United Kingdom: The Government of UK has announced a £1.5 million fund for new technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) to reform occupational health services. The aim is to reduce work sickness and boost economic activity through the use of unique technology and AI.
Five projects are selected to receive funding for designing innovative methods to enhance occupational health assistance. The purpose is to ultimately create these services obtainable to small businesses to help them support their workers to stay at their jobs.
One of the successful companies that received funding is Kinseed Limited, which is inventing a revolutionary cloud-based occupational fitness platform called ‘MediWork.’ This platform is to deliver employers’ strong new tools to aid in maintaining and enhancing workers’s health and wellbeing.
MediWork uses AI and data to observe personal health trends and recognise early alarm indications of ill health. It will provide tailored guidance to improve workplace well-being and enable clinicians to do their jobs more effectively and faster than before.
The new technology invented through this allowance will allow unlocking possibilities to boost people’s work and well-being. This initiative aligns with the government’s goal of promoting health and employment support to drive down inactivity.
Jo Churchill, UK Minister for Employment, said that, “Time off work due to sickness costs British business £100 billion every year. The innovative solutions developed through this funding will benefit businesses as we harness AI and technology to support a healthier and more productive workforce. Delivering through our Back to Work Plan and Occupational Health Taskforce, we are driving down inactivity and helping people reach their potential both in work and their daily lives.”
Pal Bhusate, Chief Executive Officer at Kinseed Limited, remarked that, “We’re very excited to be working with cutting-edge technology in AI and Cloud systems to keep people healthy and safe at work – and this fund has been absolutely critical in helping us do precisely that. Supporting small and medium businesses in these areas is the only way that industries like ours can rapidly adapt to and get value from these incredible developments – and it’s brilliant to see such positive and active support from government to encourage that agility and innovation.”
In the UK, the rate of inactivity decreased, but the primary reason for people of working age being inactive is long-term illness. To address this issue, occupational health services can help employers provide in-work support to manage their employees’ health conditions.
However, only 45 percent of workers in the United Kingdom hold access to some form of occupational health. To tackle this problem, the administration is collaborating with companies to create new technology to better understand the health of their employees and provide tailored support.
The government introduced a new service called ‘WorkWell’, allocated £2.3 billion in extra mental health funding per year in England, and established the Occupational Health Innovation Fund and a new Occupational Health Taskforce to support workers with mental health conditions. The £2.5 billion Back to Work Plan will also help over a million people, including those with mental health conditions, find and stay in work.
Armour Labs Limited is developing a digital health hub to reduce the cost of accessing occupational health services for SMEs and the self-employed. They will partner with digital healthcare providers and offer a range of health plans for UK employees accessible through an online portal and mobile app.
The government launched an Occupational Health Taskforce to develop a framework to help businesses prevent sickness-related job loss and support employees returning to work. The voluntary framework is expected to be published this summer.
TOP PICK | UK Space Agency fund boosts ties with international allies
