Health and Safety Executive Health and Work Please feel free to use the information provided in this presentation in your own presentations. Where appropriate, we have included speaker notes for you

Outline of this presentation The health agenda Understanding sickness absence Identifying the underlying causes

Health: the role of the workplace 75% of working age people in Britain are in employment and spend a high proportion of their waking hours in the workplace The workplace offers great scope for targeting of messages and initiatives about healthy living – with potential impact on both employees and their families Need to go beyond essential compliance with health and safety legislation and promote health and well- being more generally

Work and health – what we know Work offers opportunities to promote individual health and well- being Work should be recognised by all as important and beneficial, and access to, and retention of work promotes and improves the overall health of the population Long-term sickness absence is a strong predictor of disability and mortality Work has a positive impact on health and well-being (good jobs in well managed organisations) Under some circumstances work can have adverse effects (bad jobs) The key is prevention of underlying causes rather than relying just on management of outcomes (secondary & tertiary interventions)

Absence and Health Risk factors for sickness absence are not always the same as risk factors for disease An holistic approach needs to focus both on the risk factors that precede absence as well as implementation of policies & procedures for monitoring & management. Sickness absence data collection, analysis and interpretation methods need to reflect both aspects.

Health and safety statistics 2007/08

A national study of absence Definitions: Disease: is defined in terms of objective biological abnormalities in the structure and/or functions of bodily organs and systems Illness : is the personal subjective perception of unwellness. Therefore, if a person feels ill, they are ill Sickness: is derived from the concept of the sick role, a role that carries certain privileges (to stay away from work), as well as obligations (to seek medical help and to get well).

Ill health: A Population Study Illness % Disease % Absence % >14 days None of these 25% Wikman et al (2005)

Sickness Absence: NHS Trust

The Individual The biopsychosocial model: (Waddell & Burton, 2004) Biological: The physical or mental health function Psychological: Recognises that personal and psychological factors also influence functioning and the individual must take some responsibility for their behaviour Social: Recognises the importance of the social context, pressures and constraints, on behaviour and functioning

Drivers of sickness absence Individual factors – personality and motivation; past behaviour; sick role The system – organizational culture and tolerability, what is legitimate; sickness certification Non-work factors – life events and family pressures Work factors – absence as coping, job satisfaction, chronic adverse features of work Commitment and involvement

Designing good jobs Promote healthy workplaces Prevention and management of common health problems Job content, job context and organizational arrangements critical Move from a less desirable (bad jobs) to a more desirable state (good jobs) HSE Management Standards can help in prevention and management

Summary The workplace offers the opportunity to promote and improve the health of employees and their families The drivers for ill-health are not always the same as the drivers for absence We need a better understanding of the causes of sickness absence so these can be managed in a proactive manner Current attendance management practice and policy is based on convention rather than evidence (IES, 2007)