Newnham’s Principal has presented a programme on BBC Radio 4 outlining why it is important to promote health and well-being at work.
Professor Dame Carol Black, an expert adviser to the Department of Health, argues that both employers and employees need to do their part and if they do, it will benefit everybody – companies, staff and the NHS.
Achieving improved health in the workplace, she says, can help to significantly reduce demand on stretched NHS services.
But the benefits are not just for the NHS. Healthier staff will feel better, be more productive, and happier at work. And employers can save money on sick pay or the costs associated with high staff turnover.
The programme was partially recorded at Newnham and it features interviews with members of staff who discuss the impact of new healthy initiatives at the College.
As expert adviser to the Department of Health, Dame Carol plays a major ambassadorial role, building and promoting the public and policy position on the positive relationship between work and health.
Dame Carol, pictured, is Chair of the Health at Work network, part of the UK Government’s Public Health Responsibility Deal, set up to engage commercial, public and third sector organisations in improving public health.
Previously she was the first National Director for Health and Work (2006–2011), a role created to provide independent leadership to a cross-Government health, work and well-being agenda.
As National Director she led an independent review of the health of Britain’s working age population, Working for a healthier tomorrow (2008), which was accepted by Government with broad cross-party support.
She was also named as one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK by Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.