Managing industrial health-National Power turns liabilities into assets

A detailed study by the Health & Safety Executive revealed that accidents and illness at work are costing UK employers a staggering total of over Pounds 16.5 billion per annum, the equivalent of about Pounds 30 each month per employee. No matter what size the company, this level of expenditure has a significant effect on the balance-sheet, typically representing between 5% and 10% of annual profits. For a large corporate concern operating within the private sector with a workforce of several thousand, such severe haemorrhaging of the company´s financial lifeblood could well prove to be a terminal condition if it remained untreated. The author discusses the action taken by National Power to alleviate the problems. A pro-active approach was taken to occupational health concerns and a dedicated company Occupational Health Service was established, based on the existing medical centres at the company´s power stations and main sites. The new service was given two principal objectives. The first was to ensure that all employees should be in the best possible health, so that their attendance and performance would not be affected and that their working lives would not be shortened through ill health or premature death. The second objective was to provide authoritative advice to the company on all health-related matters.<>