Healthier, safer British workplaces
New data from the HSE reveals that Britain is becoming a healthier and safer place to work. The HSE reports a significant reduction in the numbers of people killed, injured or suffering work related ill health between April 2008 and March 2009. Across England, Scotland and Wales, 29.3 million working days – equivalent to 1.24 days per worker – were lost to injury and ill health last year. The equivalent figure in 2007–08 was 33.9 million.
www.hse.gov.uk
Fit for work pilots
The DWP and DoH have announced the Fit for Work pilot sites, which will provide support for people to stay in, or return to work, when they develop a health condition or impairment. Ten sites have been selected: Scotland-wide, Dundee, Rhyl, Birmingham, Eastern and coastal Kent, Kensington and Chelsea, Leicestershire, North Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire and Wakefield District.
www.workingforhealth.gov.uk
Standards for OH services
The Faculty of Occupational Medicine is to launch its standards for occupational health services in January 2010. The standards, which cover seven service domains, will apply to in-house services and commercial providers. They will be followed in 2011 by a voluntary accreditation scheme designed to enable purchasers to differentiate between OH providers.
www.facoccmed.ac.uk
Mental wellbeing at work
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has launched guidance for employers on promoting mental wellbeing at work through the development of productive and healthy working conditions. It highlights how employers can take steps to improve staff wellbeing, and the financial benefits that employers can expect from taking a positive approach to mental wellbeing in the workplace. The guidance has taken more than two years to develop and follows extensive stakeholder consultation.
http://guidance.nice.org.uk/PH22
BOHS five-year strategy
The British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) is consulting on its future direction and that of occupational hygiene in general. A five-year strategy discussion document is accompanied by an online survey, open to society members as well as other OH professionals and interested parties. The consultation closes on 8 December.
www.bohs.org
Industrial change
Improvements in occupational injury and illness rates over the past three decades can only partially be explained by the changing industrial landscape, a research team at the University of Connecticut has found. It found that just 20% of the decline in the injury and illness rate from 1976 to 2000 could be attributed to the shift from higher to lower-risk industry sectors – leaving up to 80% potentially explainable by improvements in safety systems, better regulation and other factors.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine 2009; 52 (10): 735–741.
GMC confidentiality guidance
The Faculty of Occupational Medicine and Society of Occupational Medicine have issued a joint statement to members on the implications for occupational physicians of the GMC’s new guidance on confidentiality. It follows extensive discussions with the GMC. The full statement will be published in the November/December edition of Occupational Health [at Work].
Working Time Regulations
The Working Time (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2009 came into force on 2 November and adds to the list of doctors in training for whom a derogation is made under the 1998 Regulations, allowing them to work an average 52-hour maximum working week until 31 July 2011.
www.opsi.gov.uk
HSE inspector wins equal pay ruling
The Court of Appeal has ruled that the HSE’s pay system, which links pay to length of service, is unfair. The court found that although employers do not generally have to justify schemes linking length of service to pay, they would have to do so if there were evidence it was having a disproportionate impact on women.
www.bailii.org
Corporate manslaughter consultation
The Sentencing Guidelines Council has issued a consultation on sentencing for corporate manslaughter and health and safety offences that cause death. The Council wants a more flexible approach adopted to determine the level of fines imposed for such offences, with the minimum not less than £500,000. The consultation ends on 5 January 2010.
www.sentencing-guidelines.gov.uk
Pilots want a cut in hours
Airline pilots and cabin crew have called on the European Commission to reduce their hours of work and want flight time limitations in line with new scientific evidence from the European Aviation Safety Agency. The research indicates that there should be 13-hour maximum working day, though many pilots can fly up to 14 hours a day and cabin crew often work 15 hours a day.
www.easa.eu.int
New risk assessment tools
The HSE has issued a new electronic template that combines the requirements of a health and safety policy, risk assessment and written record of health and safety arrangements. Example risk assessments for a range of industries have also been developed to show businesses what a ‘good enough’ record should look like.
www.hse.gov.uk
Hospital failed to control Legionella
The Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Trust has been fined £35,000 and ordered to pay nearly £13,000 costs after unsafe levels of Legionella bacteria were found in the water supply system for the hospital’s showers, baths and sinks. The prosecution was brought by the HSE.
Latest NHS Research Plus available on our website.
Occupational Health [at Work] subscriber information. The October/November issue of the journal was posted to subscribers on Monday 12 October. To view the contents of the current issue, please click here.
Please feel free to forward this e-mail newsletter to a colleague, using the links at the bottom of this e-mail.
|
Job vacancies
Occupational Health Advisor
Airbus UK, Broughton
A vacancy has arisen for an Occupational Health Nurse Advisor to work with Airbus UK, in an established nurse led team in the Broughton site Occupational Health department delivering the broadest remit of Occupational Health Services.
Closing date for applications: Monday 16 November 2009
Click here for further details or to apply please visit www.jobs.eads.com
Conference news
Conferences and courses from The At Work Partnership
Disability at work – a legal and practice update
7 December 2009, London
An essential one-day update on the key legal and practical OH issues relating to managing disability at work.
Preview 2010: OH Legal and Professional update
26 January 2010, London
An important one-day legal update for OH professionals
Save £70 for bookings made and paid by 15 December 2009!
Certificate in Occupational Health Law
Part one: 1 – 3 February 2010
Part two: 25 – 26 February 2010
London
A practical five-day course designed to provide occupational health professionals with an in-depth understanding of occupational health law at work. This degree-level module is accredited by Glasgow Caledonian University.
Save £100 for bookings made and paid by 15 December 2009!
If you have any colleagues who would also like to receive our OH e-mail newsletter, they can sign up free of charge by clicking this link. If you would prefer not to receive this e-mail newsletter in the future, simply click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the e-mail.
|
Connecting to Facebook
