The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has responded to the publication of the new Employment Rights Bill, saying it “has the potential to be a watershed moment for the UK,” providing “long overdue” protections for workers.
IOSH’s Head of Policy and Public Affairs, Ruth Wilkinson, published a statement in response to the UK Employment Rights Bill last month.
In it, she welcomed the tighter regulations on “exploitative zero-hours contracts” as well as steps to strengthen employees’ rights to request flexible working arrangements and access sick-pay, but she also said that IOSH wanted to see some additional protections included in the Bill.
Right to ‘switch off’ should feature in UK Employment Rights Bill
Publishing her response to coincide with World Mental Health Day, Ms Wilkinson said of the UK Employment Rights Bill:
“It is a significant and refreshing step forward.
“[…] However, we are keen for the right to ‘switch off’ from work commitments to be brought into the Bill, to prevent the boundary between people’s work and personal lives from remaining blurred. So today, on World Mental Health Day 2024, we call for greater clarification to stop people from having to be ‘always on’ or working long, onerous shifts or additional hours, something which risks harming their physical and mental health.”
The world’s largest occupational health and safety body recently launched its ‘Small Print’ campaign to tackle this exact issue.
The campaign addresses the ‘small print’ of job contracts and business rules, and the expectations embedded in workplace cultures, such as skipping lunchbreaks, working late and replying to emails late at night, over the weekend or when on annual leave.
It was launched after IOSH surveyed 1,000 workers from across a range of sectors and job roles and found that an “always-on” culture has taken hold in UK workplaces, risking worker health and wellbeing.
The survey revealed that half of the UK’s workers regularly work two or more additional hours without pay every week, with many of them putting in an hour or more of unpaid work each day.
In her statement last month, Ruth Wilkinson said these practices were “unsustainable” and that it was “high time employers guilty of exploiting workers in these ways are forced to acknowledge and support the value and untapped potential their people bring to the workplace.”
IOSH warns that long working hours and excessive workload demands can lead to an increase in musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) such as neck and back pain and joint issues, high levels of stress and anxiety and greater risk of occupational ill-health.
Employment Rights Bill must address key areas to help people ‘thrive at work’
Ms Wilkinson continued:
“Good work, based on a productive work-life balance and favourable working conditions, feeds off the way it enables people to live healthier, more sustainable lives. At such a critical time for the UK economy, where unprecedented levels of inactivity are holding it back, we should be doing everything we can to support people into work, to remain at work and thrive at work.”
As well as addressing this issue, IOSH also wants the new Employment Rights Bill to include:
- Protections around the use of AI and new technologies in workplaces
- Access to occupational health systems to reduce work-related physical and mental ill-health
- Boost in funding for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
- Measures to address human rights abuses in supply chains
Ms Wilkinson said the organisation was “keen to work with the Government on strengthening this and other parts of the Bill.”
In conclusion, she added:
“We’re encouraged the Bill will empower workers to protect their safety and health, help small businesses and the self-employed to access these worker protections and give safety and health professionals the backing they need to help complete the transformation the UK economy so desperately needs.”
Training to support a positive workplace culture
First Response Training (FRT) is one of the UK’s largest and leading national training providers.
They deliver a wide and diverse range of training for businesses and organisations across all industry sectors and throughout the UK. Their course range includes training in the fields of health and safety, first aid, fire safety, manual handling, mental health, food safety, health and social care and more.
Their health and safety training is mapped to UK standards and legislation and follows HSE guidelines. The portfolio includes courses such as Health and Safety, Managing Health and Safety, Risk Assessment, Accident and Incident Investigation, Working at Height, Asbestos Awareness and many more.
An accredited Mindful Employer themselves, FRT’s specialist mental health training courses include Understanding Mental Health, Mental Health Awareness in the Workplace, Managing Stress, Anxiety and Phobias Awareness, Self-Harm Awareness and Suicide Awareness.
They can also provide qualified, approved trainers to deliver accredited Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training courses, including the Adult, Youth and Lite versions.
A trainer from FRT says:
“We believe in creating safer working environments with people who care. This is our vision and central to our services. It means providing training that helps to protect worker health, safety and welfare. This includes their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.
“Long working hours and a culture of being ‘always-on’ and always contactable, whether it’s the evening, weekend or a holiday, can lead to employee burnout and high levels of stress. While stress itself is not recognised as a diagnosable mental health condition, it can lead to more serious mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, and can also have physiological effects.
“It’s important to learn proactive and positive ways for managing, minimising and preventing stress and to ensure that we regularly undergo essential training in health, safety and welfare across all organisations and industries.
“Organisations also need to work on developing positive workplace health and safety cultures that value and protect workers’ health, safety and wellbeing and promote a good work-life balance which is sustainable long-term.”
For more information on the training that FRT can provide, please call them today on freephone 0800 310 2300 or send an e-mail to info@firstresponsetraining.com.