health and safety presentation nhs

A safe, secure working environment

Health and wellbeing.

The reported levels of sickness absence across the clinical support workforce in hospital and community services are high (8% in April 2020) compared with other staff groups such as scientific, therapeutic and technical workers (4%). ( Nuffield Trust, 2021, pg. 37-38 )

The NHS achieves extraordinary things for patients, but safety and health and wellbeing matter just as much for our people. If we don’t look after ourselves, and each other, we cannot deliver safe, high-quality care. COVID-19 has spurred the NHS on to put much greater focus on this, which we must continue and build on.

- NHS England and Improvement

smart_display Why wellbeing conversations are important.

This video, from NHS England and NHS Improvement, shares personal experiences from across the NHS of staff who have benefited from wellbeing conversations with their line managers.

Supporting health and wellbeing in the workplace

The following resources provide guidance on how to support health and wellbeing in the workplace.

This is a guide for NHS managers about sickness absence east

Supporting mental health in the workplace east, supporting staff health and wellbeing east, emotional wellbeing toolkit east.

Emotional wellbeing toolkit explains the contributors to decreased emotional wellbeing and shows you how to encourage improvements.

Dealing with staff absences east

These resources explore how to measure and manage absences, as well as help an employee when they return to work.

Mental Health and Race at Work east

Research Report and Toolkit - Understand how people who are Black or from a Minority Ethnic background face particular challenges which may contribute to poor mental health. The City Mental Health Alliance has created resources that will increase the business community's understanding of this area, and provide evidence-based guidance for action, so that more businesses can build mentally healthy, diverse and inclusive workplaces for all of their people.

Stress and resilience framework east

The stress and resilience framework helps organisations to support staff by taking time to explore what is impacting staff wellbeing. It shifts the thinking away from “how can we make staff more resilient?” to “what do organisations need to do to support their staff and reduce reliance on individual resilience?”.

Feeling valued

A significant majority of respondents (42%) to a survey by King's College London felt that their efforts were not fully recognised and a third did not feel valued members of their team. Only 15% of respondents thought the NHS as a whole gave support workers the recognition they deserved ( King's College London, 2021, pg 22 ).

Health Education England’s Voice Network (a national support worker group; first meeting June 2021) identified perceptions of not being valued as a key issue.

• Investors in people highlight some key ways that employees feel valued .
• NHS Employers have provided twelve top tips on staff engagement .

Support Worker Voice

The Support Worker Voice is a free virtual network facilitated by Health Education England, set up specifically for the Support Worker workforce. It consists of regular meetings with an agenda driven by Support Workers.

The network gives Support Workers the chance to meet their counterparts from across the country so they may feel connected, share values and opinions and most importantly have their voices heard.

To register your interest and receive your invitation please email: [email protected]

Protecting staff from violence

The mental health support workforce experiences a disproportionate level of physical violence and bullying when compared to other mental health staff and other Trusts ( Nuffield Trust 2021 pg. 47 ). The mental health support workforce is likely to spend the most amount of time out of all mental health roles providing direct care. This would increase their chances of experiencing patient violence.

On 2 January 2021 NHS England and NHS Improvement published the first national Violence Prevention and Reduction Standard for NHS organisations . The new standard complements existing health and safety legislation, employers (including NHS employers) have a general duty of care to protect staff from threats and violence at work. The standard delivers a risk-based framework that supports a safe and secure working environment for NHS staff, safeguarding them against abuse, aggression and violence.

These guidelines from NICE cover the short-term management of violence and aggression in adults (aged 18 and over), young people (aged 13 to 17) and children (aged 12 and under). It is relevant for mental health, health and community settings. The guideline aims to safeguard both staff and people who use services by helping to prevent violent situations and providing guidance to manage them safely when they occur.

Best practice case studies

• Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Trust successfully reduced violence against community mental health staff. Find out more on the Health and Safety Executive website .

Managing concerns raised effectively

Rcn guidance on handling and learning from comments, concerns and complaints east.

This guide has been prepared by the RCN to help frontline nurses and health care support workers understand how to deal with feedback, both good and bad, as well as concerns, complaints and compliments.

NHS Employers: Raising concerns – guidance for managers east

Managers in the NHS can use the following guidance to positively respond to concerns raised.

National Guardian’s Office east

Freedom to Speak Up Guardians support workers to speak up when they feel that they are unable to in other ways. You can find out more details, including who your Freedom to Speak up Guardian from the National Guardian’s Office.

Support from Trade Unions east

If you belong to a Trade Union you will have a representative who can help you - your Trust's intranet or HR team will have details of the recognised Unions but you can join any union you wish (and your employer does not need to know). More details and advice are available from the Trade Unions Congress website.

ACAS guide to dealing with problems at work east

You can also find advice and guidance from the ACAS website.

Mandatory Training Update: Please complete all mandatory e-learning modules expiring before 1 November 2024 by Thursday 5 September, to ensure you remain compliant before the system change. Access LearnSpace .

• Patient Safety Courses

Safety has always been the NHS’ highest priority and the new Patient Safety Incident Report Framework (PSIRF) aims to help providers continuously improve their safety cultures, systems and behaviours.

The framework focuses on methods of investigation, the involvement of patients and families and the system changes needed for better patient outcomes. It requires NHS providers to improve skills, practices and behaviours within the workforce and for leaders to create organisational cultures conducive to continuous learning and improvement.

To support Trusts and Integrated Care Systems implement the PSIRF, we offer two courses designed to equip staff with the essential skills and behaviours needed to investigate incidents and coach leaders on ways to develop positive safety cultures across their organisations.

Our courses are carefully structured to cover all the PSIRF requirements – but we can also tailor and edit them to meet your specific requirements. Both courses can be procured under the Health Education East of England Education Framework and delivered on-site or at a venue close to you.

• Developing an organisational 'Just Culture'

Safety has always been the NHS’ highest priority and the new Patient Safety Incident Report Framework (PSIRF) aims to help providers continuously improve their safety cultures, systems and behaviours.

• Duty of Candour and Being Open Principles

This online Statutory Duty of Candour training course was developed for individual healthcare and social care professionals, including, Doctors and medical practitioners, dentists, registered nurses, allied health professionals, Health and social managers.

• Incident Response

This comprehensive course examines best practice in incident response and how, by involving all team members, our responses can develop.

• Introduction to Complex Systems and Systems Thinking

Systems thinking is an approach to problem-solving that views ‘problems’ as part of a wider, dynamic system. It is the process of understanding how things influence one another as part of a whole.

• Introduction to Human Factors

In this introduction, we focus on how we might apply this knowledge in clinical settings. However, its application can be used in wider contexts and situations.

• Investigator Preparation Training

PSIRF requirements and Strategies to improve staff and patient involvement for patient and staff involvement.

• Just Culture

Participants in the Just Culture in Healthcare programme learn how to apply the Just Culture Algorithm, to reinforce Just Culture principles and to create a culture of learning, that sustainably reduces risk and improves patient safety.

• Purpose of Patient Safety Incident Response

This course provides a systems approach to the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework.

Get in touch

Contact our Academy team today for a consultation to discuss your specific education and training needs.

Contact Academy team

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Health and Wellbeing in the NHS – the journey so far: NHS England and NHS Improvement presentation (15 September 2021)

• PUBLISHED 16 October, 2021
• TYPE Seminars and presentations
• CONTENT TYPE Pre-existing
• COPYRIGHT STATUS Original author
• PAYWALLED No
• ORIGINAL AUTHOR NHS Improvement and NHS England
• ORIGINAL PUBLICATION DATE 15/09/21
• SUGGESTED AUDIENCE Health and care staff, Patient safety leads
• Staff safety
• Staff support
• Organisational culture

NHS Improvement and NHS England presentation at the NHS Health at Work Network Conference on health and wellbeing in the NHS. View the presentation slides below.

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Advancing social justice, promoting decent work ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations

Topic portal

A safe and healthy working environment is a fundamental principle and right at work . Thus, all Members have an obligation arising from the very fact of membership in the ILO to respect, to promote and to realize, in good faith and in accordance with the ILO Constitution , the principles concerning this fundamental principle and right. Despite this important decision and the significant progress in occupational safety and health (OSH), work-related accidents and diseases still occur too frequently, with devastating impacts on workers, enterprises and entire communities and economies.   

2.93 million

workers die each year as a result of work-related factors

395 million

workers worldwide sustain a non-fatal work injury each year

2.41 billion

workers are exposed to excessive heat each year

$361 billion

could be saved globally by implementing improved safety and health measures to prevent injuries from excessive heat in the workplace

Climate change and excessive heat

Impacts on occupational safety and health

Areas of Work

• Biological Hazards  
• Chemical Hazards  
• Psychosocial Factors 
• Physical Hazards
• National OSH Profiles, Policies and Programmes (coming soon)
• Labour administration and Inspection
• Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems
• Guidelines on occupational safety and health management systems (ILO-OSH 2001)
• Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
• International Classification of Radiographs of Pneumoconioses  
• ILO List of Occupational Diseases (revised 2010) 
• Diagnostic and exposure criteria for occupational diseases - Guidance notes for diagnosis and prevention of the diseases in the ILO List of Occupational Diseases (revised 2010)  
• Gender 
• Young Workers

Development Cooperation

Safety + Health for All

The Programme mobilizes development cooperation resources to improve the safety and health of workers worldwide.

• Sub programme - The Vision Zero Fund

Social safety nets

ILO/Japan Fund for Building Social Safety Nets in Asia and the Pacific (SSN Fund)

Advancing the Decent Work Agenda in North Africa (ADWA')

Normative instruments

• Fundamental
• General Scope
• Risk-specific
• Sector-specific
• Codes of practice
• The Occupational Safety and Health Convention (No. 155)  and its Recommendation (No. 164)
• The Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention (No. 187)  and its Recommendation (No. 197)

More information

• The Fundamental Conventions on Occupational Safety and Health
• Understanding the ratification and implementation process of the fundamental Conventions on occupational safety and health
• Protocol of 2002 to the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981
• Occupational Health Services Convention, 1985 (No. 161) and Recommendation, 1985 (No. 171)
• List of Occupational Diseases Recommendation, 2002 (No. 194)
• Protection of Workers' Health Recommendation, 1953 (No. 97)
• Welfare Facilities Recommendation, 1956 (No. 102)
• Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115) and Recommendation, 1960 (No. 114)
• Occupational Cancer Convention, 1974 (No. 139) and Recommendation, 1974 (No. 147)
• Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise and Vibration) Convention, 1977 (No. 148) and Recommendation, 1977 (No. 156)
• Asbestos Convention, 1986 (No. 162) and Recommendation, 1986 (No. 172)
• Chemicals Convention, 1990 (No. 170) and Recommendation, 1990 (No. 177)
• Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention, 1993 (No. 174) and Recommendation, 1993 (No. 181)
• White Lead (Painting) Convention, 1921 (No. 13)
• Guarding of Machinery Convention, 1963 (No. 119) and Recommendation, 1963 (No. 118)
• Maximum Weight Convention, 1967 (No. 127) and Recommendation, 1967 (No. 128)
• Benzene Convention, 1971 (No. 136) and Recommendation, 1971 (No. 144)
• Anthrax Prevention Recommendation, 1919 (No. 3)
• Lead Poisoning (Women and Children) Recommendation, 1919 (No. 4)
• White Phosphorus Recommendation, 1919 (No. 6)
• Hygiene (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1964 (No. 120) and Recommendation, 1964 (No. 120)
• Safety and Health in Construction Convention, 1988 (No. 167) and Recommendation, 1988 (No. 175)
• Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995 (No. 176) and Recommendation, 1995 (No. 183)
• Safety and Health in Agriculture Convention, 2001 (No. 184) and Recommendation, 2001 (No. 192)

Codes of practice by topic and sector

Publications

Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable Supply Chains Asia (RISSC) in Thailand

A global review of the science, policy and practice

Heat at work: Implications for safety and health

Assessment of occupational safety and health qualification systems at the national level

• ILO STAT - Statistics on Safety and Health at Work
• INTEROSH - ILO Database on Occupational Safety and Health Agencies, Institutions and Organizations around the world
• Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety
• LEGOSH - Global database on occupational safety and health legislation
• CISDOC - Archived bibliographic database
• International Chemical Safety Cards (ICSCs)

Training Courses

The International Training Centre of the ILO (ITC-Turin) provides a variety of free and paid courses online and in-person courses related to occupational safety and health.

Ongoing and upcoming events

News and articles.

Request for proposals

Individual Consultant to compile the gap analysis on Botswana’s Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)

Strengthening Social Compliance in Indonesia’s Palm Oil Sector Project

Consultant for Research on Global Social Compliance Tools

Global Strategy on Occupational Safety and Health 2024-2030 and plan of action for its implementation

Following the inclusion of a safe and healthy working environment as a fundamental principle and right at work, the ILO Governing Body endorsed the Global Strategy on Occupational Safety and health 2024-2030 and plan of action for its implementation.

Contact the Occupational Safety and Health and Working Environment Branch (OSHE) for more information.

You may also be interested in

Chemical Safety and the Environment

Annex to the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Recommendation, 2006 (No. 197)

Instruments relevant to the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health

ILO Conventions and Recommendations in the field of Chemical Safety

ILO indicators of progress in implementing SAICM

• Health Boards
• NHS 111 Wales
• Accessibility
• Staff Intranet

Presentations

These presentations will help explain the background to the NHS Wales Anti Violence Collaborative. They can be used at meetings and workshops.

Presentation to NHS Wales Executives

View and download PowerPoint (PPT, 467KB)

Presentation given by Andrew Hynes, Head of Personal Injury, NWSSP Legal and Risk Services and AVC Chair. The presentation describes the background and history with regards to the AVC.

IOSH Webinar on Violence in Health and Social Care

Webinar presentation given by Andrew Hynes, Head of Personal Injury, NWSSP Legal and Risk Services and AVC Chair. The presentation was given to members of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) during February 2019.

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Priorities and operational planning guidance 2024/25

The 2024/25 priorities and operational planning guidance focuses on the recovery of our core services through continuous improvement in access, quality, and productivity, whilst transforming the way we deliver care and create stronger foundations for delivery in the future.

2024/25 priorities and operational planning guidance

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Updated 10 April 2024

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