TUC response to health and safety review

Employers should be addressing problems such as stress and poor office design, according to the TUC.

In its submission to Dame Carol Black’s review of health and safety of the working age population, the TUC says that employers’ attempts to encourage healthy living are most effective when they look at how work can contribute to or cause lifestyle problems. However, the TUC also warns that employers should avoid ‘moralising’ over lifestyle issues that have no bearing on what happens in the workplace.

According to the TUC’s submission, it is the working environment that often makes staff ill or unhealthy and employers are urged to avoid working arrangements that leave employees desk-bound for long periods of time. Workplaces with poorly managed work loads or where bullying exists can increase employees’ stress levels.

The full response covers issues including prevention, sickness absence, access to occupational health provision and rehabilitation and is available at:

TUC (Trade Union Congress)