Employment Injury Assistance Steering Group minutes: July 2026

Attendees and apologies

• Co-chair: Tressa Burke, CEO, Glasgow Disability Alliance (GDA)
• Co-chair: Elma Murray CBE, Chair, Young Scot
• Anna Ritchie-Allan, Executive Director, Close the Gap
• Ian Tasker, CEO, Scottish Hazards
• Ian MacCorquodale, Welfare Rights Manager, Glasgow Disability Alliance (GDA)
• Sholen Macpherson, Policy and Research Officer, Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER)
• Rachel Thomson, Equality Officer, Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC)
• Professor Ewan Macdonald OBE, Consultant Occupational Physician
• Dr David Haldane, Consultant Occupational Physician, Faculty of Occupational Medicine Scotland
• Moira Escreet, Welfare Rights Officer, Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG)
• Adele Kane, Client Support Lead, Clydebank Asbestos Group

Apologies

• Phyllis Craig, Director, Action on Asbestos 

Panel guests

• Elaine McHugh, Glasgow City Council HR
• Mark Kennedy, Salus, NHS Lanarkshire
• Fiona McKee, The HR Practice
• Rachel Doyle, Enable

Scottish Government officials present

• Matthew Duff, Social Security Policy 
• Risga Summers, Social Security Policy 
• Shelley Smith, Social Security Policy
• Catherine Reeves, Social Security Policy 

Items and actions

Welcome and Introductions

The Co-Chairs welcomed members to the ninth meeting of the Employment Injury Assistance Steering Group.

Adele Kane, Client Support Lead from Clydebank Asbestos Group, was formally welcomed to the meeting. Adele was standing in for Rachel Gallagher. 

Approval of minutes from last meeting and update on recent work 

Members approved the minutes from the previous meeting and agreed to their publication on the Scottish Government webpage for the Group.

Officials discussed the action log and issues register and updates relating to emerging recommendations were agreed.

The Group discussed the intention for the next meeting, subject to the pending extension request (see below), to invite trade union representatives to form a panel. Officials will contact representatives to invite them to attend. 

GDA updated the Group that they have identified some of their members with industrial injuries and intend to organise a focus group.

The International Comparison sub-group meeting has been rescheduled and an invitation will be issued shortly. 

The Co-Chairs updated the Group on the extension request letter they have sent to the Cabinet Secretary. 

Co-Chair Elma Murray advised that she and officials met with Young Scot to discuss options for engaging with young people. Options discussed included meeting young people related to people with industrial injuries and diseases. Other suggestions from members included liaising with engineering students at college learning about industrial risks and apprentices at shipyards.

Co-Chair Elma Murray updated the Group about a meeting she and officials had held with the Anti Racism Observatory for Scotland (AROS) about engaging with people with lived experience. Elma advised members that they will await the outcome of the extension request before taking this forward.

A reminder was given to members to RSVP for meetings as this helps officials with planning.

Employer Panel

The Co-Chairs welcomed panel members to the meeting. The panellists introduced themselves, providing a short background about their roles and the organisations they represent.

Discussion focused on the impact of poor mental health and its prevalence in panel members’ respective workforces. It was noted that poor mental health can lead to more absence than physical ill health. Panel members agreed that mental health is far more challenging for organisations since the pandemic. Trauma-related injury in the social care industry was discussed and it was noted that workers affected are more likely to be women in part-time, low-paid employment. However, it was also pointed out that statistics provided by NHS Lanarkshire show that 82% of people suffer from non-work related mental health issues.

Examples of good practice were shared. For example, Glasgow City Council and the NHS employ a large proportion of women and offer support services for health challenges such as miscarriage and menopause. Discussion around the use of stress management standards followed, noting that organisations can be served prohibition notices for failing to comply. It was noted that in certain cases stress management tools are not proactively applied.

The point was raised that, in female dominated roles (such as caring, cleaning and teaching), work related injuries can often be mistaken for other illnesses and diseases. For example, work related musculoskeletal conditions can sometimes be dismissed as “wear and tear”. The existence of support services which offer physiotherapy and promote good posture and lifting, and building those into health and wellbeing strategies, was praised. It was also said that these services can help to make an employee feel more valued.

The role of trade unions in workplace health and prevention was discussed. Panel members noted the importance of employers building a strong relationship with trade unions, especially at a local level, and that unions play an important part in helping to promote workplace health and safety.

Panel members agreed on the importance of getting people back to work and keeping them in work, and the role of workplace adjustments in ensuring that this can happen. However, it was noted that not all employers positively respond to occupational health recommendations and adjustments. There was widespread agreement that more work needs to be done by organisations and managers to embed the principles of reasonable adjustments. The financial impact of providing occupational health services to smaller businesses was acknowledged, along with the wider impact that employees being absent can have on these types of organisations.

Data which shows delays and sometimes failure to implement reasonable adjustments for disabled women was discussed, with a lack of detailed data relating to ethnicity again noted.

Emerging Reccomendations

Catherine Reeves, Deputy Director, Social Security Policy joined the meeting and introduced herself. Catherine thanked the Group for their work to date and advised the Co-Chairs that they should hear back from the Cabinet Secretary regarding the extension request shortly.

Officials provided an overview of the updated and expanded emerging draft recommendations. This triggered wider discussion on policy cohesion with other areas of government and public sector reform, including the link to investment in occupational health and the impact that this could have in supporting people with a workplace accident or injury. It was also noted that, while public sector reform is not just about financial savings, a healthy supported workforce contributes to a healthy economy.

It was agreed to re-order some of the emerging recommendations to emphasise the statement of intent around equalities, and to make small changes to the language in parts.

The Co-Chairs advised members that the emerging recommendations paper will be discussed again in future meetings.

AOB and next meeting

The Co-Chairs discussed how to take forward further research. Officials agreed to prepare a paper for the next meeting. The Group agreed that case studies would be valuable to support the emerging recommendations and officials will follow up with the Asbestos organisations about these.

Elma advised that members of the Group who specialise in occupational health issues and prevention will meet to discuss these issues as they relate to the work of the Group in more detail. 

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 18 August in the Glasgow Disability Alliance offices, with hybrid facilities available. Papers will be issued in advance of the meeting.

Agenda items will include a trade union panel (subject to availability of representatives) and further discussion around how the Group wants to take forward research and case studies.

Co-Chairs thanked members for their time and closed the meeting.

Actions

• to send hold for next meeting
• to update emerging recommendations paper
• to draft a short paper on research options
• to liaise with Asbestos organisations regarding case studies
• to provide officials with contact information for suggested panel members for next meeting
• to reach out to contacts in colleges and the shipbuilding industry, in line with the recommendations from Young Scot