A free online service to help people working in small businesses who suffer from work-related ill health is launched today to support organisations in higher-risk sectors. Employers and workers can benefit from telephone advice, live web-based chat and over 200 easy-to-access guides.

Less than 1.5% of the working population is employed in agriculture yet the sector is responsible for between 15% and 20% of fatalities to workers each year. Agricultural workers are also at risk from a whole host of work-related illnesses including musculoskeletal disorders, respiratory disease and infections transmitted from animals to humans. The industry is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly micro businesses, with few formal management structures and has very limited access to occupational health support.

The Government-funded Health for Work Adviceline (the Adviceline) offers free, tailored occupational health advice and support to managers or employees in organisations in England who are experiencing problems with physical or mental ill health. Looking after the health of employees and creating a healthy working culture makes sound commercial sense in terms of business performance, productivity and staff morale.

Advice can be sought in three ways:

• Telephone advice on Freephone 0800 0 77 88 44.
• Self-service info through access to an extensive, intelligent, on line knowledge base.
• On-line communication with a contact centre by submitting a question to the support team, or ‘chatting’ directly with a member of the team (a form of instant messaging).

The new initiative forms part of the Health, Work and Well-being project, which is sponsored by the Health and Safety Executive.