Health writing style guide A quick reference

Use this together with: • People’s Health brand guidelines

For people, not profit

People's Health writing style guide 2January 2019

Contents

1. How we describe People’s Health – elevator pitch and positioning statements

2. Key points to note – tone of voice, capital letters, abbreviations, audiences

3. A-Z word list – words, phrases, terminology that should and should not be used

Note: We'll be updating this quick reference guide over time and adding items to the online writing toolkit.

People's Health writing style guide 3January 2019

1.0 How we describePeople's Health

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People’s Health elevator pitch

People’s Health is a straightforward online tool that helps manage health-at-work. It saves time and hassle, makes hiring and changing jobs quicker and helps workers stay well and in work longer, thereby solving a lot of the problems construction industry employers and employees have to deal with.

1.1 How we describe People's Health

People's Health writing style guide 5January 2019

All audiencesPeople’s Health helps manage health-at-work. It’s straightforward, portable and based around a person’s confidential work health record, allowing workers to demonstrate that they don’t have early signs of work-related ill health, avoiding unnecessary health checks and spot if their job could start to affect their health, longer-term.

And for employers, this online tool means they can meet their workplace health obligations with less hassle, saving time and costs. What’s more, with access to a list of accredited companies who provide workplace health services, it’s never been easier for employers to book and pay for appointments online.

People’s Health helps workers stay well and in work.

EmployersPeople’s Health simplifies occupational health management for employers in the construction industry. It’s an online scheme that guides and supports you with your workplace health obligations and helps spot and manage early signs of work-related health issues.

The scheme gives you access to trusted occupational health providers, enabling you to book appointments and pay online.

Its secure employee work health records speed up the hiring process and helps ensure the job is right for the member.

People’s Health raises standards, brings consistency and gives you access to accredited occupational health service providers. Most of all it simplifies occupational health management for you, to help your workers stay well and in work long term.

Health-at-work is everyone’s right.

MembersPeople’s Health is a scheme to keep track of your health-at-work. It helps to detect work-related ill-health symptoms early, it’s free to you through your employer’s membership and you’ll always have access to your records.

You can use your device to look up your work health record to show employers, making moving jobs easier and quicker. Your digital health passport is your personal property and the scheme is simple, quick and secure.

People’s Health helps you stay well and in work.

Health-at-work is everyone’s right.

Occupational health service providersPeople’s Health is an online scheme created to simplify the management of occupational health in the construction industry. It brings you closer to your customers to help you develop your business.

The scheme helps you promote your services to more employers, makes booking appointments and sharing results quicker and easier, and improves the speed of payment to you.

People’s Health brings a new simple and consistent standard for the construction industry, enabling you to look after your customers.

Health-at-work is everyone’s right.

People’s Health positioning statements1.2 How we describe People's Health

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2.0 Key points to note

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Conversational, everyday words as if you were ‘explaining it to someone down the pub’: friendly, helpful, natural.

Capital letters• No need to capitalise these: ‘occupational health’, ‘occupational health

service providers’, illnesses and diseases such as ‘hand-arm vibration syndrome’ or ‘noise-induced hearing loss’.

• Be careful with capital letters. Too many are distracting – especially on-screen – slowing the reader down and making information harder to read (they make us sound pompous too and that’s not us).

• Check the digital style guide for how to write for instructional and system text, command buttons, alert boxes and calls to action (CTA).

Abbreviations• Spell out terms and job titles in full the first time they’re mentioned, but

it's OK to abbreviate after the first mention if they're used several times throughout copy, for example. Abbreviations are fine, once they’ve been written in full eg hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS).

Top tip You can start a sentence with ‘and’, ‘or’ and also ‘but’. This splits a long sentence into two short sentences, making it easier to read and hold attention. It also makes your writing punchier. And, when used well, has real impact.

Our tone of voice2.1 Key points to note

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3.0 A-Z word list

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compliance

Avoid using compliance, instead use ‘workplace health obligation’.

confidential

Employers will be provided with a copy of the results of their workers’ health checks. But this does not include any personal clinical information.

Constructing Better Health (CBH)

It’s the name of an organisation so capitalise each word, but it's OK to abbreviate to CBH after first mention.

free

People’s Health product is only free to members, that is workers who are part of their employer’s membership.

hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS)

Keep lowercase and write this term in full on the first mention. It's OK to abbreviate to HAVS after the first mention, but only if it's used frequently throughout copy, otherwise just spell it out in full each time.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE)

It’s the name of an organisation so capitalise each word. It's OK to abbreviate to HSE after you first mention it in full.

health-at-work

Not ‘health-at-work’ – we’ve coined a phrase here, so the hyphens are important.

health surveillance

Avoid using this term unless talking to occupational health service providers, instead use ‘monitoring health-at-work’ or ‘health assessment‘.

This word list includes the words, phrases and terminology that should and should not be used when describing the Health product or articulating the proposition for People’s Health to both internal and external audiences. And it sets out our style choices, so when to use capitals, hyphens and the like, and when not to.

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illnesses

Avoid capitalising names of illness and diseases (see ‘hand-arm vibration syndrome’).

managing health-at-work

Not ‘Occupational health management’, unless specifically communicating to occupational health service providers. What do we mean by ‘managing health-at-work’? Put simply, this is the effect of your work on your health, and the effect of your health on your work. It’s important to note that ‘health-at-work’ is not ‘wellbeing’. ‘Wellbeing’ is a broader term referring to the promotion of general good health, including dietary advice, cholesterol checks and exercise.

monitoring health-at-work or health assessment

Not ‘health surveillance’, unless you're specifically communicating with occupational health service providers. What do we mean by ‘monitoring health-at-work or health assessment’?

It’s a legal requirement for employers to carry out health assessments on employees (if there is a residual risk to health from exposure to health hazards at work) and tracking their health over time. The appropriate assessment over time will identify symptoms at the earliest opportunity.

The nature and frequency of health assessment(s) is determined by the hazards and risks that employees are exposed to on the job. For example, hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) tests, breathing tests, skin checks and hearing tests. These types of tests give early warning signs that something isn’t right. The tests are evidence-based, easily replicated, comparable and measurable, and based on the results, employers will know which workers may be developing a work-related health effect (such as HAVS or signs of asthma) and can put additional controls in place in the workplace.

noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL)

Keep lowercase and write this term in full on first mention. It's OK to abbreviate to NIHL after the first mention but only if it's used frequently throughout copy, otherwise just spell it out in full each time.

now and in the future

Not ‘nearing’ or ‘approaching’ retirement.

Top tip Aim to group your content into logical groups and break up the page with clear and meaningful headings, sub-headings, lists and bullet points. Readers tend to scan the page, jumping to headings, sub-headings and (online) links that interest them.

People's Health writing style guide 11January 2019

occupational health

Avoid capitalising this term.

occupational health service provider (OHSP)

Avoid capitalising this term and keep it lowercase and in full on first mention. It's OK to abbreviate to OHSP after the first mention but only if you're using the term frequently throughout the copy, otherwise just write it in full each time.

occupational health management tool

Not ‘occupational health tool’ or ‘occupational health solution’. Content specifically aimed at OHSPs can be of a more technical nature, so People’s Health can be referred to as an ‘occupational health management tool’. It’s important to note that it is a ‘management tool’ because simply calling the product an ‘Occupational Health solution’ implies a far wider reaching offering.

portable

You can describe this as ‘changing jobs quicker and with less hassle’.

surveillance

Avoid using this word unless you’re writing for or talking to occupational health service providers only. When talking to workers or anyone else you could say, ‘looking after your health-at-work’ (see ‘Monitoring health-at-work’).

People's Health writing style guide 12January 2019

to help workers stay well and in work longer

The net effect of the People’s Health product is to help workers stay well and in work longer. We mustn’t over promise.

For example, we can’t say:

• Helping workers stay fit and healthy at work

• Keeping workers fit and healthy at work

• Improving workers health

• Improving the health of workers

• Improving occupational health in construction

• Simply meeting people’s health needs

The above statements don’t represent the People’s Health product. These imply that People’s Health is actively involved in providing a direct health service. More accurately, People’s Health is a health facilitator bringing all parties (employers, employees and OHSPs) together via a digital tool and is responsible for storing the members’ health records. The above promises could perceptively indicate that People’s Health offers far more. The scheme helps members keep track of and understand their Health-at-work and share their health history if they choose to.

workers

Not ‘people’.

workplace health obligation

Not ‘compliance’.

work health record / digital work health record

Not ‘digital passport’ or ‘health record’.

If you need to check something…

Neil Pinnock, Senior Marketing Copywriter

neilpinnock@bandce.co.uk

(+44) 1293 205 212

Contact

Reference • B&CE writing toolkit (Money and Health):

writingtoolkit.bandce.co.uk