Rolls-Royce provides a comprehensive Occupational Health service for its employees.

There are detailed policies and supporting guidelines with an infrastructure of Occupational Health expertise and facilities at major locations worldwide.

Over the last five years the company has recognised the changing nature of work and its potential ill-health effects and has redirected the Occupational Health service towards prevention with an emphasis on four main areas:

• Rehabilitation
• Screening and surveillance
• Education
• Health promotion

The priority in rehabilitation is for early intervention and active management of cases supported by Occupational Health expertise on fitness for work.

Rolls-Royce sets stringent occupational health related objectives and targets for the reduction in occupational disease and work related ill health.

Health promotion campaigns are delivered at major locations worldwide and these have included a ‘Posture Awareness’ week, an ‘International Heart’ week and an ‘Occupational Disease Awareness’ campaign. Training courses on stress prevention and occupational health for managers are provided by half-day in-house courses.

Health promotion campaigns delivered during 2004 included prostate cancer awareness ‘Go with the flow’, a travel health week and a low back pain awareness week ‘Back in Work’.

Rolls-Royce considers both individual and community health is important and continues to support both internal and external research projects. Responsible medical research activity is also undertaken a number of papers have been published in leading peer reviewed medical journals.

An emerging priority for the UK Government’s Health and Safety Executive strategy is the management of stress. The Company has been recognised as a ‘Beacon of Excellence’ for its stress prevention programme. The Rolls-Royce Occupational Health professionals continue to exert an influence in standard setting at the pre-consultation phase of legislation with external bodies such as the Health and Safety Executive, Department of Trade and Industry, and Engineering Employers Federation.