A new white paper by the UK’s leading health and safety organisations calls on the UK Government to develop a national workplace mental health strategy that supports all businesses to manage mental health-related risks.

The OSH Stakeholder Alliance comprises nine leading safety and health organisations: RoSPA; the 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); and the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH. It is currently chaired by the BSIF.

The white paper, Prioritising mental health in the workplace, sets out a series of recommendations for employers, UK governments and policymakers and OSH professionals, which are designed to address the state of mental health at work. 

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), 875,000 people in Great Britain suffered from work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2022-23, resulting in more than 17 million lost working days.

The white paper urges businesses to critically assess and review their safety and health leadership and commitment, strategy and culture to ensure their workplaces are conducive to positive mental health.

It also calls on OSH professionals and others who have OSH responsibilities, such as those in HR, to make use of OSH approaches and tools to support organisations, particularly small and medium-sized organisations (SMEs), to prevent and manage psychosocial risks and to protect and promote mental health. 

Alongside recommending the development of a national workplace mental health strategy, the OSH Stakeholder Alliance urges the Government to ensure that HSE and local authorities are adequately funded and able to deliver the required levels of inspection and enforcement needed for organisations to prevent and manage psychosocial risks.

By 2030, the OSH Stakeholder Alliance hopes that the combined actions in its white paper can significantly reduce the burden of work-related mental ill health, which is currently estimated by Deloitte to cost the economy £51 billion a year.

Access the white paper here