Skip to main content
IOSH Magazine: Safety, Health and Wellbeing in the world of work - return to the homepage IOSH Magaazine logo
  • Visit IOSH Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit @ioshmagazine on Twitter
  • Visit IOSH Magazine on LinkedIn
Gender equality
Practice meets perfect
May/June 2023 issue

Main navigation

  • Home
    • Browse previous issues
    • Member accolades
    • Member tributes
  • Health
    • Mental health and wellbeing
      • Bullying
      • Drugs and alcohol
      • Mental health
      • Stress
      • Wellbeing
    • Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
      • Ergonomics
      • Manual handling
      • Vibration
    • Occupational cancer
      • Asbestos
      • Hazardous substances
      • Radiation
  • Safety
    • Incident management
      • Chemicals
      • Electricity
      • Fire
      • First aid
      • Slips and trips
    • Non-health related fatalities
      • Road safety
      • Work at height
    • Risk management
      • Confined spaces
      • Disability
      • Legionella
      • Lifting operations
      • Lone workers
      • Noise
      • Personal protective equipment
      • Violence at work
      • Work equipment
      • Workplace transport
  • Management
    • Human factors
      • Accident reduction
      • Behavioural safety
      • Control of contractors
      • Migrant workers
      • Older workers
      • Reporting
      • Safe systems of work
      • Sickness absence
      • Young workers
    • Leadership and management
      • Employee involvement
      • Management systems
    • Management standards
      • ISO 45001
      • ISO 45003
    • Planning
      • Assurance
      • Compliance
      • Emergency planning
      • Insurance
    • Rehabilitation
      • Personal injury
      • Return to work
    • Strategy
      • Corporate governance
      • Performance/results
      • Regulation/enforcement
      • Reputation
    • Sustainability
      • Human capital and Vision Zero
  • Skills
    • Communication
    • Personal performance
      • Achieving Fellowship
      • Career development
      • Competencies
      • Personal development
      • Professional skills
      • Qualifications
    • Stakeholder management
    • Working with others
      • Leadership
      • Future Leaders
  • Jobs
  • Covid-19
  • Knowledge Bank
    • Back to basics
    • Book club
    • Infographics
    • Podcast
    • Reports
    • Webinars
    • Videos
  • Products & Services
  • Management
    • Human factors
      • Sickness absence
      • Accident reduction
      • Behavioural safety
      • Control of contractors
      • Migrant workers
      • Older workers
      • Reporting
      • Safe systems of work
      • Young workers
    • Leadership and management
      • Employee involvement
      • Leadership
      • Management systems
    • Management standards
      • ISO 45001
      • ISO 45003
    • Planning
      • Assurance
      • Compliance
      • Emergency planning
      • Insurance
    • Strategy
      • Corporate governance
      • Performance/results
      • Regulation/enforcement
      • Reputation
    • Sustainability
      • Human capital and Vision Zero
  • Health
    • COVID-19
    • Mental health and wellbeing
      • Bullying
      • Drugs and alcohol
      • Mental health
      • Stress
      • Wellbeing
    • Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
      • Ergonomics
      • Manual handling
      • Vibration
    • Occupational cancer
      • Asbestos
      • Hazardous substances
      • Radiation
  • Safety
    • Incident management
      • Chemicals
      • Electricity
      • Fire
      • First aid
      • Slips and trips
    • Non-health related fatalities
      • Road safety
      • Work at height
    • Risk management
      • Confined spaces
      • Disability
      • Legionella
      • Lifting operations
      • Lone workers
      • Noise
      • Personal protective equipment
      • Violence at work
      • Work equipment
      • Workplace transport
  • Skills
    • Communication
    • Personal performance
      • Career development
      • Competencies
      • Personal development
      • Qualifications
      • Professional skills
      • Achieving Fellowship
    • Stakeholder management
    • Working with others
      • Leadership
      • Future Leaders
  • Transport and logistics
  • Third sector
  • Retail
  • Mining and quarrying
  • Rail
  • Rehabilitation
    • Personal injury
    • Return to work
  • Utilities
  • Manufacturing and engineering
  • Construction
  • Sector: IOSH Branch
    • Sector: Northern Ireland
    • Sector: Midland
    • Sector: Merseyside
    • Sector: Manchester and North West Districts
    • Sector: Ireland East
    • Sector: Ireland
    • Sector: Edinburgh
    • Sector: Desmond-South Munster
    • Sector: Qatar
    • Sector: Oman
    • Singapore
    • Sector: South Coast
    • Sector: South Wales
    • Sector: Thames Valley
    • Sector: Tyne and Wear
    • Sector: UAE
    • Sector: West of Scotland
    • Sector: Yorkshire
  • Healthcare
  • Sector: Fire
  • Sector: Financial/general services
  • Sector: Energy
  • Education
  • Sector: Communications and media
  • Chemicals
  • Sector: Central government
  • Catering and leisure
  • Agriculture and forestry
  • Sector: Local government
  • Sector: IOSH Group
    • Sector: Financial Services
    • Sector: Sports Grounds and Events
    • Rural industries
    • Sector: railway
    • Public Services
    • Sector: Offshore
    • Sector: Hazardous Industries
    • Sector: Food and Drink
    • Sector: Fire Risk Management
    • Education
    • Construction
    • Sector: Aviation and Aerospace
Quick links:
  • Home
  • Categories
  • Topics
  • Management
  • Strategy
  • Corporate governance
Leadership
Wellbeing
Opinion

Why Costain sees wellbeing investment as good business

Open-access content Tony Bickerstaff — Wednesday 27th June 2018
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

We know the costs of bad safety and health at work. Work-related ill health and occupational disease caused almost 26 million lost work days in Britain in 2016-17. In the UK, sickness absence costs the economy billions of pounds in lost productivity every year -- £8bn alone is due to mental ill-health. Presenteeism -- working when ill -- costs a further £15bn per annum, maybe more.

I strongly believe any company can make significant gains by concentrating on supporting a culture where employees are healthy, happy and motivated.

Investing in a health and wellbeing programme at Costain was a straightforward business proposition in line with our purpose and values.

Our understanding of wellbeing spans physical health, so everyone is fit and healthy enough to be at their best; mental health, ensuring everyone has a positive sense of worth to fulfil their potential; and social health, letting everyone be comfortable working together to achieve the best outcomes.

This helps us attract and retain the best talent, increases engagement, creates a place where everyone can be happy, healthy and fulfil their potential, and creates competitive advantage.

We've trained over 250 mental health first aiders and appointed wellbeing champions on every project

Our purpose at Costain is "to improve people's lives by deploying technology-based solutions to meet urgent national needs across the UK's energy, water and transportation infrastructures". Our approach to work culture and sustainability has enabled us to deliver everything we do more successfully.

It is essential that we work in a smart way, and part of that is looking after the health and wellbeing not only of our 4,000 staff but also extending that care to our supply chain.

So far, we have rolled out mandatory mental health awareness training for all managers and we extended our employee assistance programme to the total workforce of over 20,000 including our supply chain. We've trained over 250 mental health first aiders and we've appointed wellbeing champions on every project.

An important part of any manager's role is looking after the health and wellbeing of their team. If they can do that I am convinced that individuals, teams and the business all perform better.

More widely, I'm impressed by the new IOSH Managing Occupational Health and Wellbeing course. It sets the right tone at the right time.

I think the position of this course, to help line-managers gain competence and confidence in this area, has got to be a good thing for them and a good thing for their companies. It gives the right knowledge and techniques to recognise health risks and the key skills needed to manage people with health and wellbeing issues.

For me, wellbeing has always been more than a nice thing to do. It's a business imperative, so that everyone can be at their best every day.

You may also be interested in...

 The business book club: how Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow warns us to mistrust our instincts

Wednesday 27th June 2018
The book is taught in business schools around the world. In the mid-1970s, Kahneman changed the way we thought about thinking. With his friend Amos Tversky, Kahneman explained that the brain creates cognitive shortcuts to resolve problems. He defined these “heuristics” as simple procedures that help to “find adequate, though often imperfect, answers to difficult questions”.Kahneman outlines the System 1 (fast) and System 2 (slow) thinking modes of the human brain and explains how we use heuristics to aid decision-making.
Open-access content

 The benefits of managing older workers effectively

Wednesday 25th July 2018
The UK’s default retirement age was removed in 2011. Yet, although age discrimination in employment has been banned in the UK since 2006 and all anti-discrimination laws were combined under the Equality Act 2010, an inquiry by parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee has found widespread failings in enforcement.
Open-access content
©iStockphoto/John Gomez

 Government promises to transform police wellbeing by 2021

Thursday 5th July 2018
The Home Office has issued a document, Common Goal for Police Wellbeing, which sets out how it plans to improve police welfare and wellbeing. The goal focuses on developing a culture based on illness prevention, early intervention and support for officers and staff. It was launched on 3 July following a police wellbeing roundtable in January chaired by the minister of state for policing and the fire service, Nick Hurd.
Open-access content
Image credit: ©iStock/jon11

 UAE regulates work hours to limit labourers’ sun exposure

Tuesday 12th June 2018
Workers such as those on construction sites, security guards and delivery drivers will be forbidden from working outside between 12.30pm and 3pm, until 15 September. The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE), which announced the ban, told IOSH Magazine the summer timings “do not reduce employees’ working hours”. Instead, the working day will be divided into a morning and evening shift, totalling eight hours.
Open-access content

 Unlocking employee productivity: the role of health and wellbeing in manufacturing

Monday 11th June 2018
According to the report, manufacturers to date are continuing to address health and safety in a very traditional way. This leads to a focus on compliance, physical health, risk assessment and promoting good health & safety practice rather than addressing psychosocial and mental health factors which can equally impact on employee performance.
Open-access content

 Network Rail: Fast track to recovery

Thursday 19th July 2018
In the 12 months to April 2017, the Office of Rail and Road reported 273 suicides and suspected suicides on the UK’s railways. For Network Rail’s mobile operations managers and other frontline workers who respond to such potentially traumatic events, post-incident support is essential to address the ripple effect, as Dr Richard Peters, the rail infrastructure operator’s chief medical officer, describes it.“[While] someone from our team is going to be a first responder, there are also going to be individuals who are involved indirectly.”
Open-access content
Topics
Corporate governance
Leadership
Wellbeing
Opinion
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Health and Safety Improvement Manager

Leeds
£35000 - £50000 per annum
Reference
5452992

SHEQ Systems Advisor

Up to £40000.00 per annum + Car Allowance
Reference
5452988

Senior Health and Safety Manager

Reading
Up to £65000.00 per annum + Great Car Allowance & Benefits
Reference
5452983
See all jobs »

Sign up for regular e-alerts

Receive the latest news and features, free to your inbox

Sign up

Subscribe to IOSH magazine

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
IOSH Covers
​
FOLLOW US
Twitter
LinkedIn
YouTube
CONTACT US
Contact us
Tel +44 (0)20 7880 6200
​

IOSH

About IOSH
Become a member
IOSH Events
MyIOSH

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to IOSH magazine
Write for IOSH magazine

IOSH Magazine

Health
Safety
Management
Skills
IOSH Jobs

© 2023 IOSH • IOSH is not responsible for the content of external sites

ioshmagazine.com and IOSH Magazine are published by Redactive Media Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ