Health and Work

- Looking to the future

Dr Bill Gunnyeon

Director- Health, Work and Wellbeing

Department for Work and Pensions

Plan

• Setting the context

• Links between work and health

• The challenge

- for Society

- for organisations

• Addressing the challenge

• What Government is doing

• Implications for Fire and Rescue Services

Health and Work – The Statistics 1

• Size of working age population 31 million

• Number of people unemployed <1 million

• Number on Incapacity Benefit 2.6 million

• Number who report sick each week 1 million

- 3000 still off at 6 months

- 2400 will not work again in next 5 years

• Working days lost attributed to work related Illness

& Injury 35 million

• People with disabilities who are in work 3.4 million

Health and Work – The Statistics 2

• Average Life Expectancy:

- Males

- Females

• People aged between 50 and 69:

- Today

- 2024

• Ratio of people working to people in retirement

- Today

- 2050

• Percentage of Adult Life in Retirement (Males):

- 1950

- 2005

83

86

13 million

15.9 million

4:1

2:1

18%

30.7%

Health and Work – The Statistics 3

• 90% of people entering IB expect to return to work

• After 12 months on benefit average duration of claim is 8 years

• After 2 years more likely to retire or die than return to work

• Around half of claimants are over 50

• 40% of new claimants suffer from mental health problems

Health and Work – The Links

• Being out of work leads to:- poorer health- psychological distress- increased visits to GPs

• Returning to work:- improves general health- improves mental health- reduces psychological distress

• Work has potential to cause or worsen health problems• For most people with health problems returning to

appropriate work is beneficial

Our challenge as a Society

We need:

• To increase employment to 80% from current 75%

• More people in work

• People at work for more of the time

• People able to work to a later age

• People with health problems and disabilities able to return to work

• Work seen as important for people’s health and wellbeing

The challenge for organisations

• To create working environments which are:- safe- healthy- and where people want to work

• To have people at work for more of the time• To have people more effective when at work• To have people able to work to at least normal retirement age• To have people with health conditions:

- able to remain in work- or return to work as quickly as possible

Addressing The Challenge

• Supporting people in making choices to improve general health

• Ensuring people do not suffer illness or injury as a result of the work they do

• Investigating and treating people quickly and effectively

• Helping people better manage health conditions

• Ensuring rehabilitation and return to work support

• Adapting work to meet people’s changing needs with age

• Pathways pilots and Condition Management Programmes

• Collaboration with Health Departments and HSE

• Health, Work and Wellbeing Strategy

• “A new deal for welfare: empowering people to work”

• Appointment of National Director for Health and Work

• Stakeholder Summit

• Evidence Review of Work and Health

What is Government doing

• Pathways pilots and Condition Management Programmes

• Collaboration with Health Departments and HSE

• Health, Work and Wellbeing Strategy

• “A new deal for welfare: empowering people to work”

• Appointment of National Director for Health and Work

• Stakeholder Summit

• Evidence Review of Work and Health

What is Government doing

To have created an environment where the health and wellbeing of those in work and all those who wish to work is actively promoted, supported and valued.

Our Vision

• Creating opportunities to improve health• Being proactive in reducing incidence of work related illness

and injury• Addressing organisational issues• Careful assessment of conditions which impact on fitness

for firefighting• Supporting where possible people with health conditions to

remain in work• Providing access to simple interventions for common health

problems• Facilitating return to work following illness or injury• Supporting people to work to a later age• Appropriate attendance management policies

Implications for Fire and Rescue Services

“He’s renowned for his speed, his success rate and his list – he takes over three hundred cases a year. Some fail, a handful endure with their lights fogged, but most thrive, and many return to work in some form; work – the ultimate badge of health.”

Ian McEwan – “Saturday”