HSE Launches Commercial Venture In Better Health At Work Alliance

As if there isn't already enough guidance for employers about protecting the health, safety, and welfare of their employees, yet another organisation; The Better Health at Work Alliance (BHWA) has now been launched. This time by the Health and Safety Executive to complement their Helping Great Britain Work Well strategy.

The BHWA claims to be a 'new industry-led initiative, backed by experts ready to collaborate in offering you free guidance and latest insights' and a 'new industry body for health at work'.

Heralding this move, the press release states:

The BHWA, led by director Charlotte Cross, offers access to solutions, information and guidance on workplace health for British Workplaces.

The alliance was launched last month in support of key expert organisations and offers an ‘Ask the Expert’ forum, collaborative wikis, and guides, all of which are subject to peer review.

The platform brings together a range of leading workplace health specialists and has the endorsement of over 30 key industry organisations.

The BHWA allows workplace health experts to collaborate on providing free guidance to employers, taking in all specialisms and growing the multi-disciplinary approach to service provision.

Charlotte Cross:

“It is fantastic to see HSE proactively engaging with the UK to improve workplace health.

The strategy aims to reduce the complexity of workplace health, which is exactly what the BHWA does.

Ill health in the workforce costs the nation £9 billion annually and can cost any employer dearly by impacting productivity, so it’s essential that we make it easy for any organisation to find ways to improve workplace health.

It will be really exciting to see this strategy gain momentum – long may it continue.”

Interesting to note the above words 'improve workplace health" given the current strategy by UK employers is to penalise and even sack workers for genuine sick absences, including those with serious health conditions like cancer and being disabled; in order to 'improve' their productivity and sickness absence figures.

To date no serious UK employers organisations seem to exist to actually 'improve' workers health, and thereby increasing workplace productivity.

But of course all this comes at the price of membership and is an entirely unnecessary cost for those employers whose organisation includes Union Safety Reps and Trade Unions who are able to supply the same information, and often more specific to the needs of the organisation they are employed in for free!

This is  no surprise of course as the Tory government's aim is to ensure the HSE becomes more commercialised and to peddle the myth that health & safety in the workplace is a financial burden upon employers, by doing so.

Better Health at Work Alliance is claiming to be, "..... the first and only one-stop-shop for workplace health, purpose built to make finding help and information simple and easy." ; many will recall that the whole point of the HSE in the first place was to be just that!

However, looking at the organisation's website shows it has several functions available including- Ask An Expert, which is basically a list of advertisements for private healthcare providers, occupational health service providers etc.

Currently there does not appear to be any way of getting free health and safety at work advise and information, and there is certainly no signs of a collaborative approach between employers and their employees towards health and safety at work being promoted as the best way forward.

It will be interesting to see how this latest web-based initiative developes and if it actually benefits workers and helps to protect their health, safety and welfare at work in any way that USRs, Trade Unions and the HSE currently do not.

source: SHP / HSE / BHWA

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