The Health and Safety Executive launches new strategy to tackle work-related ill health with Penny M
- Portsmouth North Conservatives
- Dec 16, 2016
- 2 min read
The Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work, Penny Mordaunt MP will today (Thur 15 Dec) pledge her support for a new strategy for health in Britain’s workplaces.
The Heath and Work strategy engagement is launched at a time when stress and musculoskeletal disorders account for around 80 percent of all working time lost due to illness.
Statistics from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that is opening the conversation and publishing the strategy show around 12,000 deaths each year from occupational lung diseases, accounting for 90 percent of estimated deaths related to past exposures at work.
Last year, work related illness affected around 1.3 million workers and nearly 26 million working days were lost because of it. The economic costs are stark – totalling over £9 billion per year for new cases alone – not including ongoing costs from working conditions of the past.
With an increasing emphasis on health issues in recent years, it is estimated that a quarter of all HSE enforcement notices issued to dutyholders concern issues around health in the workplace.
The HSE event, held at Nova Victoria construction site near Victoria Station, will allow Britain’s safety regulator to highlight the strategy’s key points.
It will also encourage stakeholders representing employers, employees, professional/expert bodies and colleagues in Government, to engage on the strategy through digital webinars, email bulletins and social media.
An online page has been developed, allowing stakeholders and public to view and download the strategy, and to post views and comments as part of the engagement process to provide information about their own contributions to improving health at work.
The announcement illustrates HSE’s contribution to wider Government initiatives on work and health and the Minister will be supported by HSE Chair, Martin Temple and Clive Johnson, Chair of Health in Construction Leadership Group and the Safety, Health and Environment Director at Land Securities who operate the site.
The audience will hear that HSE plays a key role in keeping the country’s workforce working well providing practical expertise in occupational health issues, and experience of today’s workplace environments to deliver preventative interventions, guidance and enforcement action for industries as diverse as agriculture, construction and offshore energy.
Today’s audience will hear that a big part of HSE’s work to drive improvements in these areas is engaging with people, businesses and other organisations to ensure they help make a positive change.
To join the engagement on the Health and Work strategy please follow the link below:
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