Why the Toolkit?

Around two million people suffer from a work-related illness in Great Britain and an astonishing 30 million working days are lost because of ill health caused by work.

• Musculoskeletal disorders are the most common occupational illness - they affect over 1 million people a year
• Between 1,500 and 3,000 people develop occupational asthma each year
• 3,500 people each year are diagnosed with work-related skin diseases
• Work-related stress accounts for over a third of all new ill health cases

So, how can we change this? There are fewer than 7,000 specialist occupational health doctors and nurses in the UK, and they need support from their health and safety practitioner colleagues.

Equipped with the right tools and working in partnership with others - doctors, nurses and HR professionals - health and safety practitioners can prevent ill health, recommend early intervention and help people return to work.

Our Occupational Health Toolkit provides a 'one-stop shop' for health and safety professionals. There are already plenty of good resources available, but the problem is finding them. Now they're all in one place and cover the spectrum from prevention to rehabilitation. The Toolkit also offers supplementary resources, including presentations, to use in tackling health problems at work.