Blogs

Guest blog by Sarah Van Zoelen, Occupational Health Advisor My time as the Head of Occupational Health and Wellbeing at Loughborough University was a perfect moment in time. I joined the service as an Occupational Health Nurse Adviser (OHA) when the service was not functioning effectively. Dr Steve…

Guest blog by Dr Sarah Jackson I joined EDF eight years ago as a Consultant Physician in Occupational Medicine, swapping the green uniform of the British Army for the strong orange and corporate branding of EDF Energy. I was excited to be working for an in-house occupational health (OH) service. I…

By Jade Xue, SOM Intern SOM recently hosted a webinar with the Japanese Association of Occupational Health Law on women’s health at work. The discussion looked at how health affects working lives, why legal rights do not always lead to practical support, and what employers can do. A shared message…

Guest blog by Ella Checkett, Occupational Health Lead If you'd asked me a few years ago whether I'd ever leave frontline ambulance work, I'd have laughed. After seven years working frontline with the ambulance service, occupational health (OH) was not even on my radar. I assumed it was about…

Guest blog by Dr Lara Shemtob Dr Navdeep Nath recently asked me to speak at a regional teaching programme for specialty trainees in occupational medicine. I went into the session hoping to discuss how occupational medicine could scale its expertise through training, triage and supervision of multi…

Guest blog by Dr Anna Mason, Occupational Health Physician Early in my clinical career, I learned that neat surroundings and a courteous tone can easily hide severe suffering - and that finding the truth takes genuine clinical curiosity and a refusal to walk away. I was clerking an elderly lady who…

Guest blog by Ruth Abrams and Lilith Whiley The renewed Women’s health strategy acknowledges the need to strengthen support for women at work. Alongside the Employment Rights Act 2025, which enhanced support for pregnant women and new mothers, the Department of Education (2025) has expanded funding…

Guest blog by Emily Pearson, Founder and CEO, Wellbeing Lead Academy Occupational health often sees the consequences of work long before the board sees the pattern. By the time an employee reaches occupational health, something has usually already happened. They may have been absent for weeks. Their…

Guest blog by Janet O'Neill Many clinicians are curious about occupational health (OH) but understandably are unsure how to take the first step. OH is a specialty that many encounter only briefly during training, if at all. Yet it is one of the most impactful, future‑focused areas of clinical…

Guest blog by Carl Wells PhD My career has been rooted in high-performance sport supporting athletes at the highest levels, alongside postgraduate academic study. One key lesson is that high performance rarely comes from a single intervention or discipline. It comes from creating an ecosystem around…

Today marks the start of Occupational Health Awareness Week 2026! Use the hashtag #OHAW2026 to join the conversation. The week increases awareness of what occupational health (OH) is and the value it provides to workplace health. This year the focus is on communicating that occupational health…

Guest blog by Dr Mary Bernadette Dalton, Independent Consultant Occupational Physician Fatigue is a work-related hazard; linked to sleep loss and circadian dysregulation, it disproportionately affects shift workers. Seeds of my interest in fatigue were sown during my childhood, observing my father…