and local authority inspectors, and increased resources for them to focus on this area.

Ray added:

"We warmly welcome the expanded role suggested for safety and health practitioners in promoting the benefits of health and wellbeing at work. But there's a lot more we can do, and that’s why IOSH is hoping to work with the Department for Work and Pensions to develop a short course for practitioners to build on our knowledge of rehabilitation, return to work and reasonable adjustment issues.

"Additionally, we think the role of all safety representatives should be recognised, not only those who are union-appointed, and they should all be engaged in this health improvement initiative. We’d also like to see greater encouragement for more employers to provide ‘worker-friendly’ workplaces and tax-relief or subsidy for employer-provided therapies that help staff remain in or return to work.

"While focusing on what people are able to do can be more positive, the government needs to address the training, support and referral options needed by GPs, if they’re to take on responsibility for ‘fit notes’ and also, to ensure there are safeguards for people’s confidentiality and benefits, if this system is introduced."

Ray closed by saying:

"People don’t expect to be made ill by their work, but, sadly this can certainly be the case. Sometimes the harm is so serious, it can’t be reversed and, as with work-related cancers and hearing loss, can remain ‘hidden’ for many years. It’s no good letting illness happen and then trying to fix it, preventing it in the first place is a far more effective way of working for a healthier tomorrow."

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