UK needs a national mental health strategy, urges OSH Alliance

A new white paper by a group of UK safety industry bodies calls for a national workplace mental health strategy to tackle rising levels of poor mental health.

Prioritising mental health in the workplace, which is joint-published by the The Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Stakeholder Alliance, calls on the UK government and policy-makers to take action.

The white paper recommends they develop a national workplace mental health strategy which recognises the role of the workplace, invests in cross-government department working, pursues evidence-based policies and practices, and establishes reporting and monitoring systems.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) statistics for 2022/23 estimate 875,000 people in the UK suffer from work-related stress, depression or anxiety. This equates to 17 million working days lost, and £750 billion lost in productivity.

Government action, the Alliance suggest, should offer support, information, awareness and skills to all businesses, including micro-SMEs, to protect and promote positive mental health. They emphasise a strong focus on preventing mental ill-health, such as through psychosocial risk management, job design, guidance on violence, harassment and discrimination.

Employers must play a key role, according to the white paper. They can support better mental health by committing to protecting and promoting mental health, and embedding these principles into organisational strategy.

A 2023 report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) identified heavy workloads as by far the most common cause of stress-related absence, followed by management style. Employee Assistance Programmes and flexible working are offered as the top two positve actions to help manage mental health at work.

By 2030, the OSH Alliance expects these combined actions to significantly reduce the burden of work-related mental ill health, which is currently estimated by Deloitte to cost the economy £51 billion a year.

John Gill, chair of the OSH Alliance, said:

“The OSH Alliance was formed to harness the collective capability and influence of its members to support and enhance initiatives to improve the safety and health of workers through effective risk mitigation.

“This white paper signals the OSH Alliance’s intention to add its weight to that of others in pursuit of a sustained reduction in the incidence of mental health issues in the workplace and the personal and collateral damage they cause.”

The OSH Alliance is composed of nine leading organisations: Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH); the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS); British Safety Council (BSC); the British Safety Industry Federation (BSIF); the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH); the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF); the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM); the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH); and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

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