A million pound fund for new ideas to boost health and welfare at work for SMEs and the self-employed has been launched.
Tom Pursglove, Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, said: “Good occupational health within workplaces is vital in supporting our overall health and standard of living. We spend so much of our lives at work, and it is imperative that our employers can give us the support we need to maintain our physical and mental health. This in turn means we can give our best at work.
“Through the launch of our new £1 million fund, I look forward to seeing innovative, workable solutions to help SMEs deliver the best for their employees, creating healthier, welfare-driven working environments that will ultimately drive growth and improve people’s working lives.”
Successful bidders will receive up to £100,000 to back their projects from May this year, with the Government looking for innovative solutions to drive better access for SMEs and the self-employed to Occupational Health services. Applicants are being encouraged to demonstrate how they would deliver improvements to OH, harnessing technology such as artificial intelligence or data collection, to deliver better health outcomes for employees of SMEs.
Better health provision for staff helps employers look after their workforce, meaning more are likely to stay in work. While larger employers often have better access to OH services, for smaller businesses and the self-employed the lack of support for people with health needs can potentially lead to more people becoming economically inactive.
Applications can be from those who work alone or with others from business, research organisations, research and technology organisations or the third sector, with the Government looking for proposals to:
- Discover new and innovative ways for the OH market, which supports people to stay well in work, to deliver services that drive better access for SMEs and self-employed
- Discover new and innovative ways that the OH market can deliver services and better serve the demand for OH
- Deliver innovations that can be scaled up for businesses to have an impact in the OH market through new services and better use of technology
The competition is a joint venture between the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), as part of the Joint Work and Health Unit, and in conjunction with Innovate UK, an arm of UK Research and Innovation. The fund will be open to applications from 30 January 2023 and run until 15 March 2023.
The new Fund to Stimulate Innovation in Occupational Health (OH) competition will be delivered in the form of a Small Business Research Initiative, a well-established, output driven funding tool run by Innovate UK.
For more details about the Fund to Stimulate Innovation and how to apply, visit this link.
