A report published on 31 March by UK insurance company BUPA, Healthy Work (click here >>), uses more than 200 pieces of research to provide in-depth insight into how the health of British workers will change over the next two decades – an aging workforce, many of whom are likely to suffer from chronic disease. Partners in the report are OxHA, The Work Foundation and RAND Europe.
Ill-health in the working-age population is already costing Britain over £100 billion a year, according to a recent report by Dame Carol Black. The new BUPA report predicts that:
- the number of workers with diabetes or respiratory diseases will increase by at least 8 per cent to 5.5 million
- the rate of mental illness in the workforce will rise 5 per cent to affect 4.2 million workers
- musculoskeletal disease will increase by 9 percent (over 7 million workers)
- heart disease will rise by 13% to affect over a million
- the average age of the workforce will reach 43
- and the average age of retirement by 2050 will be 68.
The report is the first phase of a two-part study, with the second phase due out later this year, and will identify and provide clear evidence of workplace health services that will help companies tackle the health issues of the future. It will also advise how to increase the quantity and quality of workplace health for individuals, the NHS and the Government.
Christine Hancock, OxHA’s director, said on its release:
‘As most people spend at least a third of their time at work, the workplace can make a real difference to health and healthy living. This report signals clearly to British businesses that unhealthy lifestyle behaviours, such as poor diet, smoking and lack of physical activity, will be a major factor driving up long-term diseases in the working population over the next 20 years. The good news is that these behaviours can all be easily and effectively tackled in the workplace, by encouraging and influencing change.’
Source: BUPA press release, 31 March 2009.