When you think about the impact of work on health, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Injury? Illness? Stress? Or do you think first of the wealth of scientific evidence that proves that working, in general, is good for health and wellbeing? Are you mindful of the many health benefits on offer at work?

This year, Occupational Physicians in Australia and New Zealand are encouraging health professionals, employers, workers, governments and the general public to take another look at the relationship between health and work.

On Tuesday the 18th of May 2010, the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (AFOEM, the Faculty) will officially launch its position statement, Realising the Health Benefits of Work, at the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in Sydney. A New Zealand launch will follow, at the Langham Hotel, Auckland, on Tuesday May 25.

Drawing on national and international research, expert local knowledge and an extensive period of stakeholder consultation, Realising the Health Benefits of Work has been championed by UK health reformers Professor Dame Carol Black and Professor Sir Mansel Aylward, who will address the Sydney launch.

Galvanised by declining durable return to work rates, increases in the number of people with mild to moderate health and mental health problems who are certified as permanently unfit for work, and crises in Indigenous Aboriginal and Maori health, the Faculty aims to precipitate a paradigm shift in popular ideas about health and work.

Realising the Health Benefits of Work is based on two evidence-based principles: that work, in general, is good for health and wellbeing, and that long term work absence, work disability and unemployment have, in general, a negative impact on health and wellbeing.

“The evidence,” AFOEM says, “is compelling: for most individuals, working improves general health and wellbeing and reduces psychological distress.  

“Even health problems that are frequently attributed to work—for example, musculoskeletal and mental health conditions—have been shown to benefit from activity-based rehabilitation and an early return to suitable work.”

In order to take advantage of this knowledge AFOEM has made a series of recommendations, including that:

• The medical community develop a consensus statement regarding the positive relationship between health and wellbeing and the negative consequences of long term work absence and unemployment;
• The education of treating practitioners incorporate training in workplace occupational health and vocational rehabilitation, and sickness certification practices;
• Health professionals responsibly promote the health benefits of work to their patients;
• Governments obtain and publicise accurate data about the level of work incapacity in Australia and New Zealand;
• Governments launch public health campaigns, directed at employers, workers, medical practitioners and the general public, to promote the message that “Work, in general, is good for health and wellbeing”; and
• Employers move beyond legislative requirements to embrace the spirit of inclusive employment practices and best practice injury management.

We all have a lot to gain from tackling these recommendations head on.

According to AFOEM, “the negative impacts of remaining away from work do not only affect the absent worker; families, including the children of parents out of work, suffer consequences including poorer physical and mental health, decreased educational opportunities and reduced long term employment prospects.”

Work, on the other hand, may confer benefits including:

• Ensuring that some physical activity is undertaken on work days;
• Providing a sense of community and social inclusion;
• Allowing workers to feel that they are making a contribution to society and their family;
• Giving structure to days and weeks;
• Financial security; and
• A decreased likelihood that individuals will engage in risky behaviours, such as excessive drinking.

As RTW professionals are well aware, there is some risk involved in working, even in safe workplaces. However the message from AFOEM is that work’s benefits outweigh its risks.

Disclosure: Dr Mary Wyatt and Gabrielle Lis have both contributed to "Realising the Health Benefits of Work".