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Workplace health advice services available to small businesses

The Workplace Health Connect pilot service, for small and medium sized businesses in England and Wales, finished as planned on Thursday 21 February 2008.

Need help on workplace health? Following the end of Workplace Health Connect, small and medium sized businesses in:

In England businesses are able to contact the existing HSE’s Infoline which provides access to workplace health and safety information, guidance and expert advice from the HSE England

contact the HSE’s Infoline for information and guidance.

In Scotland small and medium sized businesses are able to access the existing Safe and Health Working service Scotland

contact the existing Safe and Health Working service.

In Wales small and medium sized businesses are able to access the new Workboost Wales pilot project from March 2008 to March 2009 Wales

contact the new Workboost Wales pilot project from March 2008.

Small and medium sized businesses in Milton Keynes can also access the new Healthy Workplaces MK pilot project until the end of 2008 Milton Keynes

Small and medium sized businesses can contact the new Healthy Workplaces MK pilot project.

What was Workplace Health Connect?

Workplace Health Connect was a two-year pilot service which was funded, managed and quality controlled by HSE, but independently delivered. It was designed to give advice on workplace health, safety and return-to-work issues, to small and medium sized businesses (with between 5 to 250 workers) in England and Wales. Delivered by contractors in partnership with the HSE, the pilot took place between February 2006 and February 2008. All advice given by Workplace Health Connect was free, confidential and practical.

A description of the Workplace Health Connect service

  • The principle point of contact with the service was the Workplace Health Connect Adviceline. Open during normal weekday working hours, the Adviceline gave detailed and tailored advice to callers on workplace health, safety and return-to-work issues. Available nationally in England and Wales, both employers and workers were able to access this Adviceline. (The Adviceline was also known as Level 1 of the service)
  • A problem-solving visit service was available to employers in four specific regions of England (the West Midlands, Greater London, the North West and the North East) and also available nationally in Wales. Where appropriate, employers calling the Adviceline were referred to the visit service, which would provide more in-depth advice on workplace health, safety and return-to-work issues via two visits – an initial visit and a follow-up visit.This element of the service was provided by regional contractors in partnership with HSE. (Level 2, also known as the Pathfinders)
  • Where appropriate, businesses were signposted to local approved specialists who could help them solve any long-term/more complicated problems. These support specialists included physiotherapists, ergonomists, engineers, occupational health professionals, hygienists and occupational health nurses. The involvement of Workplace Health Connect ended at this point and involvement with these organisations was entirely at the discretion of the business. (Level 3)

The overriding aim throughout all levels of Workplace Health Connect was to transfer knowledge to employers and workers in small and medium sized businesses and provide them with the skills to tackle and solve any current and future workplace health problems.

What Workplace Health Connect achieved

After two years of operations, the Workplace Health Connect pilot had:

  • Handled over 8,600 calls to the Adviceline
  • Held over 5,400 initial visits, exceeding its visits target of 4,750 initial visits
  • Held over 4,200 follow-up visits
  • Had a positive impact on nearly 125,000 workers, exceeding its target of 95,000 workers

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