The Government’s response to Dame Carol Black’s review

'Improving health and work: changing lives' was published on 25 November 2008, and is the Government’s response to Dame Carol Black’s review of the health of Britain’s working age population – Working for a Healthier Tomorrow.

The response takes forward the Government’s vision of creating a society where the positive links between work and health are recognised by all, where everyone can aspire to a healthy and fulfilling working life, and where health conditions and disabilities are not a bar to enjoying the benefits of work.

Health, work and wellbeing - caring for our future

Health, work and well-being is a crucial part of delivering on the Government’s commitment to improving the health and well-being of the working age population. This is a central element of the wider welfare reform agenda and builds on the Government’s White Paper 'Choosing Health: making Healthier Choices Easier' and the Health and Safety Commission's Strategy for Workplace Health and Safety.

'Health Work Wellbeing is a cross departmental partnership between the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department of Health, the Health and Safety Executive, the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly Government. The programme aims to help reduce health inequalities and social exclusion by demonstrating clearly that work helps people maintain and possibly improve their overall personal health and well-being.

The aim is to prevent people becoming injured or ill; keep them healthy in work and provide accessible support to enable them to remain in or return to work more quickly.

The programme aims:

• to ensure that the general health of the working age population improves;
• to prevent work-related illness and injury, but also to go further and use the workplace as an opportunity for general health improvement;
• to respond early when health problems arise – and, combined with this, ensure that the necessary interventions are easily and speedily available;
• to help people to better manage their conditions so that they can lead as full a life as possible;
• to ensure that appropriate rehabilitation support and workplace adaptations are available for those who have been out of work because of ill health, enabling them to make that leap back into work as soon as possible.

How is HSE contributing to health, work and well-being?

A number of HSE’s initiatives contribute to the overall aims of the programme including:

Further information

'Working for a healthier tomorrow'
17 March 2008

On March 17th National Director for Health and Work, Dame Carol Black published 'Working for a healthier tomorrow' [2.3MB], her review of the health of the working age population. The review was commissioned jointly by Department of Work and Pensions and the Department of Health and examines the impact that ill health has on government, the economy and society.  HSE and the core Health, Work and Wellbeing departments worked closely with Dame Carol on the review, and we will be involved in the Government’s formal response on the recommendations it made.

• More information about Dame Carol's review

Health Work Wellbeing Awards
18 November 2008

The 2008 National Business Awards (NBA) took place on 18 November in a glittering ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel.

The event was hosted by Andrew Marr and included a speech by Lord Peter Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform, who highlighted the importance of health and well-being in the workplace.

Congratulations to the Grimsby Institute of Further & Higher Education and Marshalls West Lane who took out the Health Work & Well-being Award and the Health Work & Well-being Award for Small Business respectively.'

• NBA 2008 finalists

Find out more