"Nine times out of ten, when people's performance falls off it's because of health problems": that's the premise of this training video made for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The title of this video is not, as it might at first appear, a call-out to aspiring capitalists looking to make a quick buck from the health industry. Instead it was made to support the Health and Safety Executive's 'Good Health is Good Business' campaign. It features Sir John Harvey-Jones, then a well-known businessman and television presenter who, in the BBC series Troubleshooter (tx 1990), gave ailing companies the benefit of his advice to help them turn around their prospects.

There's a stark opening statistic: "Every year nearly two and a quarter million people, that's one in every 11 (working people) will suffer from an illness caused by, or made worse, as a direct result of their work." This is resoundingly followed up with "Worse still, it needn't happen. Managers have it within their power to do something about it." The video goes on to illustrate how occupational health risks have been managed in a number of different companies and emphasises that measures needed to control health risks can often be simple and inexpensive.

This video was filmed in a wide range of businesses, mostly in the north west of England and London, including Maurice Nield & Sons, Manchester; Mediscreen, Royal Oldham Hospital; Dale Joinery, Rochdale; The Beacon Press, Uckfield; Bestway Tyres, Wigan; Worthington's Hair and Beauty, London; and the Jubilee Line Extension Project.

The tone of the well-intentioned narration may strike contemporary ears as paternalistic -particularly its references to employees as "your people." Harvey-Jones' closing line sums up the film's approach - and betrays a striking assumption about managers: "If you look after your people there's a sporting chance they'll look after you... if you're not looking after your people... you're not much of a man either."

Made to support the Health and Safety Executive's 'Good Health is Good Business' campaign. Features Sir John Harvey-Jones and shows how occupational health risks have been managed in a number of different companies and in a range of industries. Describes how workplace health risks can be identified and controlled by following a simple four-stage approach: check the workplace; decide what to do; take action; monitor the situation. Makes the point that the measures needed to control health risks can often be simple and inexpensive.