Attached is the Council’s response to the Get Britain Working White Paper.
20241213 Council for Work and Health statement on the Get Britain Working White Paper November 2024
12 December 2024
Attached is the Council’s response to the Get Britain Working White Paper.
20241213 Council for Work and Health statement on the Get Britain Working White Paper November 2024
12 December 2024
WHEC will be presenting their findings on the strength of the evidence on the carcinogenicity of welding fume.
Seminar:
13:00-14:00 7th December: Assessment of the strength of evidence underpinning the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) reclassification of welding fume as carcinogenic to humans.
Join us via Teams at 13:00 Thursday 7th December.
Register here: https://forms.office.com/e/5HrDx9L40C
Please note: this seminar will be recorded and made available with captions after the event.
There will be a short question and answer session with the WHEC speakers at the end of the seminar.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) reviewed the data on the carcinogenicity of welding fume. HSE requested the opinion of the Workplace Health Expert Committee (WHEC) who will be presenting their latest findings on the strength of the evidence, particularly on whether a distinction should be made between fumes from different types of metal or different processes. WHEC concluded that all welding fumes cause lung cancer and possibly kidney cancer, and that it is not possible to identify specific welding processes or base metals that give rise to this risk. UV exposure from arc welding processes causes melanoma in the eye and may also increase the risk of skin cancer.
“The increased risk of lung cancer in welders is well recognised, but until recently it was considered a risk primarily of stainless steel welding, as well as bystander exposures, particularly to asbestos. This WHEC review of recent published scientific evidence has confirmed the conclusions of a recent IARC report that the increased risk of lung cancer is unlikely to be limited to these exposures and that no distinction can be made between different types of welding or the different metals welded in increasing the risk of lung cancer. The important implication is that in implementing measures to control levels of exposure to welding fume no distinction can be made between different welding processes or the metals welded.”
Professor Sir Anthony Newman-Taylor, Chair WHEC.
Download the report here: Assessment of the strength of evidence underpinning the IARC reclassification of welding fume as carcinogenic to humans
Speakers: Workplace Health Expert Committee (WHEC)
The development of policy in HSE needs to be informed by the best available contemporary scientific evidence.
HSE formed WHEC to provide independent expert advice on:
Find out more about Workplace Health Expert Committee (WHEC) here: WHEC
Speakers:
John Cherrie is Emeritus Professor of Human Health at Heriot Watt University and former Research Director at the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh. He has been an exposure scientist since 1979, in a wide range of research and teaching. John is a member of the WHEC and the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council. He has carried out several research projects on welding fume exposure.
Len Levy OBE is Emeritus Professor of Environmental Health at the University of Cranfield. Prior to this he was Head of Toxicology and Risk Assessment at the UK Medical Research Council’s Institute for Environment and Health at the University of Leicester.
He is an occupational and environmental toxicologist and risk assessor, and holds a PhD in experimental pathology from the Institute of Cancer Research in London. He has held academic positions at the University of Aston and the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Occupational Health, where he was Reader in Occupational Health, continuing his research into the causes and mechanisms of occupational cancer.
Other communications activity (articles etc):
Registration is now open for the fourth of our ACPOHE/DisAbility webinars which will be about Neurodivergence in the workplace.
The webinar will cover what neurodivergence is, lived experience examples, problems & barriers encountered in the workplace, and solutions. This will include how we can make the OH experience more accessible for a Neurodivergent service user.
Neurodiversity in the Workplace
Date: Wednesday 13th December 2023
Time: 13:00 – 14:00
Theme: Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
Location: Teams webinar
Speakers: Greet Janssens, Angela Webster, Steph Phillips
Everyone is welcome! Please share this invitation with your colleagues and friends. The webinar is free and will be recorded. A link will be made available afterwards on our webinars page for you to watch if you can’t make it.
Link for more info and registration: https://acpohe.csp.org.uk/news-events/events/events-listing/acpohe-webinar-neurodiversity-workplace-131223
(October 2023)
NEW Fit note resources to help awareness of the importance of supporting patients back to work
ACPOHE is pleased to showcase our new set of resources, available to download from our Work & Health Learning and Development Hub – (click Free Guest Access and go to Resource Library).
There is more information below, and all resources are on the ACPOHE website: https://acpohe.csp.org.uk/content/new-fit-note-resources-help-awareness-importance-supporting-patients-back-work
Resources include:
We held our latest panel webinar on 18th October and attached is the video for your information.
SEQOHS standards have been revised and launched in June 2023. With only weeks to go before they go live, we will be discussing with our panel, the relevance of SEQOHS standards in a multi-professional speciality, the drivers to become SEQOHS accredited, what the future holds for the quality scheme and is it the answer to elevating quality in the speciality. Join us live or register via the link below to get access to the recording afterwards.
Please do share this with your members and colleagues.
The Faculty of Occupational Health Nursing and the National School of Occupational Health have launched a statement on Occupational Health Qualification and Titles so as to clarify the various education pathways and qualifications for occupational nurses, as well as the commonly used titles and their significance.
View the statement on our website https://www.fohn.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Occupational-health-qualifications-and-titles.pdf
If you have any feedback then please contact either Christina Butterworth chair@fohn.org.uk or Janet O’Neill janet.oneill@hee.nhs.uk
27 September 2023
The Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) today released the first in-depth study into the impact of ill-health on the UK’s working population, “Understanding Recent Trends in Ill-Health Driven Fallout from the UK Job Market”.
Launched following Occupational Health Awareness Week (18-24th September), the report analyses data trends – providing a comprehensive picture of the current health challenges experienced by the UK workforce.
Key findings include:
Of the 41.6 million people in the UK of working age (age 16-64), 2.5 million (1 in 16 people) are inactive due to long term sickness. The historically high number of people off work, long-term sick, remains an immediate and pressing concern for the Government. More than 11 million people are living with long term conditions that can affect their ability to work.
Of the 4 million people living with mental health conditions only 2 million are employed. Nearly 60 percent of people who are economically inactive and left work in the last two to three years have a work limiting health condition.
The analysis demonstrates how occupation, gender, and disability affects getting back to work. Occupational health (OH) provision is a key solution to this issue. SOM is calling for comprehensive OH coverage, with only 50 percent of workers currently accessing OH.
Government steps have been taken, including in the Spring Budget, to support OH so those with health conditions can continue work, but more must be done to keep people healthy at work and reverse these trends. New Government consultations on OH and Tax incentives on occupational health (OH) are welcomed and are currently open.
SOM hopes that publishing this data will support policy conversations to achieve universal OH coverage.
SOM CEO Nick Pahl said: “The historically high number of people off work long-term sick remains an immediate and pressing concern for the Government. Without investment in occupational health, these figures will continue to get worse.
“This report helps us better understand the patterns and causes of ill-health driven fallout from the UK job market. It’s vital that we understand why the UK is seeing a rise in inactivity rates compared to other OECD countries.
“We need to understand what the catalysts are, the drivers of fallout, and what factors contribute to preventing people return to work.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
For more information, contact:
Alan Grant (Account Manager, Orbit Communications) – alan.grant@orbit.scot / 0783 320 9171
Rachel Goddard (Account Director, Orbit Communications) – rachel.goddard@orbit.scot / 0770 216 9485
About SOM
The Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) is the organisation for healthcare professionals working in or with an interest in occupational health. It is concerned with:
SOM stimulates research and works with the government, the healthcare community, health charities and other bodies to promote a healthier workforce. It also acts as the voice of occupational health (OH), responding to consultative documents and media enquiries. A national leader in providing continued professional development and education for all healthcare professionals working in OH, it is a forum for the exchange of ideas, best practice, and networking opportunities.
Visit www.som.org.uk for more information.
More and more employers are recognising their responsibility for employee health and well-being, but there needs to be a bigger shift towards prevention. To achieve a healthy workplace an employer needs to ensure that its culture, leadership and people management are the bedrock on which to build a fully integrated well-being approach.
Rachel Suff Senior Policy Adviser (Employment Relations), CIPD