The awards encourage employers to promote a healthier workforce and covers a wide range of topics including health promotion, occupational health and safety, employability, mental health and well-being, community involvement, and health and the environment.

Kwik Fit Insurance, based in Uddingston, Scotland, received the Gold Healthy Working Lives Award following the introduction of a series of projects aimed at improving the health and well-being of its 900 staff and is the first private sector organisation in its region to be recognised in this way.

Workers benefit from regular health checks including weight, cholesterol levels and heart health, as well as being given the opportunity to take part in a blood donation programme.

In addition, staff enjoy a wide selection of healthy food options at the on-site bistro, while the appointment of a dedicated Environmental Manager has helped the company reduce its carbon footprint by lowering its paper, plastic and energy wastage.

Dorothy Sneddon, Occupational Health Advisor at Kwik Fit Insurance, was responsible for co-ordinating and delivering the initiatives that contributed to the award.

Dorothy said: “The Gold Award is the culmination of two years hard work and we’re delighted with the recognition. Our staff have embraced the initiatives introduced into the centre and I’m delighted that we’ve been able to have a positive impact upon their lives.”

The Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives was established in April 2005, and is playing a key role in helping to reduce work-related ill health by 20 per cent and days lost to ill health by 30 per cent.

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) has voted at their recent conference to launch a campaign to protect teacher’s rights and reduce their workload. One of the primary reasons for pursuing this, according to the NUT, is that recent surveys have shown the teaching is the most stressful profession in the UK.

The NUT set up a working group in 2006 to investigate issues of stress, anxiety, depression and burn-out in teachers, and their findings were presented to conference last week. This included one study by the HSE which concluded that 41.5% of teachers classified themselves as highly stressed.

There are various stress inputs into a teacher’s workload, and the NUT are seeking to minimise the effect of these with decreased working hourse negotiated through a national (England and Wales) employment contract.

Meanwhile, in Scotland, recent figures show teachers are taking up to six times the national UK average in sick leave due to psychological ill-health. Figures were obtained from all but one of the twenty three local authorities who supplied sickness statistics and absence rates. Teacher Support Scotland, a support network, has also reported that as many as 3 out of every 4 teachers felt their work was having an adverse effect on their health, both physical and mental, with stress, exhaustion, and disturbed sleep patterns being the most common symptoms. Teachers Support Scotland have been operating a 24hour helpline to assist teachers to cope and to identify any further needs they may have.

Whilst the absolute “most stressful” accolade is not one that can be attributed with any degree of confidence, there is no doubt that teaching is one of the most stressful occupations. This is not limited to a particular sector, i.e. primary or secondary, as the figures are consistent irrespective of stage being taught. In addition, further education professionals have similar figures to secondary school staff.

Compass Scotland have been working in schools in Scotland over the past four years, and we have seen first hand the causes, symptoms and effects of stress and anxiety in teaching professionals. There is no easy solution to these problems, as the stressors have several vectors, from the institutional to the personal. We have achieved success in lowering staff stress levels, but only as part of a combined approach to culture, ethos and personal responsibility.

Teaching is a difficult occupation, and teachers deserve our respect, however, they also deserve adequate support and an environment which does not impact upon their mental health.

Following Lord Darzi’s NHS Next Stage review, and a review of mental health service delivery, ten strategic health authorities will oversee the regional and local delivery of new mental health policies, with support from the new Development Unit.

The NMHDU will continue the momentum in co-ordinating support for key mental health projects such as:

• improving access to talking therapies;
• promoting equalities in mental health services for race, gender and age groups;
• promoting social inclusion and social justice for people with mental health problems;
• promoting well-being and mental health for the whole population;
• supporting effective mental health commissioning.

Phil Hope, minister for Care Services, said “New Horizons and the Darzi review mean we must actively promote public mental health and well-being, as well as spreading best practice and maintaining world-class mental health services everywhere. The National Mental Health Development Unit will help us do this.”

The new unit will be headed by Dr Ian McPherson, former head of the National Institute for Mental Health.

working late?

A study by the Finish Institute of Occupation Health using the Whitehall II data, has concluded that longer working hours is leading to a widespread decline in the cognitive function of employees. The paper Long working hours and cognitive function:the Whitehall II study used the data from over 2,200 civil servants and compared their cognitive function with working hours, in the first large scale prospective study on the association of these factors.

Survey data

The Whitehall II survey started in 1985, and covered and initial population of 10,308 UK civil servants, who have been the subject of follow up surveys at regular intervals thereafter. An initial survey of cognitive function was carried out in 1997-99, and followed up in 2002-04, and workers were sorted by their working hours into normal (35-40), average (41-55) and very long (more than 55). There were five standard tests of cognitive function, fluency, vocabulary, reasoning, comprehension and recall. The responses were modelled, taking into account other factors, such as age, sex, marital status, employment status and conditions as well as personal health factors.

Working Hours

Of those surveyed, 39 percent reported working 35-40 hours per week, giving 61 percent working more than normal hours, with 8% of the population working more than 55 hours per week. Those workers in the “very long hours” category were more likely to be male, married, higher occupational grade, experience more psychological stress, have shorter sleep patterns and a higher alcohol intake. Comparisons were made on various models, but a statistical significance was found on cognitive ability.

Cognitive function

At the initial study, those workers who reported more than 55 hours work per week have lower vocabulary score at the first assessment, and also at the follow up, when compared to those workers in the 35-40 hours per week group. They also showed lower scores on the reasoning test during the follow up.

The results were shown to be cumulative, and the longer the working hours per week, the lower the score in the cognitive tests. Employees with longer working hours also reported more symptoms of depression and mental illness.

Conclusion

The conclusion to the report is that there is a link between longer working hours and cognitive ability in middle aged workers. Dr Marianna Virtanen, one of the authors, said “the disadvantages of working overtime should be taken seriously… …the differences in aspects of cognitive function between employees working longer hours and those working normal hours is similar in magnitude to that of smoking, a risk factor for dementia”.

Some questions have been raised about the strength of the claims regarding dementia, focusing on the short time between follow up studies as being insufficient to draw such conclusions, however, the authors intend to continue with the study in the future - “It is particularly important to examine whether the effects are long-lasting and whether long working hours predict more serious conditions such as dementia” said Professor Mika Kivimaki.

The plan will involve training additional psychotherapists and specialist nurses, and establishing psychotherapy centres in each NHS trust by the end of 2009. These centres will be linked into an advice network consisting of Jobcentres, doctor’s surgeries and the NHS Direct telephone services The network will be staffed with support personnel, counsellors, and psychotherapists, and will be initially accessed through Doctor’s surgeries, however, the longer goal is to have a system of self-referral.

Regular predictions of long term mental illness associated with the recession, along with expected problems in getting workers back to work after absence have clearly spurred the UK Government into action. Alan Johnson said “In the current economic downturn, the potential exists for more people to become anxious or depressed. If someone is feeling down after losing their job, the best solution is a new job and we are helping people find them wherever possible. But, in some cases, depression and anxiety can be a barrier to getting another job

Current figures put around 6 million UK adults as suffering from depression or anxiety, and many of these are on incapacity benefit. In addition, around 40% of long term sickness benefit claimants are know to be affected by stress. The CIPD’s 2008 Absence Survey put mental health and stress as the number one cause of long term absence from work for non manual workers.

Work and Pensions Secretary, James Purnell, said it was vital to tackle the issue as soon as possible. “We know pushing people onto inactive benefits can lead to a lifetime of dependency. We are working across government to give the help people need to stay in, or get back to, work.”