WELLBEING IN THE WORK PLACE
GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH PROVIDER
PRESS ARTICLE DECEMBER 2011 THE DAILY MAIL ALONG WITH A NUMBER OF OTHER PUBLICATIONS CARRIED A FEATURE ENTITLED: HOW TO CUT YOUR RISK OF CANCER BY FOLLOWING JUST FOUR SIMPLE LIFESTYLE CHANGES AND HOW THIS WOULD SAVE THOUSANDS OF LIVES. IT STATED THAT “100,000 CASES OF CANCER CAN BE AVOIDED BY THESE CHANGES”
A total health approach is a step in the right direction in integrating natural and complimentary therapies alongside any medical interventions in our quest to achieve optimum health, so that we can live our lives to the fullest and reduce the known risks to our health. It is necessary to make lifestyle modifications, often very simple ones, with the support of skilled individuals to help facilitate these behavioural changes which will yield positive results.
STRIVING FOR OPTIMUM HEALTH – THE ROLE OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH PROVIDERS
If you are in an organisation with an established occupational health provider there will be a number of services already in place for employees, although it is unlikely that it will be broad enough to have the range of services to provide a total health approach in the way I am advocating it.
The provider will have a multi-disciplinary team working together to ensure that you have the most relevant person they have seeing your employee. There are likely to be Occupational Health Nurses, Physiotherapists, Doctors and Counsellors and having a provider that has all of these services to tap into at the organisation’s discretion is a good step in the right direction of having an employee support programme.
The Occupational Physiotherapist deals with all of the muscular skeletal issues which are one of the big issues affecting people in the workplace and if you have manual workers and people doing data input for long periods of time they really get benefit if they are seen early enough. This keeps your employees at work rather than going on sick leave, reducing potential absence costs. Early intervention also means that recovery is quicker, the injury has less physical impact and it may prevent potential future problems occurring in the first place.
If an organisation does not have an occupational health provider when problems arise with an employee’s health, they could struggle with absence management issues and need to rely on GP Fit Notes which are one-sided as Doctors may not understand your workplace. Human Resources and Line Managers would need make decisions on what they consider reasonable adjustments for employees based on their non-medical judgement.
If the organisation does not want, or cannot afford a full-time provider, an ad hoc service can be provided on an as and when needed pay as you go basis. This on one hand controls costs and focuses them on the individual who is sick and you can cost each absence to the business, but it comes at a higher cost than a contracted service would be.
If organisations are paying for a provider already, then it will want to get the maximum return on investment for the service. Tips below for some simple but not always in place actions:
1 Provide thorough, detailed information explaining the employee referral and what they can / cannot do, medication, adjustments advised etc so that the occupational health support person does not have to ‘piece together’ the puzzle which will cost more time and money and may result in a less relevant, targeted health intervention. 2 Ensure effective two-way
communication facilitating good case management & feedback regarding the treatment & results with the employee.
3 Early intervention in muscular skeletal and mental health wellbeing issues is essential, even if an existing policy states waiting a number of weeks. Any good employer will do this.
4 Have an occupational health policy & procedure as a framework to enable consistent practice from leaders & managers across the organisation, and ensure these people have a full understanding of what services and support the occupational health provider can deliver and when it can be called upon informally and formally as part of the employee support programme.
Gill Main
Partnering4Performance
www.partnering4performance.com
e = See enhanced entry online
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