HSE press release E232:03 - 20 November 2003

CHANGING GEAR TO DELIVER ON THE PROMISES OF SECURING HEALTH TOGETHER

Minister for Work, Des Browne, today provided commitment from the Government at the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) Securing Health Together workshop, to delivering the promises of the long-term occupational health strategy in Britain.

Launching the event in London, Mr Browne said: "The UK has a good record in protecting the safety of people at work and we should be proud of that, but there are still more than two million people attributing ill health to their work and the 33 million working days lost. This workshop is a good opportunity to highlight that the potential for greatest improvement is through more emphasis on health at work.

"Health and safety must become part of the fabric of our 21st century society. Whether it does will depend on ensuring that everyone who needs it has access to rehabilitation support. I am happy that objective is set as a test of whether we can make health and safety a cornerstone of our civilised society."

The new Health and Safety Commission (HSC) consultation on proposals for a "Strategy for Workplace Health and Safety for 2010 and Beyond" picked up themes from Securing Health Together published in 2000, that re-emphasise the need to do more to address health issues.

Chair of the HSC, Bill Callaghan, said: "This is an occasion for many people who play an active part in the whole health and safety system to meet and consider what will be the essential next steps for partnerships that can accelerate moves towards reducing ill health.

"This event marks the foundation stones which have been agreed with leading experts involved in Securing Health Together projects so far, but also lays down a clear intention that we are determined to move forward and deliver occupational health support for all."

The event marked the launch of several reports on the conclusions and recommendations of the Support, Skills and Continuous Improvement Action Groups. A directory of Awards Schemes in Great Britain and the benefits to employers of joining a scheme was also published. These reports can be accessed on the Securing Health Together website at www.ohstrategy.com

Notes to editors

1. Securing Health Together is the Government and HSC's occupational health strategy and was launched in July 2000. It had a 10 year vision of tackling the high levels of work related ill health and as a consequence reducing the personal suffering, family hardship and costs to individuals, employers and society.

2. The strategy represents a joint commitment by HSC, Government bodies concerned with occupational health, and bodies outside of Government including individuals, large and small employers and trade unions to work towards common goals and targets. In time, if we are successful and meet some of the headline targets, in 2000 value terms we could save society about £8.6 -£21.8 billion by 2010.

3. To achieve these targets the strategy was structured around five key programmes of work relating to, compliance, continuous improvement, skills, support and knowledge. Action groups were set up to look at how these programmes could be achieved and some of them will be launching reports of their conclusions and recommendations today. These can be accessed at www.ohstrategy.com

4. The Strategy is supported by a website www.ohstrategy.com that contains lots of news, events, links to practical advice and help and a good practice database detailing over 70 examples of what companies have done to improve the health of their workforce.

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