28 April 2014
Rail industry eyes £32m yearly saving by improving health and wellbeing
Rail industry leaders have used the occasion of the International Workers’ Memorial Day
to draw attention to health and wellbeing issues.
Many people across government and society as a whole have started to recognise the
human and economic costs of compromised health and impaired wellbeing. The rail
industry has begun a comprehensive programme of work through RSSB, to build more of
a knowledge base to tackle this challenging topic area.
Research and analysis involving rail industry leaders, decision makers and occupational
health experts has confirmed that recognising and addressing the wellbeing of the
workforce brings a wide range of benefits. These include the boost to individuals’
capabilities and happiness, employee relations as well as reducing unnecessary costs
and improving the overall sustainability of the organisation and the industry.
The associated cost of ‘absenteeism’ caused by impaired health in GB railway is in the
region of £320million per annum. If coupled with ‘presenteeism’ (for example, attending
work while unwell), it could be as high as £790million per annum. It is estimated that
working collaboratively across the industry to address health and wellbeing could save
the industry up to £32million per annum.
As a result, industry has invigorated its approach to workforce health and wellbeing in a
new programme managed by RSSB on behalf of Network Rail, train and freight
operators, rolling stock leasing companies, infrastructure companies, suppliers and
supported by the Office of Rail Regulation. This has led to a range of new resources
which RSSB is publishing today, including six booklets supporting companies’
development of health policies, and five pieces of supporting research. A new crossindustry policy group will be set up to drive improvements forward.
RSSB chief executive Chris Fenton explained: ‘The material we’re publishing today will
help individual rail businesses to manage health and wellbeing issues among their own
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staff, including having a pro-active health policy, surveillance and screening, managing
mental health and stress, getting people back to productive work and employee wellness.
‘The formation of the new Health and Wellbeing Policy Group shows that industry is
seizing the opportunity to work together to build up an industry-wide knowledge base on
the issues including clinical knowledge, reporting and monitoring, employee engagement
and behavioural change.
‘The work follows extensive research, consultation and expert working groups and is very
much “by the industry, for the industry”.’
Ian Prosser, HM Chief Inspector of Railways said: ‘ORR welcomes RSSB’s work in
supporting greater collaboration across the industry to improve the health and wellbeing
of rail employees. The proposed new health and wellbeing policy group will help
everyone to get to grips with the key issues, ensure better understanding and shared
learning between organisations, and ultimately be the driver for better health for the
industry.
‘ORR’s occupational health programme for the next five years, published today,
highlights our focus on ensuring that the health and wellbeing of people working in the
railways is embedded into policy, culture and practice at all levels across the whole
industry.’
-Ends-
For further information and links to new resources, look at the RSSB website, or
contact RSSB’s press office, on 020 3142 5333 / 5332 / 5331 / 5653, email
pressoffice@rssb.co.uk, or follow us on Twitter @RSSB_rail
Notes to editors:
1) About the Health and Wellbeing resources published today
There is a high level ‘road map’ which outlines industry’s shared vision that ‘the GB railway is an
industry where everyone takes responsibility for health and wellbeing and benefits from it.’
RSSB Block 2 Angel Square 1 Torrens Street London EC1V 1NY
Telephone: +44 (0)20 3142 5300 Facsimilie: +44 (0)20 3142 5301 www.rssb.co.uk
Rail Safety and Standards Board Limited Registered Office: Block 2 Angel Square 1 Torrens Street London EC1V 1NY Registered in England No. 04655675
There are 6 booklets designed to help individual companies develop health policies about
addressing:
 Proactive Health Policy
 Internal Health Relationships
 Health Surveillance and Screening
 Mental Health and Stress
 Getting People Back to Productive Work
 Employee Wellness and Engagement
There are five reports about research into:
 The costs of impaired health
 Health data collection and usage
 Occupational health provider relationships
 Internal health relationships
 Health standards
There is a dedicated page on the RSSB website which contains links to all the relevant material on
health and wellbeing.
2) ORR have today published their ‘ORR Occupational Health Programme 2014-19. This can be
found on the ORR website at http://orr.gov.uk/what-and-how-we-regulate/health-andsafety/occupational-health
3) About RSSB
We help the industry understand risk, guide standards, manage research, development and
innovation and collaborate to improve.
The rail industry in Britain is made up of many different organisations, but they all form a system
and share a common purpose, to move people and freight safely and efficiently by rail. RSSB bring
all parts of this system together to support shared decisions, products and services, to help
industry drive out unnecessary cost, improve business performance and develop long-term
strategy.
Our activities involve:
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Understanding risk – Using safety intelligence from across the rail industry and elsewhere
with the latest risk modelling to inform members and support safe decision making.
Guiding standards – Creating, reviewing and simplifying GB standards to align with
European requirements; managing the Rule Book and making it easier for the railway to
deliver efficiently and safely.
Managing research, development and innovation – Undertaking, commissioning and
managing research and innovation programmes to address current needs, provide
knowledge for decision making now and for the future, and promoting step changes to
deliver the Rail Technical Strategy.
Collaborating to improve – As an independent cross-industry body with a critical mass of
technical expertise, supporting activities which require collaboration. These range from
supplier assurance schemes (RISQS, RISAS) to confidential reporting (CIRAS), from
health and wellbeing strategies to sustainability principles.
We are run by the industry, for the industry, with member companies from across the mainline
system. The demand for our services comes from the industry itself, and from the involvement of
cross-industry groups. For more information go to www.rssb.co.uk
RSSB Block 2 Angel Square 1 Torrens Street London EC1V 1NY
Telephone: +44 (0)20 3142 5300 Facsimilie: +44 (0)20 3142 5301 www.rssb.co.uk
Rail Safety and Standards Board Limited Registered Office: Block 2 Angel Square 1 Torrens Street London EC1V 1NY Registered in England No. 04655675