Health Secretary urges employers to promote greater well-being
February 22, 2008
The Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, has called on employers to do more to promote the health and well-being of their staff, in particular with respect to stress and mental health.
He was speaking at the British Heart Foundation's Well at Work Conference, which was recently held in London, as he urged employers to incorporate the philosophy of the work-life balance with a work-health balance by taking steps to promote health and well-being in the workplace.
According to a source at the Department of Health:
- 175 million working days are lost to ill health every year, with 36 million of these days lost because of occupational ill health, costing UK businesses £13 billion per year
- back pain alone costs employers £600 million a year, with sufferers of persistent back problems on average taking 17 days off sick per year
- only half of those with back problems who are signed off for six months or more return to work and only one quarter of those signed off for a year or more will return
- 40% of employers still have no systems in place at all to manage employee health and wellbeing.
In contrast to the final point above, a source at the Department of Health quoted the case of Parcelforce as an example of business already offering excellent occupational health services and support to its employees.
By introducing on-site health clinics and health assessments, Parcelforce has reduced employee absence by one third and job satisfaction is also up by one third.
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