In keeping with our theme of inclusivity, we want to ensure all employers have competent advice on prevention of ill health and on enabling those with health conditions and disabilities to be supported in work; particularly those harder to reach and at higher risk of work related ill health and of falling out of work due to ill health.

Having taken guidance from the CAG member who highlighted this important issue and others, we are seeking to extend worker voice beyond the excellent contribution we already have from our lay trustee for employee voice on FOM Board, nominated by the Trades Unions, and also a member of College Board. We should value your views and suggestions on how to gain the perspective of those employed in smaller organisations and from more disadvantaged groups such as migrant workers. Please do get in touch with ideas and any contacts you feel may be helpful via President@fom.ac.uk

Work is a key social determinant of health, and other social determinants of health such as housing and social deprivation can also have significant impact on health in work. The College enhancing the consistency and competence of work and health professional advice may make a real difference to existing health inequalities.

The strong linkage between public health and workplace health and the importance of competent advice to duty holders on the effective prevention of work related ill health was part of the talk I was privileged to give at the NI Public Sector Occupational Health Collaborative Forum Conference in Northern Ireland this week. I also chaired a panel discussion considering a wide range of issues relating to how the value that occupational health professionals bring can be enhanced through engagement at the strategic level, i.e. advice “upstream” to senior leaders to prevent ill health occurring in the first place and timely identification and intervention when ill health that may be work related or may impact on a worker’s capacity for work is identified. To do so, employers need to be assured that advice given by work and health professionals they engage (either in-house or contracted in) is to the required standard. At the meeting in NI, the purpose of the FOM launching the College of Work and Health was highlighted; to extend the existing work FOM already does on professional standards in Occupational Medicine, and more widely in occupational health including producing the ethics guidance for occupational health practice and running the SEQOHS accreditation scheme for occupational health service providers. The value the College has the potential to deliver was welcomed.

To this end, we have completed the first stage of our mapping of the work and health sector. We are also considering how the College might contribute to the assurance of the wide range of non-clinical roles that are not regulated currently and which will form a significant element of workplace health provision that the Keep Britain Working (KBW) team are working to deliver; what they describe in the KBW update released this week as a national growth opportunity. Over the coming months we will be consulting on our initial proposals for how assurance of competence may best be delivered in what will be a much wider work and health professional workforce. We would invite you to join one or more of the series of online meetings we will be holding, in addition to discussion at other meetings we will be speaking at, between now and March 2027. Dates will be promulgated shortly and may be booked via James, our EA at FOM on ea@fom.ac.uk

Robin Cordell

MBA FRCP FFOM

Chair. College of Work and Health

25 September 2026