Posted By Steve Bennett Thanks for that, I was trying to come up with something yesterday (and failed!). Regarding the Sickness Absence bit I also wondered why it was suddenly of interest to the HSE. The cynic in me wonders if me will see some more "Management Standards" in the future. There is already so much guidance out there on this subject you wonder why they felt the need to chuck in their bit too. I would have thought that they were busy enough anyway without straying into pure HR matters.

Posted By Kieran J Duignan The 'boundary' between HR and OSH is an artefact of large organisations. Most employers in the UK are too small to employ specialists in either. If you visit the CIPD 'Community Online', you may see why the HSE rightly link stress and absence management. HR folk lack awareness of the need for assessment of risks of stress on return to work after extended absence and tend to be obsessed with disciplinary compliance. As the DDA is relevant to physical and psychological fitness for work, it's a good idea for the HSE to flag up the need for more competent risk assessment after absence. Lawyers and solictors have A code of practice on negotiating claims against employers under para. 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules. I believe that a code of practice for psychological assessment of fitness for work could help to prevent matters getting into the expensive hands of lawyers and their timeconsuming procedures.