Chris has hit the nail on the head with this and if only all companies
saw the true value of OH I think our job would be so much easier, as
half the battle in my experience is getting managers and HR on side! I
am lucky here because we have a good relationship with HR and this will
doubtless reap its own rewards....I am in my 5th week with this employer
so it's early days yet, but I feel more positive about the future in OH
and team working!
Rita Ogden
Occupational Health Specialist Practitioner
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Chris Packham
Sent: 17 July 2008 11:55
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: occupational healthprotocool for managing sickness absence
Patricia,
Please - this is not a personal attack but a more general comment
prompted
by your e-mail.
I get concerned when I see emphasis and effort being concentrated on
sickness management, particularly where it would appear that there has
been
an upsurge in this. I liken this to attempting to work out how to get
the
horse back into the stable after it has bolted, i.e. reactive, rather
than
for me what I would classify as proactive, i.e. preventing the horse
getting
out in the first place. This is a criticism I had of the Black report,
which
concentrated far too much on rehabilitation and not nearly enough on
preventing the need for this.
Surely, if there has been an upsurge, then what should be the primary
aim of
OH is to identify why this is happening and what can be done to reduce
it?
Certainly there will always be sickness absence, but for me the role of
OH
is to ensure that this is as small as it can be made. Perhaps the
emphasis
on the reactive is why OH often finds it difficult to obtain the
management
support and resources it should rightly have.
In the past I have been responsible for the management of industrial
companies and know that, as the managing director, it would be far
easier to
justify allocating resources to OH if it could demonstrate that this
would
result in my having a healthier and thus more productive workforce.
Let me put the following forward for thought. Managers generally have
their
motorcars serviced regularly, rather than wait until they break down on
the
motorway. They usually do the same with equipment, buildings, etc. Read
any
engineering magazine (as I do) and you will find a great deal of effort
and
resources devoted to preventative maintenance. The one area that is
never
considered for preventative maintenance is that one asset without which
nothing the the workplace will happen. Of course, this is the workforce.
I
would argue that OH is about preventative maintenance on people.
Believe me, when you take this approach with management you get a
completely
different response. Suddenely OH is no longer a "luxury" or something
that
just costs money. They can now appreciate how OH contributes to the
"bottom
line".
Regards
Chris
EnviroDerm Services (UK) Ltd.
2 Amery Lodge Farm, North Littleton, Evesham, WR11 8QY, U.K.
Tel: 0044 1386 832 311
Dermatological Engineering for a healthier workplace
For more information about our support, services and technical aids,
visit
our recently revised website: (www.enviroderm.co.uk)
For immediate help e-mail us at [log in to unmask] or phone on +44
1386
832 311
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please remove this footer before replying.
OCC-HEALTH ARCHIVES:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/occ-health.html
CONFERENCES AND STUDY DAYS:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/filearea.cgi?LMGT1=OCC-HEALTH
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH JOBS
http://OHJobs.drmaze.net
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH NURSING EDUCATION
http://www.aohne.org.uk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please remove this footer before replying.
OCC-HEALTH ARCHIVES:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/occ-health.html
CONFERENCES AND STUDY DAYS:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/filearea.cgi?LMGT1=OCC-HEALTH
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH JOBS
http://OHJobs.drmaze.net
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH NURSING EDUCATION
http://www.aohne.org.uk
|
