The Fabian Society has argued that a new regulated occupational health market could be funded by a growth, skills and health levy, much like the apprenticeship levy. Its  report recommends that “occupational health services should continue to be delivered through private providers contracted by employers."

The call comes as the CIPD’s annual Health and Wellbeing at Work report found that the average UK employee took nearly two full working weeks of sickness absence in the past year, which is a record high and a 62% increase on pre-pandemic levels.

The Fabian Society highlighted that, since the last Labour government, the number of working-age people reporting a disabling condition has increased by 4.3 million, while over 300,000 people leave work with health problems each year.

There were 1.7 million cases of work-related illness in 2023-24, up 44% since 2010-11, driven in large part by a 93% increase in work-related mental illness, it said.

The society has therefore proposed the establishment of a new national OH service, which would be overseen by a new Occupational Health Authority and sit within the Health and Safety Executive, to set standards and enforce compliance.

It argued that the service would be funded by a new growth, skills and health levy - “funded by a small number of the largest employers” - to incentivise and support employers of all sizes to invest in occupational health.