Occupational ill health
The Food and Occupational Health team investigate illnesses
which result from a work undertaking. This may be issues ranging
from dermatitis in hairdressers to musculoskeletal disorders in
delivery drivers.
The Health and Safety executive estimates that there are
1.2 million cases of ill health every year caused or made worse by
work, with 22.1 million working days lost due to work-related
illness. Stress, depression or anxiety and musculoskeletal
disorders accounted for the majority of days lost due to
work-related ill health, 10.8 and 7.6 million days
respectively.
Stress
More than one in four workers are affected by work-related
stress in the European Union.
People's mental and physical health can be adversely affected by
aspects of their working environment, which produce feelings of
anxiety and sometimes acute distress. Factors such as long hours,
workload, uncertain expectations and very significantly, lack of
control over work tasks, can lead to intense feelings of being
unable to cope with such pressures and if prolonged this can lead
to short as well as longer term damage to physical as well as
mental health. For further information on stress in the workplace
including duties as an employee click on the
following link.
Manual Handling
Although there has been a downward trend in the total number of
work-related MSDs over the last 10 years, there were still ½
million reported cases in 2010/11. Musculoskeletal disorders are
the most common type of work-related illness
1 leading to over 7.5 million working days lost in 2010/11.
The industry areas with the highest estimated rates of back
disorders are in Construction and Human health and social work
activities. For further information on muskuloskeletal
disorders in the workplace including duties as an employee
click on the following
link.
Dermatitis
Dermatitis is a skin condition caused by contact with something
that irritates the skin or causes an allergic reaction. It usually
occurs where the irritant touches the skin, but not always. For
further information on dermatitis in the workplace click on the
following link
Further information
Link to the
Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
Link to stress advice, RSPA
Link to NHS Advice
line, free service that provides small business managers with the
expert advice and support they need to help team members
experiencing ill health.
Link to a
number of HSE publications relating to Occupational Health