Health and Safety:

Can we do more to keep people safe?

With health and safety legislation it can be an endless road of constant updates and changes that we seem to believe make little to no difference. But that is quite to the contrary.

Around 149.3 million working days were lost due to sickness, accidents, and injuries in the UK alone. Which is equivalent to 4.6 days per worker.

From this evidence, it is vitally important that more is done to ensure the health and safety of workers. Often there are cases that cannot be prevented such as injuries outside of work, and illnesses caught outside of work, which may inflate the figures shown. But as a whole a collective responsibility has to be taken in this case, teaching and encouraging health and safety at work will have a positive impact on workers’ health and safety outside of work.

Even if you look at it from a financial perspective instead, in 2019 £16.2 billion was lost due to work-related injuries and ill health. Not only should health and safety be important to protect the workers, but it also protects the business. Many small companies run on a tight budget, which highlights just how important it can be to ensure the health and safety of workers are protected, as it can have a profound impact on costs to a company.

So now we know the facts, but how can we ensure that health and safety standards are met in the workplace?

• Have a designated Health and Safety Officer or someone who can respond at work to ensure policies and procedures are kept up to date in compliance with new legislation.
• Raising awareness can help employees understand safety concerns and allow them to abide by health and safety rules.
• Everyone has a role to play, even those at the top! Ensuring you follow the rules, will set a positive example for employees and they will then follow in suit.
• Communication is important in this as workers will feel more comfortable raising concerns, and the issues can then be tackled as a team.

Visit the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website if you would like to be kept up to date with the latest news on health and safety legislation. Or check out our article about how to encourage a health and safety culture in your oganisation.