Centre for Health Impact Assessment

Integrating Health
into
Equalities impact assessment
Toolkit

2008
The IOM is a major independent centre of scientific excellence in the fields of occupational and
environmental health, hygiene and safety. We were founded as a charity in 1969 by the UK coal
industry in conjunction with the University of Edinburgh and became fully independent in 1990. Our
mission is to benefit those at work and in the community by providing quality research, consultancy
and training in health, hygiene and safety and by maintaining our independent, impartial position as
an international centre of excellence. The IOM has more than seventy scientific and technical staff
based in Edinburgh, Chesterfield, London, and Stafford. Consultancy work is undertaken through
IOM Consulting Limited which is a wholly owned subsidiary.

Dr Salim Vohra is the Director of the IOM’s Centre for Health Impact Assessment based in London.

The vision of IOM CHIA is to be a Centre of Excellence in:

• Health impact assessment theory and practice

• Healthy public policy
• Evidence-based analysis and evaluation of the impacts
of policies and programmes on health
• Researching the wider determinants of health and
wellbeing
• Tackling environmental and health inequalities
• Healthy urban planning and development
• Urban and rural regeneration and health
Contents
Introduction 1

1. Who will do the Equalities Impact Assessment? 2

2. What is the aim/purpose of the policy? 2

3. Assess relevance/significance (tick box) 2

4. Scope of EqIA and potential equalities issues to be considered 3

5. What information have you used in developing and/or reviewing the policy or service?6

6. Consultation 7

7. Assessment of Equalities Impact 8

8. Assessment of Health Impact 9

9. What monitoring & review mechanisms for the equalities & health impacts identified?10

Page 1
Introduction

How to use this toolkit

It can be used to undertake either an informal or a formal equalities impact assessment:
• by keeping a running written record of the equalities and health issues which are considered as a policy,
plan, programme, project or service is being designed and developed; or
• by acting as a template to write a formal equalities (with health) impact assessment report for an initiative.

Why use this checklist

It is helpful to note all decisions even when there you decide there is no effect. For example you may decide that your
policy has no discriminatory effect on people of different sexual orientation. Don’t leave the table blank. This is a valid
decision and should be recorded.
The tool will then provide an audit trail of decisions taken as the policy is developed.

Why equalities impact assessment

The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 (RRAA) requires the council to carry out race equality impact assessments
on new and proposed policies. The Equality Standard for Local Government also requires equalities impact
assessments to be evidenced in order to achieve progress against the levels contained in the Standard.
The key purpose of equality impact assessment is to:
• identify activities, processes and systems that discriminate against individuals and groups from vulnerable
groups and
• modify them so that any discrimination is eliminated or significantly reduced on vulnerable to identify ways to
overcome discrimination.
Equality impact assessment should reveal aspects of policies, programmes, projects and services that intentionally
or unintentionally exclude certain individuals and groups and thereby negatively impact upon lives and wellbeing.

Why health impact assessment

HIA is the key systematic approach to identifying the health impacts of proposed and implemented policies, plans,
programmes, projects and services (initiatives) within a democratic, equitable, sustainable and ethical framework, so
that negative health impacts are reduced and positive health impacts increased (within a given population).
It uses a range of structured and evaluated sources of evidence that includes public and other stakeholders'
perceptions and experiences as well as public health, epidemiological, toxicological and medical knowledges.

Equalities impact assessment and health impact assessment therefore have much in common in that they identify
those aspects of policies, programmes, projects and services that increase inequalities and inequities between
different individuals and groups within a given community.

Page 1
1. Who will do the Equalities Impact Assessment?
Will it be done by members of the policy team or by a single officer?
Name Job Title Area of Responsibility within EqIA
(e.g. lead)

2. What is the aim/purpose of the policy?

3. Assess relevance/significance (tick box)

Category High Medium Low None

Age

Disability

Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual Orientation

Category Reasons/Justification for above judgement

Age

Disability

Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual Orientation

Page 2
4. Scope of EqIA and potential equalities issues to be considered
4.1 Could the policy discriminate directly?

Law In terms of Yes/No Reason/ Justification

Disability Discrimination Act Intention of Policy

Implementation

Race Relations (Amendment) Act Intention of Policy

Implementation

Sex Discrimination Act Intention of Policy

Implementation

Sources of Further Information on the above Acts

Page 3
4.2 Could the policy potentially discriminate indirectly?

Age Which age groups Reason/ Justification

targeted & which
excluded

Could this policy target or exclude certain age

groups eg elderly, young people

Does it affect some groups more than others?

What barriers do people face if they try to use the

services? eg communication, physical access, location,
constraining factors etc.

Disability Which disabled groups Reason/ Justification

are targeted & which
excluded

Could this policy target or exclude people with

disabilities/special needs

Does it affect some groups more than others?

What barriers do people face if they try to use the

services? eg communication, physical access, location,
constraining factors etc.

Ethnicity Which BME groups are Reason/ Justification

targeted & which
excluded

Could this policy target or exclude certain Black

and minority ethnic groups? e.g. Black, Asian, Irish

Does it affect some groups more than others?

What barriers do people face if they try to use the

services? eg communication, physical access, location,
constraining factors etc.

Page 4
Gender Who is targeted & Reason/ Justification
who is excluded?

Could this policy target or exclude either men or

women?

Does it affect men more than women?

Does it affect women more than men?
Are any barriers which people might face if they
try to use the services different for men and
women? eg communication, physical access, location,
constraining factors etc.

Sexual Orientation Which groups are Reason/ Justification

targeted & which
excluded

Could this policy target or exclude certain gay,

lesbian people? Black and minority ethnic groups?
e.g. Black, Asian, Irish

Does it affect some groups more than others?

What barriers do people face if they try to use the

services? eg communication, physical access, location,
constraining factors etc.

Page 5
5. What information have you used in developing and/or reviewing the policy or
service?
Category Literature, Research, Data Type Relevance/ Key Points Learned

Age

Disability

Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual
Orientation

Page 6
6. Consultation
6.1 What is the focus of the consultation? Why?

6.2 Which groups should be consulted

Category Yes/ No Any specific How consulted Other Issues
sub-group Focus group Survey meetings Open meetings
focus Interviews with community representatives

Age

Disability

Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual Orientation

OTHER … eg
environmental
groups

Source of Further Information

Page 7
7. Assessment of Equalities Impact
In the first two columns write down the issues that have emerged from the previous sections … the last three columns begin to identify an action plan

Equality Issue(s) Type(s) of Potential What measures are What other internal How will the success of
Adverse Effect needed to overcome departments and/or the measures be judged?
adverse effect(s)? external agencies should
be involved?

Age

Disability

Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual Orientation

Page 8
8. Assessment of Health Impact
In the first two columns write down the issues that have emerged from the previous sections … the last three columns begin to identify an action plan

How will the In what way? … good or Who will be affected? What measures are What other internal How will the success of
policy, plan, bad? needed to overcome departments and/ or the measures be judged?
programme, adverse effect(s)? external agencies should
project or service be involved?
affect …

… income/ wealth
levels?

… employment
levels?

… housing and
accommodation?

… learning
opportunities?

… community-
safety?

… people’s ability
to influence their
life & locality?

… the local
environment?

Page 9
9. What monitoring and review mechanisms for the equalities and health impacts
identified?
Category Performance Indicator/s What data collection is needed for Is it already in place if not
this indicator? what resources will be
needed?

Age

Disability

Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual
Orientation

Page 10
 Centre for Health Impact Assessment, Institute of Occupational Medicine
Research House Business Centre, Fraser Road, Perivale, Middlesex. UB6 7AQ

Tel: 020 8537 3491/2 Fax: 020 8537 3493

Website: www.iom-world.org