British Waterways has won government funding to develop an occupational
health programme that will help it reduce staff absenteeism.
The company has been awarded a grant from the Partnership Fund, which
provides support to companies that want to develop partnerships at work.
Vince Moran, personnel director of British Waterways, said he will be
working closely with the T&G and Unison to introduce an OH scheme that will
help identify health issues among staff before they become a problem.
He is hoping that the programme will help the organisation’s push to reduce
absenteeism among its 2,000 staff from an annual average of 10 days a person to
seven days a person by 2003.
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Under the scheme British Waterways staff will be subject to regular health
surveillance and monitoring by OH specialists Nationwide, which will use a
mobile screening unit to visit the company’s sites.
British Waterways, which is responsible for maintaining and improving the
UK’s network of canals and rivers, will hold a series of regional workshops in
the months ahead to tell staff about the scheme, which will be introduced in
January.
