News and views from Split Dimension

Once again the world of work and in particular the world of workplace journalism has thrown up a massive contradiction.  HR Review in its article Happiness levels in the workplace have increased  state that according [...]

Last week saw probably the most important document relating to health at work of the 21st Century so far. And it will be a while before someone tops it.  Fitness for Work: the Government response [...]

A couple of HR Review posts last week discussed the ageing workforce and a pair of studies indicating that we are rather dismissive of our older colleagues – although  as someone just shy of a [...]

In an interesting article for the BBC, “Will digital addition clinics be big in 2013?”,  Nic Newman gives seven trends to look out for this year.  Newman reports that social media and mobile technology will [...]

As someone not directly in the elf ‘n safety business but certainly on the fringes of it, I have been a keen follower of the Health and Safety Executive’s Myth Busters Challenge Panel.  Set up [...]

A few weeks ago I published a blog providing an introduction to health surveillance https://www.splitdimension.co.uk/176/ giving the principles that should be followed when identifying risks in the workplace and whether employees should be assessed for [...]

  According to the Medscape article Flu Season Gets an Early Start, CDC says, http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/775531?src=nldne  the US could be in for a bad year.  At a Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) telebriefing yesterday, [...]

One of the clearest pieces of advice for those heading into the world of work in the next few years or those already there and wondering why they are a bit stuck is provided by [...]

If you are looking to carry out some health promotion in your workplace?  Here are some of the things you can do.   Posting information on the internet/intranet. Years ago, occupational health departments, charged with a bit of health [...]

Why, as an occupational health adviser, I should be so interested in the world financial situation is a bit strange.  I did work in a bank once, but it was terribly boring so was never [...]

A while ago, I came across the case of a CCTV operator who went on a training course and just happened to mention that he only had one working eye. His job was to look [...]

Occupational Therapists (OTs) are gradually creeping into the Occupational Health (OH) profession.  When you look at the job title, it makes perfect sense but in the UK, OTs have generally been engaged in helping the [...]

There is an old saying that goes “look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.”  Absence is the same.  If you manage the individual absentees fairly, reasonably but closely, then the overall absence total [...]

This article is taken from my book The Health at Work Guide to Life Like any health professional, Occupational Health Advisers, Physicians and associated professions are bound by strict rules that govern their practice.  An [...]

Piers Morgan likened his appointment to Editor of the Daily Mirror at the age of 29 to being a kid presented with the biggest train set you could imagine.  I took a similar, although downgraded view [...]

A recent RSS feed from HR Review (http://www.hrreview.co.uk) discussed an article about Happiness.  I decided to go to the source and found that every quarter Office Angels (http://www.office-angels.com) carry out some research to find out [...]

Mental health problems are very common and affect 1 in 4 of the UK population. A mental health disorder or mental illness is a psychological pattern, potentially reflected in behaviour, that is generally associated with [...]

I first came across asbestos related disease in my earliest days of nursing.  I was an auxiliary nurse on a male medical ward – an accidental job that led to an accidental career, which occasionally [...]

Pre-employment health assessments have come under much scrutiny in recent years.  There was a time when many organisations would have you up in front of the company doctor for a chat and a “once over” [...]

I am often asked to see employees with musculoskeletal problems.  As with all occupational health services, they make up about a third of my referrals.  However I have noticed a recent trend. On four occasions [...]

If you and your colleagues turned up for work one morning, what would you do if your supervisor came in and said this? “Right folks, today we are going to do something seriously crass and [...]

Health surveillance is any activity which involves obtaining information about employees' health and which helps protect employees from health risks at work.   Ideally it should be identified in the risk assessment process.  It is important [...]

Some of you may be wondering why you need a policy about stress. Well, you need a policy about stress for the same reason you need a policy about every other significant impact on your [...]

My bank rang me the other day asking me if I had time to answer a few questions on their level of customer service.  I normally shy away from these sort of phone calls with [...]

Most back pain is not due to any serious disease and usually improves within a few days or couple of weeks.  If you are affected by back pain, what you do in the early stages [...]

There is a huge range of desks, mice, keyboards, monitors, pads, wrist rests, headsets and phones available to help those who find it difficult to manage with standard desktop equipment.  Much of it is easy [...]

This is an occasional dilemma for both Human Resources and Occupational Health. Employers are often nervous of talking to an employee when they are off work. There is still the view, although it is becoming [...]

The picture is clear.  Most of the world is broke and hasn’t a penny to scratch its arse with.  The western world has been living beyond its means for 30 years and will bump along the bottom [...]