Work related ill-health has ‘gone through the roof’ with more than 30 million working days lost due to issues ranging from workplace stress to back pain.
Trade unions are calling on the government to increase statutory sick pay (SSP), after data released by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that there were more than 1.8m work related ill-health cases in 2021-22.
The vast majority of cases were due to mental health issues (51%) and musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders (27%), in particular back and upper limb issues.
Much of this absence can be prevented (to avoid the need for employees to live on just £99.35 SSP a week), so here are three steps you can take to reduce the risk of employees becoming sick or injured through work.
Step 1: Make it difficult for employees to injure themselves
It might sound obvious, but the less opportunity employees have to injure themselves at work, the less likely they are to become sick due to work. Unfortunately, when it comes to reducing workplace health risks, it’s all too easy to have a health and safety team complete a risk assessment, and then file it without going further to put in place easy measures that reduce the risks to employees.
This means employees are still able to physically injure themselves at work, typically through poor mechanics or using equipment in an unsafe way. As part of the risk assessment, employees might even have been advised not to carry out an activity in a certain way, but if you’re serious about reducing workplace accidents, you can’t just tell employees to change the way they’ve always done something, you have to change the culture or design out risk.
For example, when a factory realised workers were going absent due to a variety of injuries linked to heavy lifting, instructing them to carry out two-man lifting didn’t create the necessary change. This was partly because workers were used to lifting heavy bags of ingredients out of habit and partly because many saw the lifting as part of their daily workout. It was only once the sacks were made too heavy to lift alone that they finally started sharing the load and using new equipment designed to help them.
Similarly, if you tell someone not to push a trolley or sit in the way they always have, they might be able to change this for a short time, until they habitually revert to what feels normal for them. However, if you adapt the handles of the trolley, or supply ergonomic equipment, they will have no choice but to work in a healthier way, as the risk is designed out.
Step 2: Enforce healthy working practices
If you told an employee to put their hand into a flame, they would probably refuse on the grounds that it would injure them. However, far too many employees regularly damage their mental health by working in ways that they know are detrimental to their wellbeing.
Simply telling people not to extend their day in unhealthy ways won’t create the change needed if they are also being set unachievable targets. This means managing out mental health risks requires going beyond simply educating people about the benefits of working in short productive bursts, taking sufficient breaks, eating properly, exercising in the fresh air every day, having a positive interaction with others and getting enough sleep.
Most people are aware that they’re working in ways that are undermining their health, and mental health in particular. They do this because, in the short term, pushing themselves to hit that deadline or get that extra task done makes them feel validated. Given the choice between working late or prioritising their wellbeing, they will typically choose the former, even though this makes them less productive and more likely to become sick in the long run.
It’s therefore essential that employers compel workforces to adopt healthy working practices. Essential to this is obliging managers to not just tell employees to take a proper lunch break and make time for hobbies, relationships and physical activity outside of work, but also create a workplace culture that enables this. Critical to this is focusing on productivity and output, rather than hours worked, by properly prioritising what needs to be done, so employees have the time needed to look after themselves.
Step 3: Utilise positive peer pressure
Another consequence of global warming is that employees are becoming more dehydrated. Although this might sound like a minor concern, when our bodies lack the fluid needed to deliver oxygen throughout the body, it takes this from other organs.
We first experience this as a dry mouth and might think we can wait another half hour or so until getting a drink, but by then our bodies will already be taking water from our muscles, joints and brains. This slows down our reactions and thinking and can cause us to experience headaches, fatigue, stiff joints and loose muscle bulk and capacity.
Making sure employees understand the consequences of not drinking enough and having access to fresh cold tap water, or a watercooler, is one of the easiest problems to correct. On average, women need to drink at least 2 litres of water a day, while men need 2.5 litres.
Homeworkers, who won’t have colleagues offering them drinks and are less likely to take breaks away from their screen, should be encouraged to take regular hydration breaks. It’s also important to ensure they’re drinking the right kind of fluid, as too much caffeine, or alcohol will actually increase dehydration. Which can also be observed as urine that is similar to a dark ale in colour, instead of a pale white wine.
Reducing work-related ill health
How can PAM Physio Solutions Help?
Workforce analytics
Absence case management
Body mapping workshops
Metal health solutions
Physiotherapy information line (PhIL)
For more information about how we can support your people to stay in work or recover:
Visit: www.pamphysiosolutions.co.uk
Email: pamphysiosolutions@people-am.com
Call: 01925 989741
