Liver disease is almost entirely preventable with the major risk factors; alcohol, obesity and viral hepatitis accounting for up to 90% of cases. Liver disease often remains silent in its early stages, exhibiting minimal to no symptoms until it has progressed. Although the liver has an incredible ability to replace damaged tissue with new cells and regenerate, it is not invincible and it could be harmed beyond the point of repair. That’s why it’s so important to know the risk factors and to improve the health of your liver – before long-lasting damage can occur.
Although 9 out 10 of liver disease is avoidable, the numbers of people being diagnosed with a liver disease in England have been increasing at an alarming rate, with 82,290 hospital admissions in 2022, an increase of 22% in one year.
- Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, Liver disease profiles, July 2023
HOW TO SUPPORT LIVER HEALTH IN THE WORKPLACE
As an employer you can take a proactive approach to supporting employees’ liver health by:
- Encouraging staff to adopt healthy behaviours - provide employees with information and tools that can help them understand the risk factors associated with liver disease and what steps they need to take to improve their liver health. We can offer a range of webinars and seminars, such as Keeping your liver healthy, Nutrition and healthy eating, Alcohol awareness, and Achieving a healthy weight.
- Working with Occupational Health – Management Referral service can help managers understand how to manage health issues connected with someone's liver disease. The advice that OH can provide can be invaluable in helping managers to make tailored adjustments and support someone on an ongoing basis. OH can also assess employees on long-term or short-term sick leave, advise on the likely timescale of the absence and promote an effective return to work.
- Considering immunisation programme - if your staff are at an increased risk of exposure to blood-borne viruses in the workplace, in addition to the control measures, you may also want to consider introducing an immunisation programme to ensure a safe system of work. We offer a vaccination service to help businesses lower the risk of infection and protect their employees against exposure to Hepatitis B.
To find out more about the risk factors of liver disease and how to improve your liver health, visit our website.
