Cometh the hour - Cometh the Chief Health Officer

As the world inches ever closer towards the beginning of the end of the Covid -19 pandemic, so too are pro-active organisations setting their sights on what the new world of work will look like from an organisational structure and design perspective, post-pandemic.

Traditional roles and responsibilities have changed (and will continue to do so), whilst fit-for-purpose roles will be created and incorporated into new look organisational structures. One such role is that of the Chief Health Officer (CHO).

The pandemic has shown how physical and mental health has significantly impacted business resilience and continuity over the past 20 months or so. As a result, businesses are increasingly exploring ways of protecting and safeguarding their employees from existing and potential health risks going forward.

To assist organisations to mitigate the impact of future health crises, a research project was conducted by the International SOS Foundation culminating in their analyses and report, ‘Employee Health Needs of the Future’.

The research revealed the likely impact the pandemic will have on health and wellness within organisations in future, as well as how the Safety, Health and Environmental (SHE) capacity, scope and responsibilities within these organisations will, inevitably, shift over the next decade. The research findings highlighted how addressing health and wellness meaningfully within organisations will require leadership at C-suite level, with the CHO being seen as a critical part of an organisation’s leadership team in the future.

Covid-19 vaccines, coupled with aggressive vaccination rollout programmes in many countries around the world, should not be regarded as the panacea to the Covid-19 pandemic, nor should it be. It is a generally accepted fact that Covid is going to be around for some time to come. Forward-thinking employers understand that the onus will be on them to play an ever-increasing role in the well-being and health of their employees.

The appointment of a CHO in organisations will not only serve to assist in mitigating the impact of current and future pandemics but will also assist in mitigating against the effects of other global sustainability issues. This includes the effect climate change is having on the general health and wellness of the global populous from a macro perspective, and on individual employees from a micro perspective.

The International SOS Foundation report garnered responses from a survey conducted amongst more than a hundred professionals responsible for employee health across the world. Responses were received from representatives working in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, and Europe. The survey was conducted during the height of the Covid pandemic in late 2020.

Broader C-suite representation within organisations

According to the report, the pandemic has resulted in the elevation of regular employee health and wellness discussions to board level. The number of C-suite level contacts per client has doubled and now includes contacts from CEOs, COOs, CFOs as well as the traditional owners of health and employee well-being, such as HR Directors and Safety, Health & Environmental (SHE) Directors.

The survey also revealed that the scope and responsibilities of those currently in SHE roles will increase even further over the next ten years. One-third of the respondents thought the increase would be in the region of 50% or more, whilst nearly three-quarters of respondents thought it would be 25% or more. Some respondents thought the scope and responsibilities of the SHE practitioner would actually double in the next decade.

Dr Chan Yanjun, Medical Director, Malaysia, International SOS, was quoted as saying, “The Covid-19 pandemic has acted as a catalyst for many organisations realising the need to address the health and wellness of their employees. The awareness was already there, whether it be through traditional occupational health or mental health and wellbeing provision, only now it has become one of the top priorities for the C-Suite."

The responsibility of health and wellness within an organisation does not reside solely with HR

When respondents were asked where they thought the role of health would sit in their organisation in the next 10 years, nearly one-quarter saw the future role as being part of the C-suite. The majority of respondents (46%), however, saw the role of health reporting to HR.

The CHO has in the past typically been found in larger organisations, often in industries with strict workplace health regulations, or where occupational risk is high. In more recent years, this has expanded to other industries, into smaller companies, into companies with more white-collar employees, or in industries where occupational hazards are less apparent.

So, what skillset should this new world of work, fit-for-purpose CHO have?

According to the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM), the CHO would:

• Have overall medical responsibility for the company, including all issues relating to health (eg. emergency response, critical event management, medical leave, occupational and environmental health programmes, community health interface, and leadership and management of the medical and employee wellbeing environment within the organisation)

• Work with other departments within the organisation, with the scope being extended to product stewardship (toxicology), global security (proactive disaster planning), HR, healthcare benefits design, and more.

• The CHO role goes beyond being a Clinician; the CHO must understand the business and the world around it. They are the bridge between health issues and the business’ needs - able to understand the scientific technicalities of a health question and the social and geopolitical considerations that influence management decisions.

• Most importantly, the CHO role should be a trusted source of information. This is particularly important at a time when official announcements are losing credibility, and an overwhelming amount of conflicting information is readily available online and elsewhere.

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