P7
INDUSTRIAL INJURIES ADVISORY COUNCIL – LEADING UK INDUSTRIAL INJURY BENEFITS INTO THE FUTURE?
R. J. J. Heron1, S. Stevelink2, L. Rushton3, D. McElvenny4
1University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
2Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience and National Institute for Health and Care Research, London, UK
3Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College, London, UK
4Institute of Occupational Medicine and Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Manchester, UK
UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1 calls for an end to poverty by 2030, with social protection part of a comprehensive response. Occupational diseases cause many adults to fall into poverty and become economically inactive. According to the 2022/23 Labour Force Survey, 1.8 million UK workers from a working population of 32 million experience work-related ill health. How their social protection is structured, delivered, and communicated has a significant impact on their well-being and that of their families.
Many Occupational Health professionals will be aware of “prescribed diseases” as a means of compensating people with certain diseases contracted during particular employments, and Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) for work-related accidents. Fewer will be aware that prescribed diseases and accident compensation are subject to very specific legislation, making our worker compensation system much more stringent than many countries. Fewer still may know of the Industrial Injury Advisory council (IIAC), an independent, scientific body, sponsored by the department of work and pensions (DWP) to give independent advice to DWP and the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland about accidents, diseases and occupations for which IIDB can be paid. But who are IIAC, what are their priorities and responsibilities? How do they make sure that the process of prescribed diseases remains relevant in a world of rapidly changing work patterns and changing patterns of illness, COVID-19 infection and Long COVID for example? This presentation will provide context and information to help occupational health professionals address these topics more effectively with their stakeholders.
References:
UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030. Targets and Indicators United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal1#targets_and_indicators
UK HSE 2023. Work-related ill health and occupational disease in Great Britain. https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/index.htm
Department of Work and Pensions (2023) Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefits: technical guidance. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/industrial-injuries-disablement-benefits-technical-guidance/industrial-injuries-disablement-benefits-technical-guidance
