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Occupational hazards - October

09 October 2024

A recent survey has found that workers are often working additional hours without pay. Ruth Wilkinson looks at some of the hidden downsides that are often hidden in the small print of employment contracts.

COMPETITIVE SALARIES, good career prospects and gym memberships are just a few of the incentives that employers often use on job adverts to attract potential candidates.

But what about the hidden downsides, such as the unfavourable conditions which may pose the risk of harm to people’s safety, health and wellbeing at work? These are often hidden in the ‘small print’ of employment contracts.

I’m sure many reading this are familiar with the term ‘small print’. Whenever we’re buying goods or services or signing a contract, it’s always there. And the same goes for contracts when people are hired for a job. Within it, there are often things which lead to people working additional hours or having to be available outside of their working hours. When working this way is the norm, it can have implications.

A recent IOSH-commissioned survey of 1,000 UK workers found that half regularly work two or more unpaid hours a week, with 41 per cent regularly working at least one additional hour without pay a day. Nearly a quarter regularly work more than 48 hours a week on average (the legal maximum people should work in the UK).

What the results of this survey do show is that there is an epidemic of people working long hours – often without pay – and also with people working while ill or on holiday. This is of great concern and cannot continue, especially when you consider the Health and Safety Executive stats for 2022-23 showed that 1.8 million workers in Great Britain reported suffering from a work-related illness that they believed was cased or made worse by work and with injuries and ill health costing an estimated £20.7 billion.

It is important that work is ‘good work’, meaning it is safe, healthy, sustainable and accommodates people’s needs. Without good work, the impacts could be: 

  • Aches and pains – 473,000 workers in Britain suffered a musculoskeletal disorder in 2022-23. 
  • Stress and anxiety – 875,000 workers suffered work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2022-23. 
  • Lack of flexibility - Employers may not accommodate the flexible work patterns required for caring responsibilities. It can be hard to plan the use of statutory holidays around inflexible work schedules.
  • Occupational ill health – As well as the 1.8 million suffering from a work-related illness, 2,257 people died from mesothelioma in 2022-23 due to past asbestos exposure. The work we do, means that some jobs will have exposure to carcinogens. 
  • Mental ill health - Mental health crises or conditions are often unsupported at work, unlike physical illnesses. They can even be caused by work or made worse by work. Poor mental health costs UK employers £51 billion a year, according to Deloitte. It is imperative we champion prevention first strategies. 

In addition to all of this, we must remember that 138 people died as a result of an accident at work in 2023-24.

In 2021, a World Health Organization (WHO) and International Labour Organization (ILO) global analysis found that working long hours is now known to be responsible for about one-third of the total estimated work-related burden of disease.

We already know that the UK has economically inactive workers and workers being on long-term sick leave. That is why we have launched our ‘small print’ campaign. We’re calling for action, to ensure there is greater awareness and transparency and for more focus to be put on looking after people’s health, safety and wellbeing at work, as well as supporting people to work, to remain in work, and to thrive at work.

In addition to greater transparency, we’re strengthening the calls to action we made for the Government in the manifesto we published before the UK General Election, including ensuring everyone has a safe and healthy working environment, backing the Health and Safety Executive to carry out its role with the right funding, investing in strong occupational health systems and reviewing and (where necessary) updating laws and regulations.

Ruth Wilkinson is head of policy and public affairs at the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. For more information, visit www.iosh.com

 
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