The role of the Occupational Safety and Health Practitioner in Occupational Health: Strategies for collaboration

IOSH, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, is the Chartered body for health and safety professionals. With more than 40,000 individual members, we’re the largest professional health and safety organisation in the world. Our vision is to achieve, "A world of work which is safe, healthy and sustainable." In the UK work related ill health costs the economy around GBP 100 billion per year and 26.4 million working days are lost. As OSH professionals we are and must continue to be a proactive part of tackling the problem. The main occupational health issues in the workplace facing our professions include are back pain, stress, muscular skeletal disorders, dermatitis and cancers. In terms of contact time the OSH practitioner is more likely to have daily interventions with the employee in the workplace and can have the greatest impact on prevention through, earlier identification, intervention and rapid referral of issues that may arise. As the problems become more complex, specialist input is required by the OH profession. For a successful return to work the employee must be fully supported during their rehabilitation this is often the role of the OSH practitioner. We must remember that we are part of the same process and in order to work effectively we must work together to achieve our vision. IOSH has strategies in place to help this become a reality.