Health and work update for clients as at 3rd February 2025
PROMOTING, PROTECTING AND SUPPORTING HEALTH IN WORK
Primary recipients of this and each of our regular monthly updates are asked to ensure these are disseminated to colleagues in HR, those in line management positions, and to senior management.
1. Driving safety and work
We undertake safety critical medicals for employees undertaking work that may expose them to particular risks to their safety, for example quayside workers. For most employers however, the most common safety critical activity their employees undertake is driving in the course of their work.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have published guidance pointing out that vehicles at work continue to be one of the main causes of fatal and major injuries. Figures for 2023 to 2024 show that 25 workers were killed when struck by a moving vehicle: work-related fatal injuries in Great Britain.
We are referred employees who, for example, may have an accident at work, and this can lead to identification of a condition which would make them unsafe for driving. Although whether DVLA Group 1 or Group 2 medical standards should apply would be for the employer’s risk assessment, we would recommend that all employees driving for a significant proportion of their work have an initial assessment of fitness to drive on recruitment and then at intervals we may suggest.
The HSE workplace transport website has guidance, advice and other resources on workplace transport safety, assessing workplace transport risks and also on site safety and forklift trucks.
2. Government consultation with employers on health and work
The Government is currently running the Keep Britain Working Employer Review, which aims to enhance the role of UK employers and government in tackling health related inactivity and creating and maintaining healthy and inclusive workplaces. The review is led by Sir Charlie Mayfield, a former Chief Executive of the John Lewis Group.
We would encourage our clients of all sizes and from across your sectors to contribute to this review, the terms of refence for which were published on 23rd January at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keep-britain-working-terms-of-reference/keep-britain- working-terms-of-reference
Dr Robin Cordell MBA FRCP FFOM 3 February 2025
We should draw attention to the links on our home page to this current monthly health and work update for our clients, and also to our previous updates at: https://cordellhealth.co.uk/.