Categories

Award for Mental Health and Stress Management
With stress and mental health problems the biggest cause of absence from work, this award is for teams of individuals who can show they have intervened to promote more resilience among employees or have acted to prevent work pressures leading to mental health-related absence. Entrants will need to explain the problem, how they tackled it and the evidence that the intervention was successful.

Award for Absence Management
This award will recognise achievements in tackling both short and long term sick leave and entrants should be able to demonstrate results in reducing overall absence, time taken to return to work or other indicators of effective sickness absence management. The judge will look for evidence of practice including how absence data was captured and used, the cost benefit case for absence intervention, involvement of line managers in tackling absence and clinical approaches to achieving early return to work. Entrants who can demonstrate a proactive approach to managing absence and effective ways to deal with the ‘sick note culture’ will impress judges.

Award for Innovation in Occupational Health
While all of the categories will be judged on the criterion of innovation, this award will look for initiatives which are marked by taking a new approach or creating new solutions for workplace health challenges. This could simply be introducing a policy or practice and being able to demonstrate that it has benefited the target group. It could also involve using new clinical or data technology, giving employees access to OH services in an innovative way, introducing a new funding mechanism that enables early intervention by occupational health, or taking a more proactive approach to improving employee health. Entrants must explain how they have in some way changed the way that the occupational health service is delivered.

Award for Health Promotion and Wellbeing
This award is for individuals or teams that have taken a proactive approach to improving the health of employees. The judge will look for evidence that actions were taken to encourage employees to take responsibility for their own health and that provision was made to help staff improve diet, fitness or general health. Teams who enter will
show how they communicated their message to employees, and will take note of collaboration between different functions, such as Human Resources and occupational health. Entrants should try to give evidence of the benefits for employees and the organisation as a whole.

Award for Risk Management and Ill Health Prevention
This award recognises efforts made to ensure that employees are not put at any unnecessary risk by working practices or the working environment. The judge will look for examples of good workplace design, effective health surveillance and innovative ideas for preventing employees being exposed to workplace hazards. Individuals and teams who can show that they go beyond regulatory compliance to get the message across to employees will impress.

Award for Best Occupational Health Team
This award will look for teams that can demonstrate exceptional collaboration and communication both within the occupational health team and with other stakeholders in the organisation. The judge will look for evidence of efficiency in managing referrals including good time management and use of resources, using technology where appropriate. There should be attention to successful outcomes and a focus on continuing professional development and quality