EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, has been named “Overall Winner” in the prestigious Occupational Health Awards 2007 for its unique Managing Sickness Absence Toolkit.
The awards, organised by Occupational Health magazine, were presented by occupational health “tzar” Dame Carol Black, the National Director for Work and Health, at a special lunch on December 4. EEF first won in its category to receive the “Award for Absence Management” before going on to receive the accolade of Overall Winner.
Praising the EEF toolkit, the judges said it was great to see “such an unusual blend of expertise” in the team responsible. “The group put together a pragmatic and useful guide for employers that needs no further work from the customer and is useable by any size of organisation,” the judges’ citation stated.
EEF Director General Martin Temple said: “We are delighted to win these two prestigious awards. Sickness absence costs the UK economy over £12 billion a year and can have a huge impact on business performance. Occupational Health magazine should be congratulated for raising the profile of such an important business challenge.”
He continued: “EEF is unique in offering services based on the profound knowledge of our expert teams across a broad range of disciplines. We are dedicated to providing manufactures with practical solutions. That is why we are particularly pleased the judges recognised how user-friendly the Managing Sickness Absence Toolkit is for companies of all sizes.
The toolkit, produced by EEF in association with AXA, is an innovative, multidisciplinary resource showing companies how they can change their work culture by managing sickness absence in a systematic and professional way. It embraces employment law, human relations, occupational health and general medical practice, providing checklists, model policies and route maps for creating a high attendance ethos among employees.
EEF provides services to its members that reflect the breadth and depth of its expertise in human relations and employment law, health and safety, environmental services; training and development; policy and representation; and information and research. The result is an unrivalled source of advice, support and expertise designed to help businesses succeed.
The toolkit is available for purchase at a price of £65.00 for EEF members seeking additional copies and £95.00 for non-members. For full details, please go to: http://www.eef.org.uk
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Review copies of the Managing Sickness Absence Toolkit are available to the Press on request.
2. The judges for the Overall Winner were: Cynthia Atwell, chair of the RECN Society of Occupational Health Nursing; Brian Kazer, chief executive of the British Occupational Health Research Foundation; Dr Ian Lawson, chief medical officer of Rolls Royce and Ben Willmott, employee relations adviser of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. The judge for the Award for Absence Management was Anne Harriss, reader in educational development at London South Bank University.
3. EEF is a trusted partner to businesses across Britain. We work on behalf of over 6000 companies, in manufacturing, engineering, technology and beyond. Together, they employ close to a million people. On any given day you’ll find us helping our members tackle a whole range of employment challenges.