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Craig Morris, 23, a trainer for British Military Fitness in his spare time, has joined Health@Work as a Workplace Health Advisor.

Qualified with an MSC and with two years experience in fitness training and environmental work, Craig will join the team working on the charity’s Health, Work and Wellbeing project (HWWB), liaising with employers to help improve workplace health.

Jacky Crowley, Deputy Director of Health@Work said: “We’re really pleased to welcome Craig to the team. His experiences, particularly his work in fitness will certainly be useful working on the HWWB project.”

Craig said: “I am really looking forward to working with employers in Liverpool to bring about some positive changes and make genuine improvements to people’s well being and health, both in and out of the workplace.”

HWWB is a three year programme being ran by Health@Work in partnership with Liverpool PCT. The service is free to any Liverpool based business. Participating organisations will receive advice and guidance in everything from improving diet, health and fitness in the workplace, to putting in place health and safety policies and tackling work related health problems.

Jacky Crowley said: “The HWWB programme will give companies a complete health overhaul. We will go in and submit questionnaires to staff first in order to identify where things need to be improved, then we will advice employers on what they can do to create a safe, healthy and productive working environment.”

If you require more details on the ‘HWWB’ programme, call 0151 236 6608 or e-mail info@healthatworkcentre.org.uk

Liverpool charity Health@Work has won a grant from the government’s Challenge Fund to tackle mental health issues in the city.

The Challenge Fund was set up by the government following Dame Carol Black’s groundbreaking report into the health of Britain.  The fund is there to support local initiatives that improve workplace health and well-being, through innovative approaches.

The workplace health charity will be using the grant to fund three projects to help employees and employers tackle mental health issues such as stress, depression and anxiety.

Frances Molloy, Chief Executive at Health@Work said: “Mental health issues are one of the major causes of work related ill health, with one in four British adults experiencing at least one diagnosable mental health issue a year. Probably stress is the most well known work related mental health issue, but there are many other mental health problems which result from the workplace.  With this new funding we are hoping to raise awareness of mental health and how employers can address it.”

The charity’s three projects will start in April.  The first is a 10 day Health, Work and Wellbeing (HWWB) course.  Representatives from firms can join this free course and learn how to provide a workplace which supports mental well being, as well as giving staff access to healthy options in terms of diet and exercise.

The second is a series of half day training sessions called “Beyond Blue.”  These sessions are for line managers and will give management the confidence and skills to support staff with mental health issues.

The third project is a pilot scheme known as the “Quiet place.” This is a programme for staff to help develop emotional intelligence and give staff the skills to manage their own mental well being.

Frances said: “We want to encourage employers and employees in SMES to take advantage of these free programmes as they can have a hugely positive impact on the workplace, helping to reduce absenteeism, improving staff motivation and directly effecting productivity and the bottom line.”

A local charity is running a ten week pilot scheme to create “Health Champions” in Liverpool’s leading firms.

It is hoped the transformation of these “Health Champions” will improve the health and well being of workers in the city.

Health@Work partnered with Unionlearn and funded by NHS Liverpool, is training representatives from some of the city’s largest organisations on health issues, giving them the knowledge, skills and resources to champion workplace health and helping them to develop and deliver well being initiatives in their companies.

Keith Gorman from Health@Work said: “Liverpool is leading the way in workplace health campaigns and our new ‘Health Champions’ course is no exception.

"By creating champions of health in Liverpool’s major workplaces we hope to bring about improvements to people’s well being and health, both in and out of the workplace."

John Halligan, Regional Development Worker at the TUC said: “Many representatives from the trade unions are taking part in this course and its goes beyond your typical health and safety training.

"We’re learning more about taking a proactive and preventative approach to health in the workplace, encouraging staff to improve diet, exercise and their general wellbeing.

"With the principles we learn from the course we hope to bring genuine improvements for staff and begin to tackle issues in the workplace such as absenteeism.”

Students on the course are receiving training from health specialists on a range of different issues.

The course covers areas such as alcohol in the workplace, diet and exercise, sexual health and mental health. Once complete, students receive accreditation through the Open College Network.

For further information please call 0151 236 6608 or visit www.healthatworkcentre.org.uk.

The article highlights the key issue that while GP’s are doing a great job, most have had no training in sick note certification and would benefit from support in this area. This will become a potentially bigger issue, when the government replaces the 60-year-old sick note with their new "fit note." Then GPs will need to detail what tasks sick workers can perform with the idea of helping patients back into the workplace.

Some organisations in the UK are trying to address this issue though. As Executive Director for charity Health@Work in Liverpool, we have piloted a scheme offering support to GPs in dealing with patients on sick notes. GPs can refer patients to us and we can handle the case from there on in, helping the patient get back to work. We do this by actually tackling the root cause of the problem. We liaise with the employer in order to resolve issues in the workplace which may have caused an employee’s illness or injury. We will also advise an employer on what workplace adaptions can be put in place to ensure an employee can come back to work despite an injury or illness.

In Liverpool our charity has dealt with more than a 1000 cases, successfully supporting GPs and helping hundreds of patients on sick notes back into work.

Considering its success in Liverpool I’d like to see more areas in the UK adopting a similar system, with specialists in workplace health supporting GPs and helping patients return to work.

Frances Molloy, Executive Director of Health@Work

Competing interests: None declared