RISKY BUSINESS

Running any company involves identifying obvious risks which need to be continually reviewed and managed. Yet, there are a number of other potential threats that should  be assessed on an ongoing basis, but are often forgotten. Dr Alan Black, Director of occupational health specialists, Blackwell Associates Limited, outlines why evaluating your current approach to employee health and wellbeing should be high on your priority list.

A REAL RISK

Most of us work in companies that have clear documentation in place to outline everything from  grievance procedures to IT policies. A high proportion of employers, however, don’t have a clearly defined and measured health and wellbeing policy. 

With the growing prominence of costly sickness absence becoming an increasing concern for businesses in Northern Ireland, it’s surprising that more companies are not taking a proactive approach. 

For example, an Assembly report published in March this year found that absence rates in the Northern Ireland civil service remain higher than in Great Britain, costing the tax payer £37m. In addition, it’s estimated that sickness absence costs a company over £600 per employee per year (CIPD, 2014).

It’s clear that not addressing the health and wellbeing requirements of your workforce can potentially have a major impact. 

Failure to ensure that clear policies and provisions are in place for your employees can not only lead to reduced morale and increased absenteeism, but in some cases litigation too, as employees can argue an irresponsible approach was taken towards their health needs. 

By appointing the services of an occupational health provider, such as Blackwell Associates, an employer should be able to significantly reduce these risks, while optimising productivity levels and reducing health related costs.

THE REALITY OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Occupational health is often a misunderstood term. Some believe it’s there to prepare a worker for returning to the workforce after a long period of absence, while others assume it’s simply there to identify the baseline health of a new employee. 

While these assumptions are partially correct, the reality is that occupational health providers deliver a full spectrum of services to minimise the impacts of health risks to the business.

NOT JUST A SERVICE PROVIDER

There are a number of activities an occupational health provider will deliver on a day to day basis. These include identifying the legacy of impairment or disease in new employees, assessing fitness for work and carrying out annual medicals. 

What’s more, the advice occupational health companies provide is highly valuable too. With the microscope firmly trained on how businesses deal with their employees (whether healthy, ill or disabled), it’s crucial that companies have clear procedures in place to ensure a consistent approach is taken across the board.  

ADVICE IS CRITICAL

Your occupational health provider should work closely in partnership with you to ascertain that your company’s approach to workforce wellbeing is as watertight as possible. 

For example, by making employers aware of the adjustments required to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act, the risk of potential claims being brought against the company will be mitigated. 

Another role of an occupational health provider is to ensure each client complies with health surveillance, and where required, advise on statutory reporting of work-related disease.

At Blackwell Associates we take a proactive approach by advising on how to prevent and minimise  work-related illnesses, as well as identifying work-related disease, to facilitate early intervention and treatment, cost-containment and avoiding legal challenge.

For many employers this can be a minefield. Continually evolving guidelines can often lead a company to unintentionally expose themselves to legal action if they haven’t taken the right steps to ensure their health policies and procedures are reflective of the current legislation.

The team at Blackwell Associates are highly qualified, experienced and well positioned to evaluate your occupational health requirements. 

For further information, please visit www.blackwellassociates.co.uk or contact the team on +44 28 9065 6131