Legal spotlight - April 24

THE UK government has underlined its commitment to increase the role of employers in preventing ill health with the announcement of the appointment of health policy advisor Dame Carol Black to lead its occupational health taskforce. Amongst other things, the taskforce will develop a voluntary occupational health framework for businesses.

The framework, which is being developed in response to a public consultation exercise, will be designed to increase awareness of the benefits of occupational health provision in the workplace. It is expected to set out minimum levels of occupational health needed to stop sickness-related job losses and help businesses better support those returning to work after a period of ill-health. 

Making sure people are fit and healthy to work is a key priority for the government. In its 2021 “Health is everyone’s business” consultation response (Government response: Health is everyone’s business - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)) the government identified the critical role access to occupational health services can play in helping individuals remain in and return to work, reducing unnecessary sickness absence, increasing productivity and enabling individuals to live better for longer.  However, the government noted a wide variation in access to occupational health services. Only around 45% of British employees currently have access to some form of occupational health provision, according to government statistics. Only 28% of British employers provide some form of occupational health, with large employers nearly three times more likely than small or medium sized businesses to do so.

This was followed last summer by a further consultation, “Occupational Health: Working Better”, in which the government specifically sought views on the introduction of new national workplace health and disability standards including a minimum framework for quality occupational health provision. With the majority of respondents said to have supported developing a national workplace health and disability standard and a minimum framework for quality occupational health provision, the government committed to put that into practice in an effort to provide pragmatic support to businesses. In particular, the government undertook to establish an expert group to support the framework’s development. That has now progressed with the announcement of Dame Carol Black as its lead.

Employers have a duty to ensure the safety and health of their workers, insofar as reasonably practicable. This duty extends beyond physical to mental health and well-being too. Risk assessment is required and suitable mitigations put in place, where risk cannot be avoided altogether.  In accordance with regulation 6 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, this includes provision of “such health surveillance as is appropriate having regard to the risks to their health and safety which are identified by the assessment.”

Improving workplace mental health is a particular target for both the government and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), who are likely to want to double down on their efforts in this space following the most recent workplace ill-health statistics. Those statistics demonstrate that poor mental health remains a significant cause of workplace absence. Poor mental health means days and productivity lost and the government is clearly intent on doing all it can to improve outcomes via education and guidance. One way is to ensure provision of access to suitable workplace occupational health services. 

For employers, increased awareness of the risk of workplace stress, depression and anxiety will feed into what is considered reasonable, so any guidance on measures to combat this, together with a reminder of their responsibilities, is to be welcomed. Where appropriate, access to occupational health services may well go a significant way to securing a positive outcome for affected workers.  

The voluntary occupational health framework for businesses is expected to be introduced in mid-2024.