Events

4 February 2026 Time 12:00–13:30 (UK time) / 21:00–22:30 (Japan time)

Webinar FREE FOR ALL

Webinar Title:" Should Occupational Health Systems Be Legislated? UK-JP webinar "

Date: 2026/Feb/4th

Start time: 12:00 (noon) GMT 

Overview:

This webinar will ask whether occupational health systems should be legislated and explore two different perspectives, from the UK and Japan. It will discuss arguments for and against legislating occupational health and provide examples from two distinct contexts. The webinar will be relevant to anyone who is involved in delivering and supporting health in work settings, legal compliance, and organisational responsibility, including occupational health professionals, employers, employees, trade unions, policy-makers, insurers, and researchers. Our speakers speakers Takenori Mishiba and Nick Pahl, bring substantial expertise in how safe and healthy work environments can be supported, while the cross-national perspective will allow for comparision to learn from different approaches.  

Speakers ：Takenori Mishiba(Deputy Representative Director, Japan Association of Occupational Health Law)
　　　　　Nick Pahl （CEO of the Society of Occupational Medicine）

FREE for ALL. Register for the event here. 

FREE for ALL (please log in on the SOM website first). 

Summary of webinar: 

What is Universal Design?
Universal Design (UD) is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability. (Centre for Excellence in Universal Design).
It's not about retrofitting solutions for a few; it's about designing spaces where inclusion is simply built in from the start.

Why This Matters for Your Workplace
As Occupational Therapists, we bring a unique superpower to the table: we see the whole picture. We understand that workplaces aren't just physical spaces—they're dynamic interactions between people, their environments, and the work they do. Our training in assessing and treating physical, cognitive, and emotional challenges, combined with our expertise in human engagement and participation, allows us to craft nuanced, practical solutions to workplace challenges both common and wonderfully unusual.

What You'll Discover in This Webinar
This webinar will unpack the concept of Universal Design in the context of the workplace and explore the impact of a universally designed environment on workplace wellbeing, inclusion and productivity. You'll learn how thoughtfully designed environments create better experiences for everyone.

The Universal Design Advantage
The best part is when you design universally, you're not just accommodating—you're elevating. Universal Design reduces the need for individualized reasonable accommodations by making participation easier for everyone. This means broader engagement, stronger inclusion, and more people thriving at work. Universal Design does not remove the need for specific accommodations for individuals with identified needs —UD works alongside them, not instead of them.

Leave Empowered
Walk away from this session equipped with:
•A clear, practical understanding of Universal Design principles
•Real, actionable strategies to influence inclusion, equality, and participation in your workplace
•A roadmap to resources and ongoing support for implementation

Presenter bios: 
Linda Horgan has over 35 years as an Occupational Therapist internationally, working with diverse populations including mental health, disabilities, and neurodivergent individuals.
In 2001 Linda opened her own private practice, specializing in accessible and universal design for built environments, home therapy, and fitness-to-drive assessments. The company has since expanded to cater for adults in private, corporate, state and 3rd level institutions, providing assessments and practical solutions to allow people live better tomorrow’s today.

Some of Linda’s key achievements include; designed neurodivergent-supportive spaces, developed UCC's universal design guidance, edited Ireland's Housing Design Guidelines for Occupational Therapists (2019), a UCC Teaching Excellence Award, Venice Biennale 2021, and an Eli-Lilly Global Health Service Award.

Sue Knight is a Senior Occupational Therapist with over 18 years’ experience in the areas of Mental Health and Wellness. Much of her early career was centred in acute psychiatry and in-patient group work. Over the years Sue has developed a special interest in supporting adult clients who identify as neurodivergent.
Sue divides her time between clinical work, supporting the id+ Futures program at UCC, delivering training workshops and providing clinical supervision.
Sue supports clients, their supervisors and their employers in working towards inclusion in the workplace. She is passionate about engaging with adults in their work environments where small changes have the potential for significant impact.

Chair: Janet O'Neill

FREE for ALL. You will then be sent the joining link.

FREE for SOM Members (please log in on the SOM website first). 

Summary 

There is an emerging picture of overlap e.g. autism, ADHD and health issues such as chronic fatigue, brain-fog, concentration, anxiety difficulties. Overlapping symptoms can confuse psychological with physiological causes. Neurodivergent people, who are more likely to have hypermobility, connective tissue and autoimmune conditions, have also been disproportionately impacted by long COVID, which can exacerbate or bring on these symptoms. 

The rise in neurodiversity cases since the pandemic is in part due to increased awareness, but also because psychiatric symptoms have worsened due to this overlap. Very little is known about these emerging co-occurrences but preliminary evidence suggests that we can get people back to work and improve their capacity with a range of simple treatments, escalating to more complex interventions such as rTMS for the most severely affected. 

Given the absence crisis, identification of cases in Occupational Health and correct referral to treatment could be transformational. Follow this link for an introductory paper on the overlap between neurodiversity and inflammatory conditions, and how these affect cognition and functioning: Prevalence and treatment response of neuropsychiatric disorders in mast cell activation syndrome - ScienceDirect

Chair: Dr Nancy Doyle C. Psychol.

Nancy Doyle holds a visiting Professorship at Birkbeck and is a Registered Occupational Psychologist. She founded Genius Within, a neurodiversity at work specialist consultancy business which sees thousands of referrals each year. Nancy has reached out to the medical profession to try to understand why, after 25 years in practice, she is suddenly seeing not just a rise in cases, but an increase in severity of concentration and fatigue within her client group.
Nancy will be joined by Dr Stephanie Barrett, an award winning, highly trained and widely experienced consultant rheumatologist and general physician and an industry leader in the field of rheumatology, osteoporosis and inflammatory arthritis.

She is an expert in Fibromyalgia, hypermobility and Post-Covid fatigue. Dr Barrett is at the forefront of new technologies and treatments for conditions such as Fibromyalgia, chronic pain and post-Covid fatigue. She is a specialist in rTMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation).
Formerly a lead consultant of rheumatology at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, she is currently the Medical Director of the Chelsea Rheumatology Clinic and founder of The Brainwave Clinic in Harley Street, working with like minded rheumatology colleagues. She is included in all the published Tatler’s 250 top doctors guides.

FREE for ALL. You will then be sent the joining link.

Ready to take your knowledge of occupational medicine to the next level?

Join the Royal Society for Public Health Spring 2026 Diploma in Occupational Medicine course. Led by Dr Shriti Pattani OBE alongside a distinguished panel of expert tutors and speakers, the course covers a wide range of essential occupational medicine topics to give you the foundation you need to advance your career.

Designed for registered practitioners, this Faculty of Occupational Medicine-approved Diploma demonstrates that the holder has achieved a competence appropriate to a generalist working in occupational health. This course will give you the foundation-level qualification required for occupational medicine.

What you'll get:
- Insights from senior occupational medical officers from organisations such as the Health & Safety Executive and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.
- Guidance from past Faculty of Occupational Medicine examiners.
- Expertise from leading consultants in toxicology, epidemiology, health and hygiene, and much more.

By the end of the course, you should:
- Be competent to seek and apply special information and techniques in occupational medicine
- Be conversant with current thinking on the application of appropriate legislation
- Satisfy all the requirements of the Faculty’s Diploma Core Syllabus

The course finishes with a mock examination using sample questions.

Course dates: Monday 23 February - Friday 6 March

Location: Online

Price: £3,395

Please note the course operates on a first-come, first-served basis, and your place is only confirmed once you have paid the deposit.

Click here for more information.