By Dr Chris Edmond
THIS week is Occupational Health Awareness Week, an annual event run by the Society of Occupational Medicine to highlight the links between work and health.
Of course, as an occupational physician I spend a lot of my time talking to business leaders and policy-makers about the benefits of occupational health (OH), but it’s still relatively poorly understood. So I thought I would use this column to highlight some recent developments in Jersey, as well as where I see workplace health fitting into wider health system changes.
It is said that, on average, we spend around a third of our waking lives at work. It’s also recognised that only 20% of an individual’s health is driven by the healthcare they receive – by far the majority is decided by “wider determinants” including the environment, family and social influences, diet, physical activity and, of course, work and income.
So if we spend so much time at work, and it can be such an influence on our health and wellbeing, it makes perfect sense to focus more on the workplace as a source for good health (and potentially also the driver of bad health).
I often talk of occupational health as “applied public health” and that we have the same aims as our public health colleagues:
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Preventing harm – in our case by assessing and controlling workplace risks and monitoring for adverse health effects (eg carrying out a lung check for workers who are exposed to dust).
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Promoting good health – by carrying out regular health checks, developing wellbeing initiatives, and encouraging healthy behaviours we can use workplaces as a key support for the health system.
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Managing health challenges or disabilities as a key part of the health system – ensuring that workers get the help they need, at the earliest possible stage, to keep people in work and get them healthy as soon as possible following illness or injury. All the evidence shows that good work is good for health and that the longer people spend out of work the harder it is for them to start again.
In the wider Jersey system, there have been some really exciting (for me at least!) developments lately. For many years, as an island, we have fallen behind recognised best practice but I’m pleased we are now catching up. For instance, the Health and Safety Inspectorate recently introduced a reporting mechanism for work-related ill health and injury. It’s not mandatory like the UK equivalent, but it’s a good start and will help the Island understand some of the negative effects of work on health – up until now our statistics in this area have been few and far between.
And the Jersey Occupational Safety and Health Association is going from strength to strength, with a conference planned for October with a range of speakers talking on topics relevant to health in the local business context.
But OH is not just about the health of individuals – as the recently published Commission on Health and Prosperity report from the IPPR concluded: “We will not revitalise the health of the nation by persisting with today’s health policy status quo. Demonstrably, our current approach is not leading to healthier lives… better health will only be possible if we move from a sickness model of health policy to a health creation one. It is achieving this shift that should define the implementation of the new government’s health mission.”
The IPPR report focused on the UK, but the same conclusions apply equally in Jersey – we need an integrated, community-based and prevention focused health system – for the good of both citizens and the economy. I have been pleased, therefore, to hear our Health Minister continue to talk about integrating our health system with a new structure, bringing together community services alongside primary care and hospital services so we can all work together to improve the health of the population. And of course developing a citizen-centred digital infrastructure that allows for seamless data sharing across the system will be key for these efforts.
Just a quick note to the Health Minister not to forget occupational health in these discussions – alongside school nursing and health visiting, occupational health is the third recognised branch of community nursing practice, and by supporting the health of the working-age population we can support the health and prosperity of the whole Island.
Occupational health is, in some ways, a bit like Heineken’s famous catchphrase – “refreshes the parts that other beers can’t reach”. While, of course, we recommend drinking sensibly, like Heineken we often reach people that others don’t – for example this week we are supporting The Fishermen’s Mission SeaFit programme, offering free health checks to fishermen and their families down on the quayside (do come down to see us tomorrow and Friday at the Fish Quay).
I’ll end with one final reflection on the changing world of work. I am writing this column at an airport, waiting for a plane back from the UK, where I have spent the past few days at the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine Conference. The theme of the conference was “Start Well, Live Well, Age Well”. One of the standout messages was to keep engaged and active as we age. The world of work needs to change with the demographics of an ageing population, but we know staying active and productive as we age is good for us. Our definition of “working age” is going to have to change over time, but there is an exciting future ahead if we embrace the possibilities and maximise our health.
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Dr Chris Edmond is the founder and medical director of WorkHealth (CI) Ltd, a dedicated Jersey-based occupational health provider. He is also a director at Jersey Sport and Lifestyle Medicine Jersey, and adviser to the Jersey Community Foundation. He writes in a personal capacity.
