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The CBI has launched a taskforce focused on identifying what can be done to tackle long-term health issues in the workforce.
The CBI has launched and is co-chairing a new Health and Work Taskforce to recommend and implement near-term actions which will lead to long-term health benefits.
The Taskforce, which is backed by industry CEOs, the TUC and the Health Foundation, will identify what UK industry can do to improve the health of their workforces and the working age population more broadly. It will also identify where government can provide signals, framework and incentives to help the whole economy to value health investment more proactively. This could include business-led health interventions such as free health screening, employee assistance programmes and workplace ergonomic assessments.
The recommendations will be publicised at the CBI’s Inaugural Healthier Nation Conference in late September.
Brian McBride, CBI President, said: “A competitive and growing economy can only be built with a healthy and resilient labour market. Our current ‘deal’ on prevention in the UK doesn’t incentivise employers sufficiently and industry’s expertise and reach feels like an untapped resource for resetting our trajectory on societal ill-health.
“We saw important measures announced by the Chancellor at the Spring Budget on occupational health, but lots more can be done within this parliamentary term to seize the prizes available – from reducing sickness absence to growing health industries and alleviating NHS pressures.”
The taskforce will:
- Convene officials, regulators, and industry leaders and draw upon their expertise for an 8–12-week period.
- Identify levers that the government and industry can pull within 18 months to support the health of the working age population and reset the UK’s trajectory on societal ill-health.
- Provide practical solutions for costing and consideration at the Autumn Statement.
Jennifer Dixon, CEO of the Health Foundation, said: ‘‘Health and work are two sides of the same coin. Good, secure jobs are essential building blocks for our health, while a healthy and productive workforce is the engine that powers our economy. Health is an asset that should be invested in rather than seen as a cost on the balance sheet. This Taskforce is an important opportunity to make progress on the journey to becoming a healthier, more prosperous nation.”
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